On Jul 19, 2:45 pm, Doug Brown <[email protected]> wrote: >. We've lost 3 computers in the last 4 years tolightningand around > 5 dsl filters have been fried outside of that. One of them actually blew > up and plastic shrapnel hit me in the head.
Either that energy dissipates harmlessly outside the building. Or that energy will hunt (and is finding) earth ground destructively via appliances. For over 100 years, buildings that can never suffer damage have been using the 'whole house' protector. So that direct lightning strikes do not 'explode' anything inside the house. And do not even harm operators attached to headsets. Every incoming wire inside every cable must connect to single point ground before entering the building. Then a surge has no reason to be inside the building. Cable TV is earthed directly - only by a wire. A wire that connects short (ie 'less than10 feet') to earth. Telephone cannot connect directly. So all telephone wires enter the building connected to a 'whole house' protector. A protector that is only as effective as the one item that only the homeowner is responsible for - single point earth ground. If the telco 'installed for free' protector is not earthed, then it (like all protectors everywhere in the world) cannot provide protection. And finally the wires that are not earthed and routinely carry surges destructively inside the building - AC electric. A lightning strike to AC wires down the street is a direct lightning strike to every household appliance. Which one is damaged? Which appliance makes the better connection to earth. If any AC wire enters the building without first connecting to single point earth ground, then a surge will go hunting inside the building. Either you earth every incoming AC wire - either directly or via a 'whole house' protector. Or you have no surge protection. No protection even if you have 1000 plug-in protectors inside. More responsible manufacturers sell effective solutions. Companies such as General Electric, Leviton, Square D, Keison, Intermatic, Siemens, Polyphaser, ABB, etc. A Cutler-Hammer solution sells in Lowes and Home Depot for less than $50. Hams often learn these 100 year old proven concepts from Polyphaser's legendary app notes: http://www.polyphaser.com/technical_notes.aspx Critical to effective protection is how earthing is connected. A 'less than 10 foot' connection. No sharp wire bends. Ground wire separated from all non-grounding wires and not inside metallic conduit. No splices. All grounds remains separate until all meet at the single point earthing electrode. Critical to protection is low wire impedance - not wire resistance. You have damage if you let surges hunt for earth via appliances - ie waste money on plug-in protectors. No protector does protection. Protection is always about earthing a surge before it can enter the building. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. The superior solution that also costs tens or 100 times less money. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Unique Geek" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek?hl=en.
