Surge Protection

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 problem with putting the MOV in the device/switch is that once the MOV takes a few hits it is no longer useful and must be replaced. If it is built into a switch now you either need to replace the switch anyway (even if it still works) or pull it to replace the MOV which needs to be replaceable...

On the subject of whole house surges, I've had the Leviton unit for years and it has protected my X10 network the entire time (no lost switches). Personally I'd run very far away from Panamax, Monster, etc... Buy a surge from a company that has been in the industrial electrical business for decades like Leviton or SquareD. Hack, Leviton makes parts that are hospital and military rated too, that should tell you something.
 
dublin00 said:
The problem with putting the MOV in the device/switch is that once the MOV takes a few hits it is no longer useful and must be replaced. If it is built into a switch now you either need to replace the switch anyway (even if it still works) or pull it to replace the MOV which needs to be replaceable...
Most times when it fails it fails shorted BUT sometimes it faults open and you dont know until the device is blow that the MOV failed...
 
Hello. It sounds to me that you should have some sort of large capacitor, from positive to negative, normally fitted across the motor. Living in a country where we have 230volts at 50hz all our electrical items have capacitors fitted and we only change the switches every ten years or so. Some of mine have been in the property for 16years. If you try this, on one item, as a trial, it could be one possible answer. Good luck. Mike of Wales.
 
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