[RFI] Recommendation needed: Whole house surge protection

[Mike King - KM0T]

All,

I have specified service entrance layer and distribution panel layer TVSS -
SPDs for almost 30 years on commercial projects.  The only one I use is from
"Current Technology", even on public projects.  Never had one fail except
when the electrician hooked up 480V to a 208V unit.  It worked for three
days before it blew... :)

Two styles, one with a "selenium rectifier" that protects the MOVs from
extreme overvoltage (service entrance- big bucks) (i.e. the one that blew,
the selenium rectifier took 3 days to fail, constant clamp around 250V or so
till toast), and ones without - MOV only units. - Residential or commercial,
panel level protection.

I Have one of the MOV only units in my house, cost a few bucks for sure,
never had a problem.  Have lots of electronics to protect.  Your mileage may
vary... 

I feel there is lots of snake oil out there in terms of TVSS-SPDS, so I
continue to go with what I know works, although I take a lot of flak for
single sourcing a product. If they don't like it, I tell them we will take
it out of the project and they can purchase on their own.

Without proper grounding, they are virtually worthless.  Direct lightning
strike, all bets are off.

If your looking for your house, look at the lower level non-selenium
"current guard" devices.  Be sure your grounding is proper.

https://tnbpowersolutions.com/products/current_technology/currentguard-serie
s/

The Transguard series is non-selenium also, but still quite expensive.

Find an electrician you know and get a quote.... see what you can live
with....good luck.

73

Mike - KM0T
Michael A King, PE
EDA Inc.

-----Original Message-----
From: RFI <rfi-bounces at contesting.com> On Behalf Of Steve Kurtzman
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2018 1:02 PM
To: ericrosenberg.dc at gmail.com
Cc: pvrc at mailman.qth.net; rfi at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [RFI] Recommendation needed: Whole house surge protection

UL calls them Surge Protective Devices or SPDs (formerly TVSS).  Common
heavy duty commercial mfrs are Liebert, APD, APC, Eaton, Siemens, GE and
Square D but you probably don't want to spend that kind of money.  It's like
insurance.  How much is enough?

They are separated into Categories A, B and C with 'C' being the service
entrance panel and 'A' being the receptacle or power strip.   I've seen all
of the these submitted on (commercial) projects but have no recommendations.

http://www.ecmweb.com/power-quality/understanding-surge-protective-device-ra
tings

RE previous posts:
A whole-house protector won't protect against direct lightning strikes or
sustained overvoltage caused by HV lines touching 120/240V lines

73
Steve W7SJK





On Sun, Apr 29, 2018 at 8:45 PM Eric Rosenberg <ericrosenberg.dc at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I'm interested in having a whole house surge (AC) protector installed.
>
>
>
> How does one size it, and can anyone recommended a manufacturer (and 
> particular model)?
>
>
>
> Thanks & 73,
>
>
>
> Eric W3DQ
>
> Washington, DC
>
> _______________________________________________
> RFI mailing list
> RFI at contesting.com
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