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LittleBill
join:2013-05-24

LittleBill to garys_2k

Member

to garys_2k

Re: [Electrical] Whole House Surge Protector Lost All Its Magic Smoke

the units are solely sacrificial. i have the big brother unit.
»www.amazon.com/gp/produc ··· F8&psc=1

it is wired to the first 240 breaker after the main breaker.

remember this is kind of designed for HIGH HIGH voltage. not high amperage.

when the high voltage comes in, it goes path of least resistance, hopefully this is the first breaker wired with 10 guage wire into the surge supression panel. mine is bonded via a 10 guage neutral wire. thus shorting to ground/neutral

these are designed as second level of defense, first is tied directly into the meter.

these are designed to get the voltage down enough for the 3rd level surge suppressor, or surge strip to be able to actually stop it.

remember if the lights went out, the surge may have worked but it did not stop all the voltage since it burned out. that is why they recommended 3 steps

that said the levition pictured only has a 5 or 10 year warranty and a lower total damage policy

the one i linked is warranted for the life of the house


Lurch77
Premium Member
join:2001-11-22
Green Bay, WI

Lurch77

Premium Member

said by LittleBill:

the one i linked is warranted for the life of the house

Do you happen to know if the warranty is only valid if it is installed by a certified electrician? If a homeowner installs it I would imagine the warranty may not be valid? My field of work is HVAC, and that is how a lot of warranties work for us, so that's my guess with these, too.

Reason I ask is I am very interested in one of these, and am more than capable of installing it myself. But the warranty is a big benefit of owning the part.
LittleBill
join:2013-05-24

LittleBill

Member

said by Lurch77:

said by LittleBill:

the one i linked is warranted for the life of the house

Do you happen to know if the warranty is only valid if it is installed by a certified electrician? If a homeowner installs it I would imagine the warranty may not be valid? My field of work is HVAC, and that is how a lot of warranties work for us, so that's my guess with these, too.

Reason I ask is I am very interested in one of these, and am more than capable of installing it myself. But the warranty is a big benefit of owning the part.

i don't know honestly. i expect that is the case, but i do everything myself and have friends that are certified electricians if they want to play that card.

that being said it is dirt simple to install.

you have to mail the unit back to them to make sure it did not take a direct strike from lightening (not covered) so im not sure how they would prove it was installed correctly

i have read multiple posts of people using the warranty on the unit so... your mileage may vary

Lurch77
Premium Member
join:2001-11-22
Green Bay, WI

Lurch77

Premium Member

Thanks for the input, medbuyer and LittleBill.
said by LittleBill:

so im not sure how they would prove it was installed correctly

For my work the homeowner would usually have to have the receipt/customer service report that the contractor provides them when he installs the part. And often any warranty work needs to be done by the contractor to apply, as well. Heck, I installed an ECM blower motor in my own furnace. Wisconsin has the Focus On Energy program that gives me $125 back for replacing my PSC motor. But I had to fill out a customer service report from my company and give it to myself, to send in as proof a "certified professional" installed the motor.
LittleBill
join:2013-05-24

LittleBill

Member

said by Lurch77:

Thanks for the input, medbuyer and LittleBill.

said by LittleBill:

so im not sure how they would prove it was installed correctly

For my work the homeowner would usually have to have the receipt/customer service report that the contractor provides them when he installs the part. And often any warranty work needs to be done by the contractor to apply, as well. Heck, I installed an ECM blower motor in my own furnace. Wisconsin has the Focus On Energy program that gives me $125 back for replacing my PSC motor. But I had to fill out a customer service report from my company and give it to myself, to send in as proof a "certified professional" installed the motor.

i guess my buddy would have to write a receipt for me then if it went that far

if they try to screw me, they will, they can just say lightening hit it. regardless im happy with the protection. my UPS's engage ALOT during storms so it makes me feel better

Lurch77
Premium Member
join:2001-11-22
Green Bay, WI

Lurch77

Premium Member

said by LittleBill:

regardless im happy with the protection.

I think that's the key. We have had a surge a couple years ago that killed a fairly new DVD player and a radio. The surge protector would have paid for itself with that alone. We have so many expensive electronic appliances and devices in this house, it gets expensive to install point of service surge devices everywhere. We do that with our big TV and related components. But there are other smaller TVs, the built in microwave, dishwasher, furnace, etc, that could use some additional protection.
LittleBill
join:2013-05-24

LittleBill

Member

agreed, i have 6 upss in my house. it adds up stupidly fast, but when i constantly hear them tripping on i feel good.

i live in the country our power is pretty rough compared to what i am use to , which ironically was the country as well