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devolic
Premium Member
join:2001-11-22
Oscoda, MI

devolic to westom

Premium Member

to westom

Re: [Info] 12-Outlet Home/Office Surge Protector w/Phone/Etherne

said by westom:

said by davidhoffman:

It is better to have the Belkin damaged in a surge than the modem.

That assumes a protector will somehow stop what three miles of sky could not. Instead, remember how electricity works. If a surge is incoming to the protector, then the same current is outgoing into the appliance. Incoming current and outgoing current are simultaneous. Long afterwards, something in that path fails.

When a protector is grossly undersized, then a surge too tiny to overwhelm protection inside the appliance can destroy the undersized protector. That protector failure then gets the naive to only assume, "My protector sacrificed itself to save my computer." Nonsense. The computer saved itself. A protector was only a profit center.

Informed consumers spend much less for protection that actually protects everything; even from a direct lightning strike. Effective protectors do not fail. Protector failure, even during a lightning strike, is completely unaceeptable. That superior solution even costs less money; about $1 per protected appliance.

Cable needs no protector. Best protection is an existing wire from that cable to earth ground. What does a protector do? Makes the same connection only when a utility wire cannot connect to earth directly. Protection is always about the earth ground; not about a protector.

Cable techs will even recommend removing that Belkin. It does not do even claim that protection. Can sometimes make damage to adjacent appliances easier. And only diminishes cable signals.

so what are you basically saying
westom
join:2009-03-15

westom

Member

said by devolic:

so what are you basically saying

Cable needs no protector. Best protection is an existing wire from that cable to earth ground. What does a protector do? Makes the same connection only when a utility wire cannot connect to earth directly. Protection is always about the earth ground; not about a protector.

BTW who is responsible for maintaining that ground? You. Nobody else. You are responsible for the common earth ground shared by cable, telephone, satellite dish and AC electric. That ground is essential for human safety (as defined by code). And also does another function - transistor safety. Inspect it. Or hire someone to identify it.