someone whom i don't wish to insult, wrote: > > For protection of the computer against surges on the AC line, and as a top > notch line noise filter, I recommend the Brick Wall. Pay attention to their > explanation of MOVs and the common practice of diverting the surge to > ground-- the same ground as the data lines ground. The Brick Wall technical > advisors recommend plugging a UPS into the Brick Wall if battery backup is > desired. > http://brickwall.com/
no, DON'T pay attention to what they say about MOVs, unless you understand electronics. the brick wall is the worst product available, and it is snake oil, as are their claims. it is in fact totally inappropriate for a computer power supply, which it will actually strain, and it actually will create voltage surges whenever something plugged into it is turned off! inductors try to maintain constant current, when you reduce the current, they produce a voltage spike from thier magnetic field which tends to maintain the current level, so turn something off, or reduce the current something is drawing (by say spinning down the extra drive) and there will be a voltage spike. thier system might, might be good for some older analog electronics, but really it's just hype! > It is possible that the data corruption which computer users, even Mac > users, see as unavoidable is actually the result of diversion of surge to > ground by all other surge suppression units. There are dozens of small > surges every day in a typical building. only if the machine is poorly grounded, or it is a very large spike, in which case the surge arrestor has still greatly reduced the damage done. > The inventor of this technology also sells a wider range of units under the > Zero Surge name. More information can be found on his site. > http://www.zerosurge.com/ he sells a lot to consumers who don't know better. his approach is not the correct way to deal with voltage surges, and in fact rather than dissipating a surge as heat, which is what happens in a mov or other over voltage devices (most modern units us a ZNR which is similar to a mov, but much faster, about 25ns!) it reflects that power back into the power line where it finds somewhere else to be dissipated, i.e. something else in the house that isn't protected, or if you had them on all outlets then back into the power grid! it's a really, really bad idea when you look at the details. that energy has to go somewhere. a surge arrestor absorbs it, usually harmlessly (or the surge arrestor fails shorted afterwards, having still protected your' equipment but then needing to be replaced, for a lot less than your other equipment cost). and again, this unit is so inductive that any change in load current or turning something that's "protected" off will actually create a voltage spike, on the "protected" side and the other side of his unit! it will in fact shorten the life of equipment in your' house including that which is supposedly protected by it. > Audiophiles on this list should be aware that Adcom has licensed this > technology for their latest power line filters (or at least one model, I am > not sure if they offer several) I believe they call it "ILS-- If Lightning > Strikes", or something like that. Additionally, there is a Brick Wall audio > specific model and web page. My first Brick Wall unit was for my hi-fi > system. It is a very good line noise filter for audio use, and actually > protects the equipment, unlike megabuck audiophile units. see, that's one of the sure signs that it's snake oil! a specific unit for audi equipment. audio equipment is actually less vulnerable to damage than computer equipment if anything, and certainly doesn't require a "special" unit for protection. this guy is playing on fear and ignorance as marketing people often do. and a patent does not mean that something is a good idea, just that it's unique. you don't even have to prove that something works to get a patent (other than perpetual motion..), in fact you don't even have to have a prototype to get a patent. i could get a patent for surge protection based on the idea that firing a shot gun into the air during thunder storms reduces surges (which i don't think it would, but i could still get a patent for the idea if i wanted to waste my time and money and thought i could convince others to buy it). > For phone and TV cable lines, the Brick Wall company recommended that I use > units by Citel. I use their B280 T/MJ6 on my phone line in front of the > modem. mov's, and more mov's, or surge protectors. i have an email from someone who makes thier own improved surge arrestor, which is similar to good commercial units. it's protected his computer and phone from several shorts between the power companies high voltage 6,000+V line and his phone line. it uses mov's (or znr's) and fuses, which is the right way. this is a much, much higher energy surge than most people will ever see. > The best phone line surge technology is the Optilator. Most home users > can't justify the expense of this unit. > http://members.tripod.com/~StorminProtection/index-6.html if it's an online ups, yes, it is the best. if it's a variation of the brick wall, it's the worst. > The Brick Wall and Citel units cost more than computer users are used to > spending in the computer market. You have to decide how much your equipment > and data are worth. Finally, I always unplug in a thunderstorm and try to > unplug the modem when I am not using it. I feel that I am more vulnerable > from the phone line than the AC line with the Brick Wall in place. unplugging, if you unplug the phone line etc. during a thunderstorm is the best protection. the reason the brick wall units cost more is because the people making them are greedy scam artist, not because they are better! they have a patent, they can charge whatever they want. if it was really good technology, the people who sell huge protectors for commercial installations would have licensed it by now, they sell equipment costing thousands of dollars to protect millions of dollars of equipment. the brick wall concept is a fraud, plain and simple. if you are using a brick wall i suggest that you throw that brick into the nearest lake and go buy something that's actually properly designed rather than something that's designed to be different but not better with slick but bogus technical explanations. i'm sorry to rant, but i've done a lot of high end electronics design, i've always been interested in high voltage and power surges and i've researched it, and i understand how the brick wall is supposed to work, which makes limited sense on paper, and does produce good test results in an artificial test environment that wasn't designed to debunk it but rather to verify that mov based units meant certain performance levels (which they do!). the brick wall is a terrible waste of money and copper wire. you don't want that much inductance to be a part of a filter precisely because it will create large voltage spikes under many different conditions, it will make life harder for many power supplies, and it will actually waste power and shorten the life of equipment you've connected to it. -- Why are republicans afraid of the U.N. observing our elections? 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