Quote (King Atrhur @ Aug 16 2017 11:55pm)
"Can"? they all do and will. They have a joule limit, once exceeded its not longer protected.
Not all surge protectors will even warn you if its no longer protecting you gear either.
First, that protector light only reports one type of failure that must never exist - catastrophic failure. IOW the emergency backup protection circuit disconnected MOVs as fast as possible to avert a fire. That light only says the protector was so grossly undersized that the emergency backup protection (the last layer of protection) was triggered to protect human life.
Meanwhile that surge remained connected to the appliance. Why was the appliance not damaged? The protector was grossly undersized. By failing, it got the naive to recommend it and buy more. So grossly undersized that MOVs failed in a manor that MOV manufacturers say must never occur.
Normal failure mode for a protector is degradation. That type failure is never reported by any light or other indicator.
Second, a properly sized protector has numbers (not joules) that define effective protection for many decades and many direct lightning strikes. Effective protectors protect from direct lightning AND remain functional. Ineffective (grossly undersized profit centers), well, those are so undersized that many recommend replacing them every one or two years. That those near zero joule protectors mean spending tens of times more money. At what point does one stop ignoring numbers to have effective protection?
How does that plug-in protector's 2 cm protector part 'block' what three miles of sky cannot? It doesn't. How does its hundreds or thousand joules 'absorb' a surge that is hundreds of thousands of joules? More numbers that expose the myth.
Lightning may be 20,000 amps. So a minimal 'whole house' protector is 50,000 amps. Again, effective protectors remain functional for decades and after many direct lightning strikes. Then nobody knows a surge existed - even no appliances are damaged.
Third, here is the problem. No protector does protection. Not one. The effective protector connects up to 50,000 amps harmlessly to earth. Then no surge current is inside to overwhelm what is superior protection already inside every appliance. This 'whole house' solution is how it was done over 100 years ago. It is found in every facility that cannot have damage. Protector is only a connecting device to something different that does all protection - single point earth ground.
Protection is always defined by the answer to this question. Where are hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly absorbed? Clearly not by those near zero joule plug-in protectors (profit centers). Informed consumers purchase and properly earth protectors by other companies known by any guy for integrity. These include Intermatic, Square D, Ditek, Siemens, Polyphaser (an industry benchmark), Syscom, Leviton, ABB, Delta, Erico, General Electric, and Cutler-Hammer (Eaton). Those famous plug-in protector manufactures are not listed - for good reasons including the above specification numbers.
Four, never ignore spec numbers. A protector is effective when it connects at least 50,000 amps harmlessly to earth on a path that is low impedance (ie less than 10 feet). Not to a wall receptacle safety ground. That is not earth ground. And that even violates another number: impedance (ie less than 10 feet).
Five, if anything needs protection, then everything needs protection. Informed consumers properly earth one 'whole house' protector to protect everything - dishwasher, GFCIs, furnace, dimmer switches, refrigerator, LED & CFL bulbs, vacuum cleaner, clocks, smoke detectors, washing machine ... everything.
Protection is always about where hundreds of thousands of joules dissipate. Those near zero joule 'magic strip' protectors or UPS will not even discuss any of this. And have that severe limit discussed by King Atrhur. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. To most, that should be a shocking revelation.
This post was edited by westom on Aug 17 2017 08:58am