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Re: [TowerTalk] Fwd: WHOLE HOUSE SURGE SUPRESSORS

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Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Fwd: WHOLE HOUSE SURGE SUPRESSORS
From: "Paul Christensen" <w9ac@arrl.net>
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 14:54:42 -0500
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
> So when you buy a generic surge protected power strip, do they have the 3
> way MOV protection installed in them?

Yes, nearly all of them do -- even commercial grade products.  For example, 
two years ago, I ran a pair of dedicated 20A branch circuits into the shack. 
Each branch was terminated into separate Leviton hospital-grade duplex 
receptacles with "3-mode MOV protection."  It was painful mistake because, I 
paid about $45 ea. for the receptacles.  About half the cost is due to the 
MOV protection -- and the other half because of the superior quality 
hardware used in hospital grade devices.  I would have been better off 
simply sticking with only hospital-grade receptacles without MOV protection. 
Or, even industrial-grade receptacles for a few dollars each.

Going the SurgeX route is pretty expensive by typical ham budgets.  I guess 
its all a matter of what someone wants to pay for a given level of 
protection.  I would first put my money into a whole-house SPD, then later 
consider a single-mode SPD for the shack, home theatre, etc.

Paul, W9AC

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Robinson" <markrob@mindspring.com>
To: <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com>; <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2011 2:18 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Fwd: WHOLE HOUSE SURGE SUPRESSORS



>
>
> Mark N1UK
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jim Brown" <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com>
> To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
> Sent: Monday, 03 January, 2011 1:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Fwd: WHOLE HOUSE SURGE SUPRESSORS
>
>
>> Paul is exactly right.  I've spent the last 40 years in pro audio and
>> large sound systems, where lots of expensive equipment is
>> interconnected.  We learned about the issues that Paul is talking about
>> the hard way, and came to the same conclusions that he is articulating.
>> The SurgeX products are specifically marketed to the pro audio world,
>> and are highly respected.  I began specifying them for all of the large
>> systems I designed about 15 years ago. About the same time, I bought
>> them to protect the expensive gear in my home and office.  About 7 years
>> ago, SurgeX began hiring me to teach classes on Power and Grounding at
>> industry conferences, and to write a tutorial on the subject.  I'm still
>> teaching those classes, and recently updated the tutorial to cover power
>> systems outside North America.  Less than 5% of the class content
>> addresses  lightning protection or their products.
>>
>> It's also ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL that everything connected to the power
>> system be properly bonded together per NEC. This includes EVERY ground
>> rod, the CATV ground, the TELCO ground, all antenna grounds, the shack
>> ground, conductive cold water, and any building structural steel.
>>
>> BTW -- the SurgeX and Brickwall products are based on the same rather
>> interesting patent. Rather than being shorted out by an MOV, the surge
>> is stored in a large inductor, then discharged slowly back into the line
>> after the event.   Thus, the surge protector does not raise the
>> potential of the equipment ground, where it cause failures of
>> interconnected equipment.  An important limitation of this concept is
>> that it is not practical to build inductors rated for circuits of more
>> than about 30A.
>>
>> 73, Jim K9YC
>>
>> On 1/3/2011 7:59 AM, Paul Christensen wrote:
>>> Surge diversion to the ground conductor can raise the ground potential
>>> unequally between equipment.  If the rise and fall of the ground
>>> potential
>>> is equal across interconnected equipment on a branch circuit, there's
>>> little
>>> issue.  During a surge event, small amounts of resistance can create
>>> large
>>> amounts of potential difference between grounded equipment.
>>>
>>> By storing the surge energy and slowly dissipating it onto the neutral 
>>> (a
>>> conductor actually meant for carrying current), the surge event does not
>>> create a potential difference between grounded equipment:
>>>
>>>   http://www.surgex.com/library/22001.html
>>>
>>> http://www.brickwall.com/how-it-works.html
>>>
>>> > From the descriptions in the above links, you can see why the ONLY
>>> > place for
>>> "all three modes" of MOV protection is at the service entrance.
>>>
>>
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