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dandelion
MVM
join:2003-04-29
Germantown, TN

dandelion

MVM

House Surge Protector

I recently got one installed having to get a larger circuit box to add it. There are two green lights suppose to show it is working. Last night during a storm my 2 hour battery backup on the computer clicked twice like it was ready to come on. Should this have happened if the surge protector was installed correctly? I ask because the electrician thought he had all wires hooked up twice and didn't... once my AC, the other time almost half of the house. He eventually got those connected, yet I have no proof but two little green lights that the surge protector is working. Would appreciate any information from someone knowledgeable with this.

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6

Premium Member

The surge protection only limits the voltage so it does not rise beyond a certain value. It has no effect other than that.

Your UPS was probably seeing voltage drops due to momentary voltage sags...

Dogwood
Premium Member
join:2001-01-14
Texas

Dogwood to dandelion

Premium Member

to dandelion
The surge protector should be installed correctly, as indicated by the 2 green lights.
Anything other than the 2 green lights and something is wrong and it should be inspected and/or replaced.

dandelion
MVM
join:2003-04-29
Germantown, TN

dandelion

MVM

John Galt6 See ProfileThank you, didn't think of voltage drop after the surge...that would explain it. Dogwood See Profile good to know I can count on those lights to let me know it IS actually working.
HarryH3
Premium Member
join:2005-02-21

HarryH3

Premium Member

Also keep in mind that those protectors are there to prevent seriously high voltage from coming into your house. If one leg jumps from 120 to 150 volts the surge protector won't stop it. The ones I've seen don't clamp the voltage until it's at 600 volts or so. They'll probably keep your house from burning down, but the circuit board in your microwave might still get toasted.

dandelion
MVM
join:2003-04-29
Germantown, TN

dandelion

MVM

said by HarryH3:

Also keep in mind that those protectors are there to prevent seriously high voltage from coming into your house. If one leg jumps from 120 to 150 volts the surge protector won't stop it. The ones I've seen don't clamp the voltage until it's at 600 volts or so. They'll probably keep your house from burning down, but the circuit board in your microwave might still get toasted.
Hmmm, that is not good then. I installed it at the recommendation of the AC guy working on my heat pump. Have had problems with it. :/

whizkid3
MVM
join:2002-02-21
Queens, NY

2 edits

whizkid3 to HarryH3

MVM

to HarryH3
said by HarryH3:

Also keep in mind that those protectors are there to prevent seriously high voltage from coming into your house. If one leg jumps from 120 to 150 volts the surge protector won't stop it. The ones I've seen don't clamp the voltage until it's at 600 volts or so. They'll probably keep your house from burning down, but the circuit board in your microwave might still get toasted.
All depends on the specs of the protector.

Bear in mind, that regarding voltage transients; 120 volts is NOT 120 volts. 120 volts is only the RMS average. Peak value of your average 120 volt AC power is just about 170 volts. Transient voltage surge supressors (TVSS), otherwise known as surge protection devices (SPDs), clip the voltage of transients (spikes) over a certain level, and shunt it to ground. The level that they clip at all depends on the model and what the value of the parts it is constructed with.

True - they may not save your electronic equipment; but that is what they are designed to do.

As far as the 'green lights' go; you would have two - one for each leg. They monitor the surge modules. Hopefully, when the modules can no longer protect against surges, its light will go off; turn red; etc. The surge modules in these type of devices are usually replaceable. They wear out, as they are giving 'their lives' to save your equipment. Why don't you post the make and model number (and maybe a photo)?

dandelion
MVM
join:2003-04-29
Germantown, TN

dandelion

MVM

I had a condenser and connector go out on the heat pump. I was advised if a surge protector was installed on the heat pump, it would only work once yet a whole house surge protector would help best.

whizkid3
MVM
join:2002-02-21
Queens, NY

1 edit

1 recommendation

whizkid3

MVM

said by dandelion:

I had a condenser and connector go out on the heat pump. I was advised if a surge protector was installed on the heat pump, it would only work once yet a whole house surge protector would help best.
Well that's partially wrong. Yes, a whole house surge protector, usually helps best. Unless the heat pump is at the other end of the house, and the transients are coming through their wiring. (Example, lightning induced voltage in the ground nearby the heat pump.) They could have installed the exact same surge protector at the heat pump itself. That would help better; but again, all bets are off if you have nearby currents from lightning, etc.

There are two goals with whole-house surge protectors for optimum performance:
1. make sure the wire between the bus in the panelboard is as short as possible. (It helps to increase its size, but not as much as you might think.) The point here, is to provide a very low impedance between the panelboard bus and the surge elements.
2. make sure all other wires to your equipment being protected is as long as possible. (Yeah, that's not something you would really do. But the point is, more impedance in this wire, will reduce any transients, and increase the chances of it being shunted to ground through the SPD successfully.)

Selection of the SPD, is often overlooked. Or the contractor buys the cheapest one he/she can find. In selection, you want a device that can handle as large amount of energy as possible. And you want the clipping voltage just over the line voltage - maybe 10% to 15% higher.

dandelion
MVM
join:2003-04-29
Germantown, TN

dandelion

MVM

Thanks whizkid3 See Profile.. actually the heat pump is on the other side of the house from the panel and surge protector. I can only hope it does some good at this point having gone through about 4 condensers now before they figured out it was the connector also. Considering the heat pump is about 5 years old and no problems previously, I can only hope the house surge protector will not only help that but other appliances at least a little.

SmokChsr
Who let the magic smoke out?
Premium Member
join:2006-03-17
Saint Augustine, FL

1 recommendation

SmokChsr to dandelion

Premium Member

to dandelion
said by dandelion:

I had a condenser and connector go out on the heat pump.
When you say condenser, is that the coil or the compressor? As for the connector most often when they fail it's not because of a surge, but because of thermal runaway due to a poor connection. Unfortunately the surge protector will do nothing to prevent that.

UHF
All static, all day, Forever
MVM
join:2002-05-24

UHF

MVM

said by SmokChsr:

said by dandelion:

I had a condenser and connector go out on the heat pump.
When you say condenser, is that the coil or the compressor? As for the connector most often when they fail it's not because of a surge, but because of thermal runaway due to a poor connection. Unfortunately the surge protector will do nothing to prevent that.
Or does he mean capacitor? Also sometimes referred to as a condenser.

dandelion
MVM
join:2003-04-29
Germantown, TN

dandelion

MVM

It wasn't a coil, it was a small part that went in the actual heat pump though apparently the not-too-knowledgeable one kept replacing it with one non-standard for my unit and didn't check the connection. I have another company coming out today to do a diagnostic on the heat pump. If all OK, am hoping to have AC the rest of this hot summer.

Thanks for relieving my mind on the surge protector though.
TheMG
Premium Member
join:2007-09-04
Canada
MikroTik RB450G
Cisco DPC3008
Cisco SPA112

2 edits

TheMG to HarryH3

Premium Member

to HarryH3
said by HarryH3:

Also keep in mind that those protectors are there to prevent seriously high voltage from coming into your house. If one leg jumps from 120 to 150 volts the surge protector won't stop it. The ones I've seen don't clamp the voltage until it's at 600 volts or so. They'll probably keep your house from burning down, but the circuit board in your microwave might still get toasted.
Which is where UPSs serve another function: to disconnect from line power whenever the voltage is much too high.

Also bear in mind that nowadays a lot of electronic devices use "universal" switchmode power supplies which will operate comfortably up to 250VAC or so.

Anyways, that is besides the point. TVSS where never intended to stop a sustained over-voltage condition, they would burn up. A TVSS is intended to clamp down (reduce) the size of rapid voltage transients/spikes.