On my own system I have a DC suppressor from http://www.surgesuppression.com/
It's UL listed with a 25-year warranty. Not as cheap as a Delta (or Citel as far as I know) though, but I felt a lot more confident with this given our crazy lightning storms in FL.
DKC -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Delta LAs From: Mick Abraham <[email protected]> To: RE-wrenches <[email protected]> Date: 2010/9/14 15:17
Citel products do have a listing mark but this is European style CE, not American style UL/ETL. Citel is reputedly working on American certification but one would be advised to not hold one's breath. The Citel products which mount to a DIN rail have an LED indicator which goes dark once the surge elements have been sacrificed. Also some of their units have an auxiliary switch which can remotely indicate a blown condition. This is in the form of dry contacts..a normally open and a normally closed one, so various indicator circuits can be designed around that. The contacts have a low amp AC rating and also a (lower amp) DC rating but I do not remember the numbers at present. Jolliness, Mick Abraham, Proprietor www.abrahamsolar.com <http://www.abrahamsolar.com> Voice: 970-731-4675 On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 12:43 PM, R Ray Walters <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: You could buy several ground rods for the cost of one Delta. Ground Impedance is the real issue. Both the Delta and the Polyphasor need a good ground to work. While I haven't seen much of a correlation between Deltas and reduced lightning damage, (lots of system damage with and without) I have found that well grounded systems (tied to a steel cased well) have never had a problem, even with direct strikes to a wind turbine (did lose the $40 turbine rectifier, but nothing else) I now own a clamp-on ground impedance tester, and the results were miserable. Some electrodes were over 800 ohms to ground! (code requires under 25 ohms) I'd spend more time and money reducing ground impedance, and then if it makes you feel good inside, throw the little "lightning faeries" in, if the AHJ isn't looking....... If its really lightning country, and a really expensive off grid system, I use Polyphasor, but they have their own issues. (very expensive, no UL listing, loose internal connections, nuisance tripping, need a large J-box to mount them inside, etc.) I haven't tried the Citel stuff, but it looks to be listed, and mounts on a DIN rail. After installing a couple hundred Deltas, I'd try something else at this point. R. Walters [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Solar Engineer On Sep 14, 2010, at 10:22 AM, Kristopher Schmid wrote:My thought here is that nothing will protect the equipment from a direct strike, but a near strike that may induce a significant surge may be absorbed by the LA and protect the equipment. I like the feedback so far. It would not break my heart to stop using them altogether.:-} Kris Legacy Solar 864 Clam Falls Trail Frederic, WI 54837 715-653-4295 [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> www.legacysolar.com <http://www.legacysolar.com> -----Original Message----- *From:* [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>] *On Behalf Of *August Goers *Sent:* Tuesday, September 14, 2010 10:39 AM *To:* RE-wrenches *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Delta LAs All - I guess my thought is a little off topic, but are lightning arrestors even worth using at all? My logic has always been that if lightning does indeed strike that it's likely going to blow the arrestor and and inverter. We don't have much of a lightning issue issue in the Bay Area so I don't have any direct experience. Best, August On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 6:29 AM, Kristopher Schmid <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: It is quite ironic that just a week after I posted a question to the group on testing the integrity of lightning arrestors, I had one apparently faulty out of the box. The manifest of this was interesting: when the AC LA (LA302R) was connected in parallel on the AC input to a SB3000 inverter, there was 125vac neutral to L1, 125vac neutral to L2, and 1Vac L1 to L2. SMA tech support suggested the LA as the issue and sure enough, it was. Attempting to test good and faulty arrestors with an ohmmeter gave the same result - off scale open. Any thoughts or comments from the group? Kris Schmid Legacy Solar 864 Clam Falls Trail Frederic, WI 54837 715-653-4295 [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> www.legacysolar.com <http://www.legacysolar.com/> _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm <http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm> Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org <http://www.members.re-wrenches.org/> -- August Goers VP, Engineering Luminalt Energy Corporation 1320 Potrero Avenue San Francisco, CA 94110 O: 415.641.4000 M: 415.559.1525 [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm <http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm> Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org <http://www.members.re-wrenches.org>_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm <http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm> Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org <http://www.members.re-wrenches.org> _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Options& settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules& etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
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