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Surge protectors

5K views 34 replies 8 participants last post by  Bob Mariani 
#1 ·
Hi all, anyone with experience with surge protectors working or failing? Any details, especially concerning brands, and cause of surge (lightning, neutral lost, etc) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Gene
 
#2 ·
Surge protectors are available at all levels and costs. I like to use a good whole house protector by Panasonic. It protects spikes, surges and low current. Lightning I handle with a grid protection at the high points at the roof tied to a ground loop. Expensive equipment (media center) is protector by a power unit for this equipment ($200) Computer are protected by APS battery powered backup units. Cheap power surge protectors are useless and I do not use them at all.
 
#3 ·
I use power bars with surge protectors on most of the senstive electronics in the home, e.g. home entertainment center.

Each computer (4 total) has it's own UPS (uninterruptable power supply with surge protection and battery backup) manufactured by APC or Belkin with auto shutdown software installed.

About 4 years ago this summer, I think our home was struck by lightning.
I lost a couple of motherboards and network cards on two computers, besides other components such as video cards that died soon afterward.
One ethernet cable actually got fried as well.

That leads me to believe the surge came in through the Internet/TV cable line, which was not on any surge protection (my bad...LOL, now taken care of).

Although the loss was minimal, relatively speaking, I'm guessing it would have been much worse without any protection at all.

Most protectors are rated in joules and many come with lifetime coverage of "X" amount of dollars should your equipment get taken out by a surge.
Read the fine print, and keep the receipt in a safe place where it won't fade...
 
#7 ·
Most protectors are rated in joules and many come with lifetime coverage of "X" amount of dollars should your equipment get taken out by a surge.
This is the closest I've seen to a manuf. saying "this protector will work for 50% (or 75% or 95%) of the surges that are likely to come your way."

You have a link to one of these guaranteed units?

X came to what percent of the value of the protected equipment?
I guess the value of protected equipment could go from one kilobuck to five or so.
 
#4 ·
To be honest with you I haven't had one that worked yet. I have a breaker type installed in my panel which the supply house stated would protect the entire panel plus had those surge strips installed on my computers. one time they were doing work up the block on the utility lines when the neutral became energized. burnt up the surge strips plus my sons X-Box power supply and all the power packs on the computers. and one mother board. all the gfi's where tripped in the house.and half the breakers in the panel where tripped.
another time a truck hit the pole tripped the breakers again and blew two light bulbs right out of there Mogul base and broke the glass globe that it was inside. So an answer to your question is I don't have any faith in them. unless there is something That I'm not up on!.
I'll have to read some replies to find out. BOB
 
#6 ·
Remember that they are generally rated for spikes/surges that last milliseconds or longer.
Any spikes in the nanosecond duration range will probably not be shunted to ground by the varactors, varistors, inductors or whatever it is components that are installed.
An X-Box is a prime candidate for a UPS, in my opinion, since it kind of falls into the "Computer" family of components.
 
#14 ·
I had a severe lightning strike this last summer. I had a Belkin surge protector. They covered the cost of what was damaged because there are usually warranties involved. They even sent a new surge protector. I talked with the rep and he said that surge protectors are never 100%. They work often but are not guaranteed, even if you get one for tons of joules because the lightning is so powerful. I had a 60" tv and surround sound. The tv survived, possibly due to the surge protector, but the surround sound was fried. I could smell burning insulation throughout the house. It was scary.
 
#15 ·
Brands?

Hi all, thanks for the quick replies. Some specific questions:

BobM- What specific brands/units do you have now? Any idea how seriously they have been challenged?

dynamo- Any idea which (APC or Belkin) units did better?

Buletbob- do you recall which brands failed?

jaros- what was invloved with warranty claim? Had you registered the unit? Did they need receipt/old unit/etc?

Thanks again to all! God bless. Gene
 
#16 ·
Hi all, thanks for the quick replies. Some specific questions:..

...
dynamo- Any idea which (APC or Belkin) units did better?
...

Thanks again to all! God bless. Gene
I used to be a Belkin fan, but it seems to me that APC has raised the bar the past few years, so I'm leaning towards them for my UPS equipment.
As far as Multi-Tap power bars, I'd hazard a guess and say they are at par with each other.
Look at the equipment protection warranties they offer and see if one appeals to you more than another.
Remember there are many suppliers out there, so cost may a determining factor for you as well.
Happy to help, Gene, my pleasure!
 
#17 ·
I don't own any protectors

So, in effect, some of the purchase price of a protector goes into an insurance premium for the cost of replacing equipment.
If the surge protector somehow manages to defend from surges almost always, it's a good protector and Belkin is a "good risk" (to the insurer).
If it's a bad protector as evidenced from warranty claims it's dropped from production.
:thumbsup:
 
#19 ·
So, in effect, some of the purchase price of a protector goes into an insurance premium for the cost of replacing equipment.
If the surge protector somehow manages to defend from surges almost always, it's a good protector and Belkin is a "good risk" (to the insurer).
If it's a bad protector as evidenced from warranty claims it's dropped from production.
:thumbsup:
LOL!
Never thought of it that way, but a very good point indeed!
 
#18 ·
Hi all, this was on another thread...Any other thoughts or experience with this?

Thanks Gene


http://www.diychatroom.com/f18/help-my-breaker-box-interesting-issue-37251/index5/

Fats
Fats

Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Johnson City, TN
Posts: 3

















Howdy..I'm new at this but here goes.
I work for an IT company supporting high transaction server systems all over the country. We are an APC dealer, but rarely sell them unless you just want a UPS(battery backup), cause that's all your going to get. The vast majority of UPS systems, do not offer good surge protection no matter what the manufacturers say. If the quality of your system is important to you and you want to add years to it's life, consider purchasing Oneac equipment, by Chloride corp. They offer a combination Isolation Transformer/UPS system that comes in various sizes. The OneAC 404 is the smallest and retails around $395. I'm not trying to sell you one, but this company is the gold standard for us and other companies doing what we do. Many hospitals and laboratories use these to protect their expensive equipment.

On the other hand, consider just an Isolation transformer from either Oneac or other companies like Tripplite for quality line conditioning. If you require battery backup for power outages put an inexpensive UPS behind it $99 from Walmart.

Google "Isolation Transformer" and see what I mean.

PS: Plugging a surger protector into a surge protector defeats the purpose.

Good Luck

Fats
 
#20 ·
Well, now we're comparing apples to balsa wood?
;)

Of course isolation x-formers and other forms of power conditioning are available, but I'd hazard a guess and say 80% of the public has no use for such an elaborate setup unless they are in a new subdivison where the power has not yet been stabilized by the supplier, or in an area where frequent lightning strikes or brownouts/surges occur, then it's pretty much useless for the average Joe.

Older apartment buildings or multi unit dwellings with outdated wiring may pose problems in the summer when window air conditioners and fridges all kick in at once, for example, but as was stated before...you get what you pay for.
 
#22 ·
Surge protection from UPS?

Hi again,

Actually, I found this to be the troubling sentence:

"The vast majority of UPS systems, do not offer good surge protection no matter what the manufacturers say. "

If true, then a UPS would have to be plugged into a surge protector!

Anyone with experience?

Thanks and God bless. Gene
 
#23 ·
Hi again,

Actually, I found this to be the troubling sentence:

"The vast majority of UPS systems, do not offer good surge protection no matter what the manufacturers say. "

If true, then a UPS would have to be plugged into a surge protector!

Anyone with experience?

Thanks and God bless. Gene
If you have a block diagram of a candidate UPS we can decide.
Once the thing is suppling power from batteries it offers perfect surge protection, no?
 
#25 ·
Belkin replies

"If your [sic] going to have a computer and/or television, then you want to have at least 2000 joules"

I need to go to a tech lib. and find a book on designing surge protectors; maybe there is one of those 4" thick handbooks by now on this subject.
What a hassle!
 
#28 ·
On how surge suppressors work

Recently, I had a control board (smaller than the palm of my hand) from my 1+ year old refrigerator replaced. I also had a new high end HVAC system installed. Coincidentally, we've had a few power outages in the last month or so.

I'm thinking about installing a panel mounted suppressor.

Looking over information on the Web, I notice that the units have two wires coming out; each one connected to a breaker in the panel, plus a ground connection.

My basic question is, if there is an incoming surge via the power line, how is the surge prevented from going out on any (all) other legs (nanoseconds) before it reaches the suppressor? Shouldn't the surge 'see' the suppressor before it has an opportunity to 'go' elsewhere?

I would also use plug-in units for the refrigerator and other plug-in appliances, but the HVAC system is hard wired and needs to be protected.

Looking for comments, please.

V
 
#29 ·
Recently, I had a control board (smaller than the palm of my hand) from my 1+ year old refrigerator replaced. I also had a new high end HVAC system installed. Coincidentally, we've had a few power outages in the last month or so.

I'm thinking about installing a panel mounted suppressor.

Looking over information on the Web, I notice that the units have two wires coming out; each one connected to a breaker in the panel, plus a ground connection.

My basic question is, if there is an incoming surge via the power line, how is the surge prevented from going out on any (all) other legs (nanoseconds) before it reaches the suppressor? Shouldn't the surge 'see' the suppressor before it has an opportunity to 'go' elsewhere?

I would also use plug-in units for the refrigerator and other plug-in appliances, but the HVAC system is hard wired and needs to be protected.

Looking for comments, please.

V
The best protection is at the meterbase. Ask your power company about meter socket surge suppressors or have an electrician install one. This is what I mean.

http://www.homecontrols.com/cgi-bin...rfnbr/1048/Leviton-Meter-Socket-Surge-Adapter
 
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