Whole House surge protectors ??

[Todd Z]

Well, The last couple of thunder and lightning storms here we have lost several pieces of electrical equipment. Now the ones that are plugged into the strips or those single surge protectors had no issues....

We lost phones, TV's and the latest 2 cable TV boxes....



I spoke to the electrical "geniuses" at my office, but I never liked them any way..LOL..



What do you all think about them???



I can get a leviton one dirt cheep, under 100 bucks and since I am upgrading my electrical service in 2 weeks that would be the time to install..



Thanks !!!!!!

Todd Z

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Does it support cable (coax) and phone lines?, and if so, do you have a place to set it up where you can easily run your main power line, your coax and your phone lines through?



TJR

 

[Todd Z]

Tom,

Yes my main panel is in the garage, and all me service is above ground with it entering 1 foot away from the panel, phone, cable and elec are all with in 2 feet of each other...



Yes this one supports all 3..... IT also has the extension for a remote power strip....

Todd Z

 

[Michael Hale]

Can I ask a silly question? How does one "upgrade" their electrical service. My area seems to having its' fair share of issues with surges (lights flickering when A/C kicks on, etc. which it used to never do [neighbor has same issue so it isn't just my house]) and I wouldn't have thought that there was anything I could do about it (live in neighborhood development).

 

[Thomas Rogers]

My lights flicker when my AC kicks on too. I assumed there wasn't anything I could do about it and it is caused by the brief increased load and the delayed response in compensating for it. It's more of an annoyance than anything else for me. Most electronics that would be sensitive to that kind of a brief dip have power supplies with adequate capacitors to protect them. Still, I have a couple of UPS units for my computers, and they sometimes click on then off as my AC clicks on.



I am not sure you can do anything about this, but then, I am not an electrician.



TJR

 

[EddieS'04]

From my experiance of being an instrument tech, in a chemical plant..You can surge protect from power surges but nothing will surge protect lighting strikes..they are to powerful and fast hitting....JMHO....

 

[Sal Adinolfi]

Todd,

Not sure about your Electric complany. But here in Ct.. you can get "Home Guard"

http://www.uinet.com/your_home/surge.asp



It is a surge put At the meter.



see if it is what you want.. if not.. get a UPS for high end Electrical, works better in my opinion.. and you wont have to set the Time on the VCR as much.

 

[Todd Z]

Thank you,

Sal, LIPA here does nothing of the sort, You have to do it your self because everything here is installed AFTER the meter....



Teasip, I am upgrading from my tiny 18 circuit 100AMP service to a 42 circuit 200 AMP service..

MY meter and wiring above the ground are of proper size and in NY you as the home owner can do ANY thing AFTER the meter I am taking advantage of it...



TOM, You can balance your circuits... You have 2 lines coming in and 1 neutral. Both producing 110V when you touch 1hot and the neutral. When you touch both hots you get the 220V service...WHAT you can do is remove the service panel cover. Take an electricians amp meter and measure the amps PER LEG with the basic stuff on and the A/C... IF 1 leg is 20 amps and the other is 30 amps, YOU can move breakers to eliminate that flickering you see in the house.....



FAST, Not strikes, BUT when the wind blows, or heavy rain, we seem to get spikes and surges from time to time...

I 100% agree if lightning hits it your cooked !!!!!!!





Thanks, I am getting the leviton thing I saw..

 

[Thomas Rogers]

ToddZ, I haven't opened my breaker box, but can I assume that all the circuits on one side are common and on one leg, and all those on the other side are common and on the other leg? When I mean side, I mean left side and right side of the box.



If so, then they are already pretty balanced, breaker-wise and capacity-wise, and I am seeing my flicker on circuits on the leg that is opposite the one the AC unit is on.



Dunno if that makes sense.



TJR

 

[Todd Z]

Tom,

the buss bar alternates sides, this is why a 220 breaker is on one side and not both sides of the panel... Even if the Numbers on the breakers on each side totals the same, Unless all the breakers are 20 amps or 15 amps you do not draw that amount evenly across the board.....

You could have 1 20 amp breaker that runs 5 amps because of what is plugged in and a 15 amp breaker running 14 amps......



Todd Z

 

[Thomas Rogers]

ToddZ,



Doesn't that imply that every other breaker on one side of the box is on the same leg?



If so, then 220 breaker (and 30 amp breakers) that take up two slots are actually on two legs?



And, if so, wouldn't you see both legs dim if an AC unit is on a 30 amp circuit?



P.S., I found the following link, where some experts say a modest dim/flicker when the AC starts is normal:



TJR

 

[Todd Z]

Yes, yes, and yes.



Some dimming is normal, But if you can balance it out better you can reduce it a lot....

Todd Z

 

[Richard L]

Todd,

I checked into whole house surge protectors and they work OK for filtering average power surges but they do nothing for lightening. You will probably get the best bang for the buck by just using power strips and replace them every few years.



There are no surge protectors that can handle direst lightening stricks. Even if you get the power strips that will pay up to $50K for damages cause buy surges will not include lightening strikes. If you read the fine print on their warranties, they always exclude direct lightening strikes.



Any surge protection system needs to be replaced every 3-5 years because every surge they obsorb will deplete their capacity (Joules) to absorbe future surges.



...Rich

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Proper grounding can help prevent damage from direct lightning strikes, but in many cases the cost of the grounding system exceeds the value of the equipment being protected. I managed a grounding project for a HF radio system in the Azores. There were numerous antennas (some over 100 ft tall) on top of a mountain. We didn't have many thunderstorms, but when they occurred, those antennas were obvious targets and were struck a few times per year.



Because the volcanic soil doesn't provide very good grounding, a wire mesh grid was placed under the building where the equipment was located. At the antenna cable entry points, the cables were connected to the grounding mesh to divert the bolt of energy toward the ground before it entered the building. This didn't always work, but it did provide an additional measure of safety for the personnel and equipment inside of the building.



Many people don't even think about this possibility when they install radio and TV masts at their homes. They simply build the tower and run the cable directly into their homes, providing a conduit for the energy of the lightning to enter their home.