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Come home and the tv does not turn on, ps3 doesn’t turn on, sound system clicks on but immediately clicks off. All three of these devices are on the same surge protector. “Ok so it failed and everything’s fried” but, other devices on surge protector work fine. No smoke no smells no visible damage to anything. Nothing else in the house is knocked out, clock on microwave still reads, so the power didn’t reset.
Very mild thunderstorm, but I guess that means nothing, a lighting strike is a lighting strike.
However, wouldn’t it affect all electronics? Or at least all electronics on the same outlet?
The surge protector I have, while I’m sure not invincible, has very high reviews. The green “protected” light was and is still on. To my understanding in an adverse event a red light would come on, but it has not.
Even the cable is still going strong and that’s usually the first thing that gives up in a storm.
Any explanation? I’m not an electronics guy by any means. I’ve got a basic multimeter but know how to use it for troubleshooting automobile issues. Should I contact the manufacturer for a malfunction?
Edit/update: after plugging devices in and out attempting to turn off and on and using different outlets the PlayStation 3 came back to life. It also comes on again on the surge protector. No such luck yet for the tv and audio system
First a surge is a microseconds event; a current inside hunting for best connections to earth. It is incoming to everything. But it only finds an outgoing path via somethings.
To have damage, the current must have both an incoming and outgoing path - simultaneously.
That current found best paths to earth destructively via three appliances. Wores, an adjacent protector can give a surge even more potentially destructive paths.
Incoming on AC main. Outgoing would be obvious for two devices - TV and game connect to incoming utility wires that must already have effective (properly connected to earth) protection. So those are a best incoming and outgoing surge path.
Second, notice many appliances undamaged because they were not on adjacent protectors. (Or were they protected by invisible protectors?) A protector too close to appliances and too far from earth ground can even give a surge more wires to find earth ground destructively via adjacent appliances.
Third, apparently you did not properly earth one 'whole house' protector. That '$1 per protected appliance' solution is the solution always implemented in facilities that cannot have damage. And is unknown to a majority only educated by hearsay, wild speculation, advertising, and subjective reasoning.
No protector does protection. Not one. An effective protectors connects a surge (ie direct lightning strike) to earth BEFORE it can enter. Then a surge is not anywhere inside hunting for earth destructively via appliances. Then even a plug-in protector is protected.
What is the most critical item that defines protection? Single point earth ground. Even the world's best 'whole house' protector is ineffective if not connected low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) to earth ground. Wall receptacle safety ground clearly is not earth ground.
Most will never recommend this superior and many times less expensive solution. Most do not learn from over 100 years of well proven science. Most are only educated by advertising, hearsay, and soundbytes. Reality (as demonstrated) requires many paragraphs. Protection is always about how hundreds of thousands of joules are harmlessly absorbed by a low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) connection to single point earth ground.
Most will never recommend this superior and many times less expensive solution. Most do not learn from over 100 years of well proven science. Most are only educated by advertising, hearsay, and soundbytes. Reality (as demonstrated) requires many paragraphs. Protection is always about how hundreds of thousands of joules are harmlessly absorbed by a low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) connection to single point earth ground.
Are you serious, or is this some kind of joke? "Reality" requires "many paragraphs"?
Reality is much simpler. Surge protection and lightning protection are different things, with lightning protection much more difficult (both voltage and current are much higher). Plug in surge protectors do not protect against lightning induced voltage spikes, but equipment sensitivity varies.
I recently lost a DSL modem, phone base station, printer and garage door opener due to a nearby lightning strike, but nothing else. Go figure.
I recently lost a DSL modem, phone base station, printer and garage door opener due to a nearby lightning strike, but nothing else. Go figure.
A perfect example of reasoning from soundbyte logic, wild speculation, a conclusion only from observation, insufficient information, and subjective reasoning (also called junk science).
Surge on AC mains was incoming to everything (dishwasher, GFCIs, central air, clocks, etc). A longitudinal mode type surge, incoming to everything, hunts for earth ground. An obviously best outgoing path to earth was via a DSL modem, phone appliance, and garage door opener. Those are often a best connection to earth; are easily damaged. Therefore robust protection already in other appliances was not overwhelmed; protected by those destroyed appliances.
Protection is always about how that electric current connects to earth.
Go figure? Learning many paragraphs of facts and numbers explains that damage. And explains why damage is directly traceable to a homeowner's mistake. A surge current was not connected harmlessly to earth before entering. So that surge was all but invited inside to destructively hunt for earth ground. Listed were appliances that made a best outgoing path to earth. Listed are appliances that protected the furnace, LED & CFL bulbs, microwave, door bell, refrigerator, clock radios, dimmer switches, and smoke detectors.
Effective surge protection means direct lightning strikes without damage. Plug-in protector means no effective (near zero) surge protection. Something completely different, also called a surge protector, means everything would have been protected. But again, that means learning from many paragraphs - and numbers. Those explain what will be and what will not be damaged.
Effective protection will always answer this question. Where are hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly absorbed? Single point earth ground. And one 'whole house' protector makes a low impedance (ie less than 10 foot) hardwire connection. As proven by over 100 years of science and experience. As found in facilities in every town that cannot have damage. But clearly did not exist resulting in DSL and garage door opener damage.
Next quote, from an AT&T Technical Forum, further explains why DSL damage happened, why it was directly traceable to human mistakes, and what is always necessary to protect from all surges including direct lightning strikes.
From an AT&T Forum entitled "How can I protect my DSL/dialup equipment from surges?":
Quote:
Surge protection takes on many forms, but always involves the following components: Grounding bonding and surge protectors. ...
Grounding is required to provide the surge protector with a path to dump the excess energy to earth. A proper ground system is a mandatory requirement of surge protection. Without a proper ground, a surge protector has no way to disburse the excess energy and will fail to protect downstream equipment.
Bonding is required to electrically connect together the various grounds of the services entering the premises. Without bonding, a surge may still enter a premise after firing over a surge protector, which will attempt to pass the excess energy to its ground with any additional energy that the services surge protector ground cannot instantly handle, traveling into and through protected equipment, damaging that equipment in the process. ...
Now, if all the various service entrance grounds are bonded together there are no additional paths to ground through the premise. Even if all of the grounds cannot instantly absorb the energy, the lack of additional paths to ground through the premise prevents the excess energy from seeking out any additional grounds through that premise and the electronic equipment within. As such, the excess energy remains in the ground system until dissipated, sparing the protected equipment from damage. ...
By far, the whole house hardwired surge protectors provide the best protection. When a whole house primary surge protector is installed at the service entrance, it will provide a solid first line of defense against surges which enter from the power company's service entrance feed. These types of protectors can absorb/pass considerably more energy than any other type of protector, and if one does catastrophically fail, it will not typically be in a living space. ...
Plug in strip protectors are, at best, a compromise. At worst, they may cause more damage than they prevent. While they may do an acceptable job of handling hot to neutral surges, they do a poor job of handling any surge that must be passed to ground. ...
Then, to add insult to injury, some strip protectors add Telco and/or LAN surge protection within the same device, trying to be an all-in-one sale. Remember bonding? When Telco or LAN protection is added to a strip protector, if the premise ground, which is not designed to handle surges, cannot handle all of the energy, guess where that excess energy seeks out the additional grounds? You got it! The Telco and LAN connections now becomes the path, with disastrous results to those devices. ...
Well, lightning damage is confirmed. House in the neighborhood took a direct hit. Every single electrical devices in his house is shot. Couple other houses with some issues.
Contacted insurance company. $1000 deductible on lightning damage. Unable to obtain a clear answer as to how they determine value of items damaged.
Contacted surge protector company, claims department says there is no deductible or threshold to be met. Must send in surge protector along with serial numbers/models and receipts if applicable. Repair estimates may be requested. Payment will be disbursed based on determined current fair market value of item or cost of repair.
Westom you seem very knowledgeable however your post was hard to comprehend for a nitwit like me.
How would the average homeowner go about applying whole house single point protection that you refer to?
How would the average homeowner go about applying whole house single point protection that you refer to?
First, walk into any big box hardware store (ie Lowes, Home Depot) or any electrical supply house. Ask for their 'whole house' protector. A technology so old and so well proven as to be sold just like potatoes - a commodity. Minimally sufficient one sells for as little as $60.
That is a protector - not protection. If trying to match what is posted with what others believe, then one cannot possibly learn this stuff. Many urban myths must be unlearned. No protector does protection. An effective solution means protection even from direct lightning strikes and other greater threats when a protector connects low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) to protection. Apparently that was obvious because you did not ask for clarification, details, and numbers.
Second, was earth ground inspected? 'Earth ground' was stated repeatedly because it must have most all your attention. Since you did not ask, then everything that follows assumes you know what it is and what it must do. After all, that was taught in elementary school science.
A homeowner is responsible for providing and inspecting earth ground. Since nothing was asked about THE most critical protection item, then you already knew; are not confused.
So start with what all must know of - earth ground. Where is it? Describe it? Does it exist? How long is a hardwire connection to the main breaker box (or where a 'whole house' protector will be located)? Any bends in that wire? Is that wire separated from other non-grounding wires?
Third, your telco switching center connects all over town. So it suffers about 100 surges with each storm. How often is your town without phone service for four days while replacing that $multi-million switching computer? Never? Because properly earthed 'whole house' protection routinely protects from direct lightning strikes.
Your risk is significantly less. A potentially destructive surge occurs maybe once every seven years. A number that can vary significantly even in a same town. Even geology defines risk. Protection from direct lightning strikes is routine when a 'whole house' protector is properly earthed. As noted explicitly and understood - so no questions were asked.
Surge protection is about protecting from all types of surges including direct lightning strikes. Damage so routinely averted that damage is considered directly traceable to human mistakes. The science is that well proven. And was stated bluntly and specifically. So what causes confusion? After all, this is what Franklin demonstrated over 250 years ago. All were taught this in elementary school science.
If confused, well, it is difficult to believe. Never detailed specifically is anything that was confusing. This should be obvious. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.
I've "known" westom from back in the usenet days under a different 'nym. He does know his s***, far far better than others.
Bottom line: whole house surge protector, ground rod that has been tested by the proper equipment to provide a low resistance to the water table or whatever constitutes the local primary ground potential "reservoir", all incoming telco and cable grounds tied to that exact same ground rod as close to the electrical entrance as possible. Anything less and anything ancillary to that presents the possibility of "ground loops" and damage.
He and I have minor quibbles about the effects of the false leaders and RF induction potential and conductivity over surfaces that normally act as insulators to low voltage DC, but he was the one who convinced me of the overall superiority of single point grounding, when at all possible.
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