Steve
Senior Member
Ok, so I'm trying to figure out the best way to protect my equipment. For purposes of this discussion lets assume hardwired stuff like switches and inline modules.
The obvious answer would be a whole home surge protector(TVSS). It would seem the best ones are either the ones that fit in the meter socket (not sold by my utility, only rented) or next best one that attaches to the outdoor service disconnect before the main panel. There are many brands of these including the Leviton, Intermatic, Panamax, SquareD and several others. Next best would be something that goes in your breaker panel like the SquareD breaker arrestor or another type with short leads.
Most of these devices probably do a decent job of preventing surges or spikes that come externally from outside the house. But a very large percentage of surges come from inside your home, generated by motor driven appliances like your refrigerator, air conditioner, vacuums, etc. These devices create what is called 'electronic rust' which gradually eats away at your delicate electronic circuits or in some cases can destroy them entirely.
So, what does one do to protect against internal surges and rust on a hardwired device? I can't think of anything. My recommendation I guess would be for manufacturers to put an MOV in their switches which I would think could be accomplished fairly easily and inexpensively. It would not have to be big, just enough to defend against the elctronic rust and internally generated spikes.
So I see (have) 2 problems - one is I see no current way to protect against internal surges and second, most outdoor surge arrestors either do not give any sort of warranty or have more holes than swiss cheese making it nearly impossible to ever get paid on damages.
So if I want to protect my stuff, what does one do - install the outdoor arrestor and pray? Of course you can do the outside arrestor combined with strips for all rack mount stuff, pc's and other pluggable stuff, but that still leaves expensive switches like UPB switches vulnerable.
Was I just lucky (sarcasm) that I lost 10 switches in < 6 months? I haven't had a power condom in 15 years and maybe very luckily never lost a single device. Now I have expensive switches in the wall and they're gone in 6 months or less. The only true solution I see is built in surge suppression in the device, or a hardwired lighting system with dumb low voltage switches?
What have you guys that have been in this game for lots of years seen? Was I just incredibly lucky or is this a somewhat common occurance? And what can we do about it?
The obvious answer would be a whole home surge protector(TVSS). It would seem the best ones are either the ones that fit in the meter socket (not sold by my utility, only rented) or next best one that attaches to the outdoor service disconnect before the main panel. There are many brands of these including the Leviton, Intermatic, Panamax, SquareD and several others. Next best would be something that goes in your breaker panel like the SquareD breaker arrestor or another type with short leads.
Most of these devices probably do a decent job of preventing surges or spikes that come externally from outside the house. But a very large percentage of surges come from inside your home, generated by motor driven appliances like your refrigerator, air conditioner, vacuums, etc. These devices create what is called 'electronic rust' which gradually eats away at your delicate electronic circuits or in some cases can destroy them entirely.
So, what does one do to protect against internal surges and rust on a hardwired device? I can't think of anything. My recommendation I guess would be for manufacturers to put an MOV in their switches which I would think could be accomplished fairly easily and inexpensively. It would not have to be big, just enough to defend against the elctronic rust and internally generated spikes.
So I see (have) 2 problems - one is I see no current way to protect against internal surges and second, most outdoor surge arrestors either do not give any sort of warranty or have more holes than swiss cheese making it nearly impossible to ever get paid on damages.
So if I want to protect my stuff, what does one do - install the outdoor arrestor and pray? Of course you can do the outside arrestor combined with strips for all rack mount stuff, pc's and other pluggable stuff, but that still leaves expensive switches like UPB switches vulnerable.
Was I just lucky (sarcasm) that I lost 10 switches in < 6 months? I haven't had a power condom in 15 years and maybe very luckily never lost a single device. Now I have expensive switches in the wall and they're gone in 6 months or less. The only true solution I see is built in surge suppression in the device, or a hardwired lighting system with dumb low voltage switches?
What have you guys that have been in this game for lots of years seen? Was I just incredibly lucky or is this a somewhat common occurance? And what can we do about it?