Whole House Surge Protector

[mathjak107]

the better units have replaceable "shock absorber's "

they can take quite a few punches but like a boxer taking to many hits they weaken after each good one .

some like mcg have indicators that let you know when you took one punch to many .

they don't actually absorb these surges and spikes , like a martial artist they deflect them to ground and shunt them away so it each hit is not as bad as one would think .

no , none of these units are for lightning ..

[Nonesuch]

Originally Posted by Corvette Ministries

We have a Leviton and had it installed by an electrician. Definitely not a DIY job.

If you are comfortable working in the load panel, whole house surge can be a DIY job.

It's just like installing a double-handle breaker, turn off the main incoming power and you can do it safely.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PqO0aQaGDY

[Ralph_Kirk]

Originally Posted by Nonesuch

If you are comfortable working in the load panel, whole house surge can be a DIY job.

It's just like installing a double-handle breaker, turn off the main incoming power and you can do it safely.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PqO0aQaGDY

Yes, it's not technically difficult at all.

What could be difficult is positioning the surge protector itself near the panel. In a former house of mine, the panel was in an unfinished basement, set between two studs with plenty of room all around. That was a snap to install.

In my current house, the panel is mounted outside on a brick wall--a more difficult proposition. I'm prepared to drill and cut brick and run conduit, but I'm an outlier in the DIY department.

As mentioned, no surge protector is going to protect from a direct lightning strike. A spark that has already crossed miles of airgap is not going to be stopped by any gap in a household. But it will protect against a lot of surges that the line has picked up inductively from nearby strikes.

All that I've seen have an indicator LED to let you know when it's finally worn out.

[westom]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

no , none of these units are for lightning ..

Any protector that does not define protection from lightning is wasted money. Since protectors (with spec numbers) that define that protection cost about $1 per protected appliance. And have been found in all facilities that cannot have damage even over 100 years ago.

Do they degrade? Yes. And then we include numbers. Effective protectors remains functional for many decades after many direct lightning strikes. Yes it degrades - eventually.

Any protector that operates as a 'shock absorber' is trying to 'block' a surge. Effective protectors neer do that.

A typical lighting strike is 20,000 amps. So a minimal 'whole house' protector is 50,000 amps. If that is not sufficient, then a 100,000 amp 'whole house' protector is properly earthed.

No protector does protection - not one. A protector never does protection. Unlike plug-in protectors (UPS or power conditioners), an effective protector makes a low impedance (ie less than 10 foot) connection to what does protection - single point earth ground.

Effective protection from all surges (including and not limited to lightning) will always answer this question. Where do hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate?

Above numbers define protector life expectancy over many decades and many direct lightning strikes. A low impedance connection to and the quality of single point earth ground defines protection during each surge. What requires most attention? 'Whole house' protectors are simple and well proven science. The art of protection is how it is earthed. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.

Any protection recommendation that does not protect from direct lightning strikes is best ignored. Every town has routine examples of that protection. For a home, it costs about $1 per protected appliance. And comes from other companies well known for integrity.

That is only a 'secondary' protection layer. One should also inspect his 'primary' surge protection layer. Plenty more to learn. Many questions should exist.