true, that's why you need a good surge arrestor. ps, the coils aren't what reduces surges, they're job is primarily to reduce high frequency noise, it's mov's, znr's, and similar devices that swallow surges. one nice thing, mov's usually fail shorted when they go, we had one go on one of our phone lines, the phone simply wouldn't work until we removed the failed surge arrestor and replaced it. it's also worth noting that a surge arrestor does have a limited capacity to reduce surges, in the case of the one that went on our phone line, there wasn't any equipment damage except for the caller id box, which still took enough to make one of the batteries leak, and they were fairly fresh batteries so i'm pretty sure it was the surge that made it leak. i've got a ups with a surge suppresser, it's plugged into an outlet strip with a surge suppresser, and i've got another outlet strip with surge suppression plugged into the ups (you can only do that if you have a true sine wave ups, most ups units won't like an outlet strip with surge and noise protection on the output side).
ps, there is a company that makes a big deal about it's coil based highly inductive surge arrestors, it's phooey, they aren't appropriate for switching power supplies like in most computers and monitors and can actually generate a surge by them selves if unplugged and of course they can fail as well. i'm still planing on putting in a whole house surge arrestor, but you still need smaller ones at outlets, the whole house surge arrestor keeps most of surges generated outside of the house out, but they are also generated by appliances and the wiring can and will act like an antenna and pick up energy from nearby lightning strikes. absolute protection is of course impossible, but a little effort goes along way at protecting you from most surges. plugging one surge suppresser strip into another seems to help allot in places like florida that have allot of lightning, at the very least you double the surge capacity and increase the reliability. always get the highest surge rating available, though all of the outlet strips have relatively small mov's, the ones for whole house surge arrestors can be as big as a deck of cards. there are ground testers, an excellent investment and they are inexpensive. i really should put another level of surge suppression on my modem line, although there is some protection from huge faults where the line comes into the house, but they really only stop huge surges. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: ------ > ------------------------------------------------- > The problem is that sometimes you're not at home when a thunderstorm strikes. > It seems to me that a first rate power center with hefty coils can attenuate > the electrical surge. Proper grounding is essential. I believe there are > reasonable testers that can tell you if an outlet is grounded. Back in Mac SE > days I bought a 'MasterPiece Compact' power center that offered individually > switched outlets with a master switch that worked very well. I still use it. > It even had a reset button for the built-in circuit breaker. -- "To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." (Richard Henry Lee, Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, initiator of the Declaration of Independence, and member of the first Senate, which passed the Bill of Rights.) -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! <http://www.applelinks.com>
