Do surge protectors merely give us a false sense of security?

Technically, what electrical service in areas prone to lightning strikes needs is a proper (and adequate) lightning arrestor. A simple plug in device can only short-circuit a brief over-voltage surge, but shunting lightning to earth ground BEFORE it enters a household requires much more stout and sophisticated equipment installed by an electrician.

First of all, surge protectors don't always protect equipment plugged into them. They are designed to handle everyday surges, not lightning. Also, they must be plugged into a properly grounded outlet to do anything at all. If the outlet isn't grounded (a problem in older homes), then you might as well not even bother with the surge protector. The excess power has to have somewhere to go, and that somewhere is to ground.

With all of that said, nothing that I am aware of will protect against a lightning strike. The best policy is to physically unplug all of your delicate electronic equipment from the wall while there is a thunderstorm. I don't like it any better than you do, but it's necessary.

With all of that said, if you have properly grounded outlets and if there is no thunderstorm occurring then a surge protector will protect your equipment from spikes and surges, which happen frequently in an area like where I live. I have had to replace numerous monitors because I didn't plug them into the surge protector. Of course, when I saw lots of other people bringing their computers into the shop all of a sudden, I knew what had happened. Surge protectors are not worthless, but you need to know precisely what they will and will not do for you.

A complete and effective protection scheme should begin with a very good ground located OUTSIDE the home. Normally a ground brought into most homes starts at the breaker box/fuse panel. A good grounded electrical system within the home is a start but ground fault interupters are a must and protection must include ALL services that enter the home. Cable coax, whether from a cable drop from a pole, or coax from an outside antenna needs lightning arrestors. Phone lines and DSL lines need this too. Lightning can strike anywhere, especially on poles and can enter the home through any line. Many UPS units will stop surges in the power line but may be unusable after a strike. Some surge suppressors have jacks for pass-thru protection of coax and phone lines but that means the surges must enter the home before being routed to ground, not really much protection there but better than nothing. In the event of a direct strike, all gaurentees and promises are void. Even devices that are nowhere near sensitive electronics can be set aflame when unexpected surges enter a homes electrical wiring. Lightning rods mounted on highest points will help to attract and run to ground any close strikes but need to be replaced after any events.

Get real and get a battery backup. Then you can't be trashed. I have my computers, stereo equipment, 2 $10,000 sewing machines, a $30,000 quilting machine all on battery backup.

When it comes to the telephone line and TV cable, check with your suppliers and see what they offer for surge protection. If they don't offer anything check around at some electronics stores and find an open blow type that will open the circuit and protect your house. Don't go for the multi-purpose strips; line voltage + cable + telephone. If one section of it fails, the whole thing is junk.

The best advice, check with your homeowners insurance carrier. Some of them offer reductions in your rate for whole-house protection and may even recommend a type and even a specific brand and a qualified installer.

By the way, did you contact your homeowners insurance for coverage on your losses?

When purchasing a Surge Proctor look to see how it is rated. The higher the Joules rating the better it is. If you are using a fax machine or anything with a phone cord the surge suppressor should have an outlet to also protect the phone line surging along with the electricity. (There are also ones that will protect the cable cord as well.)

If you don't have these additional outlets protected, the only thing the SP will do is prevent the surge of electricity. A battery backup does just that. It will provide enough power to safely shut down the computer but does not in itself protect against surges.

The whole house surge protectors work great and are well worth the money. They will protect all electrical items throughout the house. (However they will not protect phone &/or cable cords.)

Nothing will protect against a lightening strike. The SP only protects against the surge of electricity that comes into it when the power is restored after it has gone out.

Short answer: Yes.

However, it is the cheapest form of potection available to date...if understood.

The example shown by R. Proffitt is an extreme case to cure the issue, but was neccessary under those conditions. For the average user like us, we live with what we can afford...and learning to 'unplug' when needed is much cheaper than replacement, just generally inconvenient.

Also do not make the assumption that the 'off' position of the strip switch will stop the surge. Total disconnect is the only positive separation. As mentioned, don't neglect the phone and cable lines...especially satellite cables as they can be rather hit-or-miss on whether they or the dish are grounded to the structure.

One other idea that may be helpful is wherever possible use 'wireless' connections. Then when the storms come you have less to remember to unplug. Simplistic, but effective.

I hope this helps.
L-8-R-B.

Lightning strikes you through all incoming cables and, if nearby enough, even also through induction ruining your electronic equipment without even a direct strike; to me it's obvious that the lightning in your case entered through the phonecable still connected to your all-in-one printer.
Surge protectors may be sufficient for electrical fluctuations but work at best, if you're lucky, in this case as a fuse; protection from a strike of hundred of thousands volts and about 100 kA are unsurvivable for the SP but, as stated, lightning finds more ways to enter.
As in fact lighning goes FROM (positive loaded) earth TO (negative loaded) the clouds you have several points that are suitable as a conductor; so a best you can do in a nearby thunderstorm is of course to close all windows and disconnect your electronic equipment, especially those that are connected to outdoors above-the-ground cables (as in the country often the case with telephone cables).
A little chance in your all-in-one a fuse is broken and must be replaced or you should see if you are assured against those eventualities.

I'm based a long way from South Carolina but we too suffer from violent electrical storms at certain times of the year.

I have surge protection but frankly I would not rely upon it to protect my equipment. The first moment I hear the rumble of thunder I turn everything off, unplug the mains feed and the telephone line - I've had a 'phone reduced to a heap of molten distorted plastic after a lightning strike. The surge protector is there in case there is a storm while I'm out...and then I'd keep my fingers crossed that it will actually protect!

It would have to be a heck of an important piece of work to persuade me that the risk of lightning strike was worth taking.

Actually it worked, you didn't have a "fire" in a worse case scenario. The damage was limited in its scope or reduced. At the same time a $20 surge protector if that *all* you counted on, is also not meant to be the total defense. Once you start researching all this, you find its part of a "package or scheme of defense" to help protect all that's connected.

All surge protectors are rated for certain "joule" level of protection and how it disapates any overloads/surges/hits/sags, etc.. As stated I mentioned above the overall defense includes a surge protector, UPS, line conditioner, and even home ckt. bkr. for dedicated AC line and grounding. Alas, many lightning strikes hit the grd. and/or exposed wiring travel back to the electrical items whatever they maybe. Depending again on how the strike and WHAT is 1st on the defense scheme gets hit. It's a serial line of attack, one item after another, it may jump(arc) if that powerful. The whole idea is to have the protection levels get hit and reduce/lessen damage. As the joule level is reached or overcomed, it continues on to the next in line. Any actual electrical device itself becomes a surge protector as it takes the shock of the hit top a lower level, etc.. This doesn't exclude "repeated hits" and if so the already compromised protection is overcomed w/o protection until completed. The level of electrical surge will be more lessen in what is used to help reduce or stop it and understand if hit, the defense level is compromised to some degree. What that means is some surge protection is a "1 time use" and must be replaced, others get re-tripped/reset manually or automatically. Yet, some protection may not act fast enough or its level of protection while good couldn't trip due extreme overload or less than desirable. You buy better protection is will cost more, so don't allow yourself that paying for protection is under x-dollars, google away for options.

Your PC use during a storm is NOT WISE. That alone suggests you depended too much on it. You're the true 1st level of defense as you shutdown or start that process. Not only shutdown but in bad cases, unplug lines or devices to "break the electrical connection" the very path such hits will occur. You leave yourself open to worse during use, it just allows it so.

My home has this level of protection(lightning does hit) at home. Singular surge protector on each AC cord. These in turn are plugged in to a surge strip which is then plugged to surge protected AC outlet . Devices are either connected to line conditioner or surge strip. The PC has a simple UPS(includes basic surge protection), so in one way or another there's at least 3-levels of protection, 2 if a simple device. Yet, I will pull it all if I'm home during a severe storm and so far it has worked.

tada -----Willy

The answer is "YES". I have one that I use but as soon as there is a storm anywhere in my area, I am shutting down and unplugging all my sensitive electronics. I cannot afford to go out and buy a new computer, TV, or anything of that nature.
Some people think I am being silly, I say I am playing it smart. Hopefully this helps for the next "doozy" of a storm.

A surge is not the same as a discharge. A surge is generally resultant from a fault within the transmission grid such as a higher voltage line somehow coming into contact with a lower voltage line and raising the potential above the designated voltage for the lower voltage line. (such as a 1200 volt line knocked down by a tree and contacting a stepped down 120 volt service line) A top of the line "surge" protector can often be of some utility in such an event, but not always. Lightning Strike is a completely different monster. With voltage levels many hundreds or even thousands of times greater than even the highest voltages found in any power grid and the nature of a Static discharge being far more erratic in its' behavior, clearly displayed in that it traveled through the very air itself without any wire at all. The only way to disrupt the path to ground is to provide one of less resistance such as a lightning rod. The spike of power is huge and wants to follow any and all paths to ground even if this requires an arcing leap across open space to complete the circuit. In order to prevent this arcing from forming it has to be forced away with an explosion which disipates the current and blocks the path to ground. This is accomplished with a circuit that is actually routed through an explosive filled jar that is detonated by the lightning and explodes instantly with sufficient force to overwhelm even the lightning and blows it back, much like blasting out a burning oil well. Lightning makes its' own way and it is unpreditcable. Belief in safety is an illusion that invites disaster when lightning is invovled.

Even the high end protectors aren't going to work against the big stuff. Also read the fine print. These have to be professionally installed & maintained in order to qualify for the "insurance". That's probably not going to be most people, is it?
Additionally, there will be claims of where this is void. I lived in Florida, that was one of the states. I remember reading one that claimed to protect against lightning on the package, but the fine print said it didn't. So keep in mind that you may not qualify for any protection claims, the brand named protectors are going to be better at protecting than chintzy ones, but . .

Unplugged is what you're after, unless your place is properly grounded for lightning strikes. Phone lines are the worst for surges of this kind.

Just my thoughts on the subject. I use UPCs, keep the batteries fresh, but the bottom line is, there isn't going to be any protection, & it'll come from the weakest link in the chain.

The funny thing about electricity - it travels down the line at nearly the speed of light. It's not quite 100% of C, but it's pretty darn fast.

The problem with mechanical devices like surge protectors - they follow the same laws of physics the rest of us do. In a nutshell, we can't move that fast. Nothing can't react that quickly either. So, when that huge surge actually hits the power plug and travels down the cord to the surge protector, by the time it gets to the trigger mechanism (usually a fuse or circuit breaker) and trips it, a large amount of the damaging surge has already gotten past and fried your electronics.

An analogy of sorts... A while back, the show Mythbusters did a test to see just what it would take to evade a photo camera speed trap. They tried all manner of silly aftermarket tricks to fake the camera and none of them were effective. Until the final test - they used a supercar capable of running 200 MPH. By the time the mechanical trigger tripped and activated the camera, the car was moving fast enough to be well past the area the camera was pointed at and consequently - the camera got a picture of nothing but the dust left in the car's wake.

In much the same way - that surge you're worried about hitting will be LONG past the cutoff and causing problems.

So... What about those protection policies..? They're not really worth the paper they're printed on. There are enough loopholes in the way they're worded that they can and do escape responsibility.

You can argue that "yes, my hardware is damaged. Your surge protector failed to contain the surge that damaged it." But there is enough weasel room in the way it's worded to let them get away with it. It would seem the "weasel room" in this case - "The APC unit wasn't damaged, therefore was working properly at the time, so it's not our fault the surge was moving faster than we could do anything to stop it. Had the surge protector been damaged, it would be another matter. Have a nice day..."

DOH!
As someone else pointed out - the BEST solution is to shut down and unplug electronics when a nasty thunderbumper storm is due.

Ok, nearly 30 years of experience (including support for nuclear missiles), though I'm no tech. First, NO backup for electronics is foolproof or 100% harm proof. Start with that to decide what you can afford to have and not to have. The BEST way to limit lightning and surge damage is to shut off and unplug when storms are in the area. Second, the distance from you to the lightning hit and/or the ability of YOUR line from the station makes a big difference. Surges can dissipate, especially when properly grounded or you're a long way away. Then a simple surge protector makes sense, value-wise. But if you look on Wiki or some similar answer site, you'll find that surge protectors only protect: a) up to so many joules, and b) by recognizing the surge within x number of seconds. Cheap surge protectors die at fewer joules and often die faster because they can't "clamp" down on the surge faste enough. At electricity speeds (near the speed of light), a slow protector lets enough through to fry what you have on your end. Surge protectors really are designed for normal, everyday line voltage ups and downs (we have lots in Wyoming), and are likely 98% effective for those. That's like birth control being 98% effective....what if you're one of those other 2%? Third, you could spend thousands of dollars replacing your equipment, you could spend thousands of dollars on industrial strength protectors, and still only likely get up to 99% effective. So there is ALWAYS the possibility of something frying your system. Unplug the system, but leave the phone line connected and you can still get fried if it hits the phone line. Yuchhhh! Fourth, I learned years ago (thanks to my son and my own bad experiences) to invest in a UPS (uninterruptible power system). I like APC, but there are other brands, and yes, they are more expensive, from around $40 to several hundred dollars. I bought an APC UPS 1000 watt because my desktop computer (in your specifications!) used around 300 watts, and with peripherals plugged into the UPS I was running around 330 (had a friend measure for me) when I was at full tilt. This included an HP AIO printer, external hard drive (backup), phone, wired network switch, and a few other small appliances. Then a year ago, my ATI (after 3 years) graphics card died, so I had to replace it with the same series, but updated model. I also added a USB 3.0 port, and upped the RAM to 12 Gb (the max my computer would run). Upon reading the cautions for the cards, I replaced the power supply, wanting a 450 watt, but I got a great deal on a 600 watt. So I have more than enough power for what I do. The UPS has protected my desktop (and a similar unit my laptop and its peripherals) and phone from many lightning strikes (yes, Wyoming has a high incidence of lightning strikes at 6100 feet altitude). The nearness of the strike makes a difference, and the nearest I've had so far was "flash: one thousand, t....and boom". That's close. No damage to the system so far. And the UPS (battery backup) serves as an excellent warning system when one of our frequent power drops occur (for a variety of reasons), so I can shut down, or continue for a few minutes (up to 25 minutes on my system, though it's rated for 27 minutes) to see if power comes back. I put a second UPS on the laptop's setup (probably overkill, but I tend to be cautious), a 1300-watt. The thousand watt cost $200 5 years ago (I've replaced the battery at 3 years as recommended for another $69 plus shipping), and the newer (1 year) 1300 cost me $169 online (prices have come down slightly). No dead computers from surges, strikes or whatever (electrically-caused), and best I can figure, that has saved me about the cost of the TWO UPSs. A fellow computer user lost his to a lightning strike, and his $2,000 computer setup was trashed. He now has a UPS (1500 watt). CAUTION: Always find out what load (volts and watts) your UPS will pull, along with whatever else you have on that line, and what that line is supposed to hold (then come in at UNDER the maximim), or you could cause a fire (especially in older homes like mine). My 1000 watt caused breakers to pop occasionally, so when my water heater went out, and I had to switch from gas to electric and unhook my old hot tub, I had the electrician install two more dual plugs. The 1000 goes into the breaker for the front wall of my house, the 1300 into one of the new plugs (circuits). No more breakers popping or plugs getting warm.
Hope this helps some, a UPS to me is gold in the bank. And I got one for my TV/amp/BD setup too. I kept a power surge stick for my cheap, small bedroom TV. Simply a valuable addition to protect my system. cheyguy

Some UPS manufacturer's have a $1,000,000 warranty agaist damage. A good UPS should be all you need but:

1) You need to make sure that your plugs are connected to the battery side of the UPS.

2) You must make sure you have not exceeded the capacity of the UPS. It not only has to do with how much run-time you get, but a spike could easily get through if you've exceeded the rating.

3) You have to make sure that your battery still works. It needs to be replaced every 2-3 years, especially in an environment where it is used often. It is sometimes better to replace the whole UPS especially if you are drawing more power.

4) As many have aluded to there are $20 surge protectors and there are surge protectors. These have different ratings too and can be exceeded.

5) Lightning doesn't necessarrily come through your POWER line. It could come through your cable (TV) line, especially if it is above ground and can even come through the phone line. Many UPSes and surge protectors have some connections for one or both of those lines.

I would suggest that in your environment, you have to be extra careful. In the middle of a storm, it's still a good idea to shut stuff down even with all that protection. Lightning can not only come in through the power/phone/cable lines, it can also come in through the window if you are high enough.

Either a surge is harmlessly absorbed outside the building. Or it hunts for earth destructively via appliances. You are now learning that the hard way. Your existing protectors do not even claim to protect from a typically destructive surge. As APC said, it did exactly what they claim it will do. It does not claim to protect from the type of transient that typically causes damage.

Read many replies. Many said protectors were sufficient when your own observation, manufacturer spec numbers, and rejected warranty claim all say otherwise.

Protection means you can say where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate. Some protection system has no protectors. But every protection system has the only item that does protection. Earth ground.

Valid recommendations discuss what provides protection. For example, cable TV has best protection when the cable is connected short to earth ground by wire. No protector required. Other utility wires (ie telephone, AC electric) cannot be earthed directly. So a 'whole house' protector makes that low impedance (ie 'less than 10 foot') connection.

Wire impedance (not the protector) is critical. A wire with splices, sharp bends, bundled with other non-ground wires, inside metallic conduit, etc means protection is compromised. Every word in this expression - single point earth ground - has serious engineering significance. If you want protection from typically destructive surges.

Your existing protectors did protection from surges that are typically not destructive. Those who need protection (ie your telco) would never use such expensive solutions in their facilities. Spend lees money for the superior solution. In your case, a properly earthed 'whole house' protector may have cost about $1 per protected appliance. To only protect from 99.5% to 99.9% of surges.

Bottom line has been true for over 100 years. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.

I am sorry to say that a plug in surge protector is NOT going to protect you from a really close or direct lightning strike. A quality surge protector may help with a strike that is a long distance away that produces a minor spike on your electrical utility lines but that is about it. They will also NOT protect you from surges coming through your cable system, network lines and/or phone lines unless you are connecting those lines to a surge protector as well and again with a direct Lightning strike nothing is going to help much. Surge protectors will also not protect you from major sustained voltage increase such as when the Power company mistakenly reconnects your house or street up to the wrong tap on the transformer on the pole after a transformer failure (been there, done that) or from major surges when the power is restored after an outage.

Actually based on the information that you have given us, it sounds like your surge came through your Cable line and not your power line, which is probably why APC is not going to honor your claim. I am basing this on the fact that you have told us that your Modem and Printer were the only damaged items. I am also assuming that your Printers Fax line was connected to your phone modem too and that you did not have any of those lines on a surge protector.

I am not saying that you should not use surge protectors actually the opposite is true, with all the electronics in the average home today, not only should you have individual surge protectors on everything but I highly recommend having an electrician install a whole house Surge protector at your breaker panel as well. I also recommend UPS (battery Backup) units on all desktop computers and other sensitive computer based equipment such as DVR's and some game systems. There are many forms of surges and spikes on your electrical utility line that are not lightning related that can damage or reduce the life of your equipment, so the more the protection you have the better.

Many of the better surge protectors come with connections for Cable TV lines, Network lines and telephone lines and these should be used as well because not all damaging surges come through just the power lines.

BUT, in the end, if you are expecting a major thunder Storm in your area the only thing that will guarantee protection is to turn off and UNPLUG ALL connections to your electronics which includes, power plug, cable TV lines, telephone lines and network lines.

I have serviced many clients over the years with damaged equipment due to lightning strikes and it can be really devastating. I have had some homes, with a close hit, lose virtually every electrical item in the house including, garage door openers, refrigerators, washer and dryer s and pretty much every item that plugs in. With the number of electronic devices in the average home today, this can add up to tens of thousands of dollars in damage and with so many devices now containing microprocessors, the likelihood of damage is even greater. Based on my years of dealing with clients, I have found that homes with underground sprinkler systems and underground dog fences seem to be the most susceptible to major lightning damage and should be even more diligent in protecting their equipment.

Note: When I mention a direct hit, I don't necessarily mean that your house was actually struck by lightning but rather a tree in your yard may have been hit or your neighbor's house, tree or a telephone pole that is fairly close by.

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Whole House Surge Protector - This unit is installed at your main fuse/breaker panel to protect the entire house Electrical circuit from minor surges. Usually requires and electrician to install.

2. Plug all electronic devices into an Individual Surge Protected Power strip* for additional protection (even if you have whole house protection).

3. If warned of a pending bad thunderstorm, turn off and unplug ALL cords(electrical and otherwise) to all electronic devices that are the most important to you. I know that this is a real pain, but if you have a piece of equipment that is really important to you (like your main business computer) then it may be worth the hassle. Don't forget to unplug all lines including power, phone, cable and network.

4. If you cannot unplug all electrical equipment during a thunder storm, at least turn them off. Although this does not offer anywhere near the same protection as unplugging them at least it can help cut down on damage.

5. Make sure that your network, phone system and cable TV and internet lines are also surge protected.

6. Use a UPS (uninterruptable Power Supply/Battery Backup) for critical equipment like Desktop computers. This will keep your equipment running in the event of a power outage just long enough to be shut down correctly.

7. Make sure that the data on all computers is backed up so that if something does happen you can at least recover your data.

8. Replace your surge protectors periodically because a few small surges can render them inactive. Some units have an indicator light that will indicate that the unit has been hit and needs to be replaced.

9. If you have lost power to your house, unplug and turn everything off to prevent damage when the power is restored. When the power is restored it is common to have a large power spike that can damage equipment. It is also common to have the power come back on for a few seconds and then go off and on several times which can really raise havoc with electronics.

10. And lastly, BACK UP your important data often so that a computer failure of any kind will not turn into a catastrophic event.

*NOTE: Not all surge suppressors are created equal. A $6 power strip will not offer the same level of protection as a $100 surge protector or powerline filter/conditioner, but again none of them will protect you from a direct or close lightning strike. If you don't believe me then just open one of those $6 surge protectors and ask yourself if you think that 25 cent MOV that is there is going to actually stop lightning?

Dana
Wayland Computer