What the clamping ratings mean for your circuit
The 5KP180CA: When a transient pushes it into breakdown, the 200V minimum breakover threshold holds off normal line noise and switching spikes without leakage chatter. At the rated 17.5A peak pulse (10/1000µs), the clamping ceiling is 292V — that gap between 200V breakdown and 292V clamping is the protection window your downstream semiconductors see during the event. For a 180V rail this is tight: the standoff-to-clamping ratio is roughly 1.62×, which is aggressive for this series and means the part is tuned for circuits where the normal operating voltage sits comfortably below the standoff rating, leaving headroom for the 5kW peak pulse to do its job without the device going into deep conduction on normal line variations.
P600 axial package — through-hole protection for industrial rails
A 175°C TJ ceiling means the part tolerates significant self-heating during a clamping event without entering thermal runaway on a hot board. In practice, keep the steady-state anode temperature below 125°C at the board pad to leave margin for the next transient.