Best surge protector?

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leonardmp92

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Hello,

Looking to buy a surge protector. Recommendations of brand, size of protection (?joules?), etc?

Thank you!
 
Thanks. I bought some ones at Microcenter for about $15 each, they were rated to 3000!
That means the protector will use only 1000 joules and never more than 2000 joules during a surge. So how do those 2000 joules absorb a surge that is hundreds of thousands of joules? That is what others claim it does. How does that little 2 cm part stop what three miles of sky could not? That is also what it is suppose to do. Just because it is called a 'surge protector' means it provides 'surge protection'? Where are its spec numbers that claim that protection?

An overwhelming majority will recommend a protector only because the word sound like protection AND because so many others also make the same recommendation. The majority also knew Saddam had WMDs for the exact same reason.

Instead, the NIST (US government research agency) defines what all protectors must do":
> You cannot really suppress a surge altogether, nor
> "arrest" it. What these protective devices do is
> neither suppress nor arrest a surge, but simply
> divert it to ground, where it can do no harm.

Surge protection is about connecting surge energy to earth. A surge that does not enter the building does not go hunting for earth destructively via appliances. Either the surge is harmlessly dissipated in earth. Or it is inside the building. Your choice.

What does that protector without the short connection to earth do? Diverts. Gives the surge more paths to find earth. When too close to appliances and too far from earth ground, one path is destructively through the appliance. Yes, we even traces surge damage through a network of powered off computers. Two power strip protectors earthed a direct lightning strike into both computers. The surge found earth ground via the network and a third computer.

Telcos throughout the world do not waste money on plug-in protectors. Telcos, connected to overhead wires all over town, may suffer about 100 surges with each storm - and no damage. Telcos connect every wire in every cable to earth ground before that wire even enters the building. Telcos only use a 'whole house' protector with that always required short (íe 'less than 10 foot') connection to earth To make that protection better, telcos what the separation between protector and electronics to be up to 50 meters. Telcos for over 100 years simply do what the NIST says, "simply divert it to ground, where it can do no harm."

So where does that plug-in protector's numeric specs list each type of surge and protection from that surge? It does not. It cannot. It has all but no earth ground. No earth ground means no effective protection.

More responsible manufacturers sell effective protectors: Siemens, Keison, Square D, Leviton, General Electric, and Intermatic are but a few. The Cutler-Hammer protector sells in Lowes for less than $50. One protector that earths even direct lightning strikes without damage. A surge absorbed harmlessly in earth does not hunt for earth ground via appliances.

The final point. No protector is protection. Protection is what dissipates all that energy - earth ground. Your protector will only be as effective as its earth ground. Building earthing must meet and exceed post 1990 National Electrical Code. That means the ground wire must be short ('less than 10 feet') to single point earth ground. All other protectors (ie the 'whole house protector installed free on all phone lines by the telco) also must make a short connection to that same earthing electrode. Ground wires without sharp bends. Separated from other non-grounding wires. No splices. Not inside metallic conduit. All these also required to make a good earth ground. Same reasons explain why a plug-in protector is not grounded.

If the ground wire from breaker box goes up over the foundation and down to earth, then the breaker box 'whole house' protector has been compromised. Ground wire must go through the foundation and down to earth. Shorter. Sharp wire bends eliminated. Ground wire separate from other wires.

This is long only because few if any peer has this knowledge. And yet this knowledge is well proven and routinely demonstrated all over the world for the past 100 years. Will that magic box protector stop what three miles of sky could not? A clear majority here have said just that. Instead, earth one 'whole house' protector for about $1 per protected appliance. Install a solution that actually does surge protection. A solution so effective that nobody would even know a surge existed. A protector that must remain functional even after a direct lightning strike.

Where does that energy get absorbed? Inside the house? A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.
 
Hello,

Looking to buy a surge protector. Recommendations of brand, size of protection (?joules?), etc?

Thank you!


Surge protectors are pretty useless, if you can put together the budget you're much better off going with a UPS. I used to have surge protectors on all my equipment until I love some stuff to brownouts and spikes... Got a UPS and haven't had a problem since.



Joe
 
I use an APC UPS. So far I haven't had any problems with it. It's pretty nice, has overload , on-ling, on battery, and replace battery lights. Also beeps alerting when it switches to battery (witch thankfully hasn't happened yet :)).
 
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