[TowerTalk] WHOLE HOUSE SURGE SUPPRESSORS may not cover lightning

[David Gilbert]

Before buying one, it is important to define what you want the whole 
house surge suppressor to do.  Do you have AC power surges, or are you 
looking for protection against lightning surges?   I carefully checked 
out the whole house surge suppressor heavily promoted by our local 
electrical utility only to discover that damage from lightning, either 
to the house and various electronic equipment or to the surge suppressor 
itself, was totally excluded from the warranty.  AC power surges, either 
from the utility itself or from nearby equipment (HVAC, etc) connected 
to the lines, was all that was covered.

There is some amount of jeopardy in assuming your definition of a power 
surge is the same as the manufacturer/supplier of the gear.

73,
Dave   AB7E





On 1/3/2011 6:41 AM, Hans Hammarquist wrote:
>   I have had "good luck" with individual protectors and consider that a better approach. I have had direct strikes twice in my house (The house was built 199 and I have a good lighting protection) and "only" had to replace the, now, burnt-out protectors. No other damages. Only once did I have an old TV going "99" but it didn't have a protector :-)
>
> If you consider a "whole house" protector you have make extremely well sure that it will protect your house. We have had several discussions regarding lighting protection of the shack from lighting-hits in a tower and the same discussion is valid for the house as well. You have to make sure the damaging surge is correctly lead away from the house and doesn't get some sneaky path through the house. (... something I am not too sure the "trained" installer knows all the time.)
>
> Hans - N2JFS
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jon Pearl - W4ABC<jonpearl at tampabay.rr.com>
> To: Dale M. Schwartz<dale at immlawfirm.com>
> Cc: towertalk at contesting.com<towertalk at contesting.com>
> Sent: Mon, Jan 3, 2011 1:01 am
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] WHOLE HOUSE SURGE SUPRESSORS
>
>
> Hi Dale.
>
>
>
> I've been in the fire service for 27 years now and I can't tell you the
>
> number of surge suppressors of the type that are typically installed on
>
> a 1/2" or 3/4' knockout hole*http://tinyurl.com/2cpxn7a *that created
>
> the structure fire that we were responding to.  On a couple of
>
> occasions, I've seen them violently shoot green flames out of them in
>
> every direction as they burned themselves to a cinder.
>
>
>
> My power company installs the meter base style suppressor which places
>
> it outside of the structure the majority of the time.  I'm sure that's
>
> probably what you're also looking at.
>
> http://progress-energy.com/custservice/flares/surgeprotect/appliances.asp
>
> http://www.metertreater.com/Homeowners.html
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> 73,
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>
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>
>
> Jon Pearl - W4ABC
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> www.w4abc.com
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>
> On 1/2/2011 11:04 PM, Dale M. Schwartz wrote:
>
>> Are the whole house surge superstore worth considering? If so, should I opt
> for the local power company installation ($9.00/month forever) or have an
>
> electrician install my own?
>
>>                  K4ROZ
>> Dale M. Schwartz&   Asso., LLP
>> Attorneys at Law--Immigration&
>>     Nationality Law
>> Suite 450 RiverEdge One
>> 5500 Interstate N. Pkwy. NW
>> Atlanta, GA 30328
>> Tel:  770 951-1100
>> Fax: 770 951-1113
>> www.immlawfirm.com
>>     PAST PRESIDENT: AMERICAN
>> IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASS'N
>>     ADJUNCT PROFESSOR: EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
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