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General discussion

How do you protect your tech from electrical surges?

Jun 19, 2017 4:22AM PDT

Greetings Community Members, Ajtrek here. Below is an excerpt from an article published on 6/15/17 relating to Power Surges and Spikes in the U.S.

The New York City-based Insurance Information Institute a non-profit, communications organization supported by the U.S. insurance industry, conducted a study that revealed the following:

-- More than US$825 million in lightning claims was paid out last year to more than 109,000 policyholders;

-- Over 50% of claims were related to electrical surge damaging components or wiring, while power surges from transformer or service line shorts were also contributing factors.


That said, I should note that not every power surge or spike results in damages to electrical appliances and devices. While those numbers IMO (in the article) are not entirely representative of the millions of households that probably experience a power surge or spike in varying degrees; it still begs the question in regards to our own appliances and devices. Note: Links are provided for information only; but do contain advertisements.

Check out the full article here:
http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/insurance/number-lightning-related-homeowners-insurance-claims-u-s-2016-average-cost-insurers-insurance-information-institute-1004115334/

To understand more about what a power surge/spike is or isn’t; and how they’re caused click the link:
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infelectrical/infsurge.html

With the ever increasing number of electrical appliances and devices in our homes that are continuously connected to an electrical power source; it should behoove us all to take an extra precautionary step to limit the potential damage that a probable power surge or spike may cause. If you are a home owner you can actually incorporate power surge and spike protection into the wiring at every receptacle. While that solution is a good first step (depending upon where you live) a second layer of external protection may still be a good bet.

We share a lot of excellent information about tech in this forum. Computers and/or similar tech being the primary focus. However, one topic I’ve not seen discussed is “how do we protect our tech from the nasties caused by the local power grid or even an ISP” (i.e. Power Surges/Spikes). IMO power surge and spike protection are just as important as good computer maintenance, virus and malware protection.

Here’s what I use and not just for my computers; but tech such as Stereo Components, TV’s, stand-alone lighting, appliances and Home AI devices. If you find it to be somewhat overkill…that’s OK

Stand-alone lighting, Appliances and Home AI devices:
Wall mount (single or multi-input) or Floor (multi-input) with a 500 to 3000 joule rating ($20-$30)
TV and Stereo Components:
Wall Mount or Floor < Battery Back-up ($98-$280) < Line Conditioner w/multi inputs ($300-$1000)
Computer Desktop:
Wall Mount or Floor < Battery Back-up
Computer Laptop charging
Wall mount (single or multi-input) or Floor (multi-input)
Cell Phones/Tablets/Other USB device charging
Wall Mount < Powered USB Hub ($30-$50)

Please share your thoughts and solutions – Thanks!

Together Everyone Achieves More = TEAM

Post was last edited on June 23, 2017 12:00 AM PDT

Discussion is locked

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Can everyone please read the forum policies.
Jun 22, 2017 1:22PM PDT

Post was last edited on June 22, 2017 1:23 PM PDT

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Great Points!
Jun 22, 2017 2:22PM PDT

I won't beat a dead horse on the point of the word "stupid" only to say that we probably have people from around the world here in these forums. Some don't speak English and may use translators to read and post so we all need to watch what we say and try to play "nice" with others. We also have people from all across the U.S.A. here. I remember we used words like "******" and "stupid" a lot when I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn, while today and here in California, those words won't go over too well. We can always agree to disagree (if we are dealing with opinions) and even use links to other articles to back up points we make.

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Whole House Surge Protectors...
Jun 22, 2017 2:55PM PDT

My electric company provides (for an additional monthly charge and a deposit) a whole house surge protector which fits on the power meter. This comes with $10,000 worth of coverage for any surges that may come through. In over ten years with one of these on three different places where I have lived and presently live, I've not ever had a problem. But, I also use good quality plug-in surge protector/power strips, as well...just in case.

My point is, that if you find that your electric company also provides surge protectors such as the ones mine does, it could/would be worth while to look into those. This is ESPECIALLY true if you live in a rental of any sort where your unit (or house) has its own electric meter and pay your own electric bill.

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Excellent suggestion
Jun 23, 2017 7:47PM PDT

I provided some extra information about that elsewhere in the discussion; after reading yours and other posts about it.

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Reiterating My Thoughts on the Subject
Jun 22, 2017 3:07PM PDT

1. Sorry, but computers have POWER running through them (such as the internal power supply feeding the network card) even when you run a shutdown and have the power seemingly off. (Remember "wake-on-LAN"?).
2) There are a few sources of power spikes. Lightning is just ONE of them. (But a major issue).
3) If I kill power to your house and then quickly power on/off your power, or reset a breaker, that can cause a surge. A faulty breaker can do the same.
4) Just plugging your equipment into a wall outlet can be a risk but it is up to the consumer to determine how much risk in their own set of circumstances.
5) I personally recommend (having dealt with these issues before there were desktop computers -- even mainframe terminal had to have some protection - an "abacus", not so much) that electronic (delicate) equipment be protected by a reasonable surge protector. My opinion based on experience.
6) Surge protectors should have LEDs or some indicator if the protection is no longer active. If you get a cheap one, it may fail after ONE event and, if there are multiple events in a row, may leave you without protection.
7) UPS systems -- In business we used very large UPS systems especially for rack mounted devices, but there are small systems you can buy. HOWEVER, you need to be aware of the costs: batteries won't last forever. Sometimes 2-3 years?? Sometimes you can replace the batteries, sometimes you can't and vendors would love for you to replace the whole UPS. Cost? Well, up to you.
7a) Things to consider: If power goes out for short duration, your systems should not necessarily shut down power-wise. But, anything longer, you should set up the software and hardware (USB?) to do automatic shutdown. Consider if YOU will be at home when your systems are UP to power things off in a storm or outage.
8 ) As many have said, pulling out power cords from house wiring in a thunderstorm is a good idea. Even your telephone lines can be fried by lightning. Yes a pain-in-the-you-know-where. Up to you though.
9) Except for lightning, the most likely time for a "surge" is probably NOT when your power goes out, but when your power comes back on especially if it's not graceful or is spiky. If you are setting up shutdown software, consider forcing a wait after the power comes back on so power becomes stable. You may want to set your NVRAM in your computers to not boot up when power comes on after a failure; you can do that yourself -- a lot less worry. Once again, something for you the consumer to consider.
10) If you have a UPS, you probably won't need (especially "expensive") surge protectors if the UPS handles that for you.
11) UPS or Surge Protector? It's up to you. My personal preference, if you don't have really time-critical stuff, is to use AT LEAST a good quality surge protector. A UPS requires thought: take into account cost over time as it will usually increase (note word "usually") use of electricity to keep batteries charged, plus the cost of the unit (including if the UPS has features like voltage regulation), battery replacement. How big do you need? Sites like Tripplite or APC should have a calculator to determine how much battery you really need. Larger battery means the power to your systems will stay on longer or you can hook up other devices to the UPS but you only need enough time to do a graceful shutdown.
12) Monitors and TV screens: Seems like a waste to put these on a UPS, but if you need them in order to see what you are doing while shutting down the equipment... well, give that some thought, too. Expensive TV? Make sure on surge protection at a minimum. Unless you have great insurance. Claims take a while though so think of that.

In general, people should evaluate the risks for themselves taking in things like location (lighting? Florida? or somewhere where there is little lightning?) and how many times some person crashes into a power pole. It's a matter of cost, but take into account how long it will take you to be up and running or how much data you can lose (Backups? How frequent?). And remember that laptops have batteries in them. Impervious to spike in power? Don't know. It may seem like a UPS but a surge protector may be useful as a just-in-case item.

About the rest of the house in a high lightning area? There are things called lightning rods that may help.

Hope some of this is useful to someone. In a business situation when we are tasked with setting up a server room/farm, these things are always taken into account. At least I do.

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Well, it's Thursday... Happy Friday eve!!
Jun 22, 2017 7:18PM PDT

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this topic. I think knowledge was shared and although somewhat off topic at times…in the end we all learned something of value that we can apply elsewhere in our lives and engagements with others.

This is a Community Forum where we should all feel free to express our opinions. But with that freedom of expression comes a responsibility of respect for one another. Written words are prone to misinterpretation as they lack the vocal and/or visual expression that is sometimes key to truly understand their true intent. Therefore, it behooves us all to choose our WRITTEN words carefully and review them to determine how someone may interpret them before we hit submit.

You may recall the feel-good movie from 1993 “Free Willy” about a boy who helps return a captive whale to its natural habitat. Well in Britain, Willy is slang for a particular part of a male’s lower anatomy. You can bet the Brit's ran that one up and down the pole a few times (pun intended). The written word…you gott'a know your audience Wink

Enough editorializing….There may be some skepticism as to my use of a battery-backup (UPS) for a monitor/TV. Well, there is a method to my madness. Under normal conditions the use of a UPS with a monitor/TV isn’t a necessity. The power drain they inflict on a UPS might buy you an extra 8 minutes and for what? Typically, a good surge protection unit/line conditioner (either as a single unit or separates) will suffice. Here’s my reason for using a UPS with my Plasma’s.

I live in the city where all power lines are above ground and exposed not just to storms but other hazards, natural and man made. There’s also the local cable company(s) accidently disturbing the power. Street repair cutting a line. Water main break necessitating the power be cut. The occasional tree limb that wasn’t pruned and decides to break and pull down a power line in the process. And let’s not forget downed power poles caused by the drivers of vehicles. Don’t get me wrong…those things don’t occur every day; but my power has been interrupted by each one of them unannounced on separate occasions…while I was watching my favorite TV show. The nerve!!

Having the power disrupted in an abrupt manner is similar to a hard reset one might do by pulling the electrical cord from the wall. As is known a hard reset is only done under extreme circumstances when necessary. So why a UPS…if the power is interrupted in one of the ways mentioned (or by electrical surge/spike) my UPS will kick-in in about 20 – 30 milliseconds. I get enough running time to shut down everything properly via remote or dedicated switch and then unplug the UPS to conserve the battery until power returns. Sweet!

That’s all I have. I wonder what tomorrows CNET Community question will be?

Cheers

Together Everyone Achieves More = TEAM

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Good subject to bring up!...
Jun 23, 2017 6:33PM PDT

It is that time of year with thunderstorms so now is as good as ever to discuss this subject. I won't add to the wonderful advice here and it is good advice at that; even if I don't particularly like line conditioners or UPS they are supposed to be the way to go.

I just wanted to bring back an old memory for some of you that use to be the largest problem ever when computing - and that was the old dial up modems. They were always blowing out all the time, and as an IT tech I got tired of replacing them even if it was job security. So I'd like to talk about some of them that WERE properly designed and used an old but successful gizmo the phone company had in everyone's land line phone for over 50 years. This was a special spring loaded disconnect device that caused a relatively large solenoid to keep a large air gap when not in use to the rest of the modem. Even when the telephone line would explode from a lighting strike the modem was still good.

Here is a short blurb from Modemsite(dot)com explaining this old science:

An electro-mechanical DAA typically uses a relay to control on/off hook. If you hear a click when your modem picks up or hangs up the line, your modem probably uses an electro-mechanical DAA. When the modem isn't on a call, your modem is isolated from the phone line by the air gap of the relay. The isolation isn't total - there's a separate circuit in the modem to detect when the line is ringing.

These worked SO WELL, I never had to replace a client's modem again. What I wished were possible, is a similar device on each outlet in a house, and also the cable and DSL phone connection that would give folks the same protection so they wouldn't have to go around unplugging and re-plugging everything to get the same protection.

Just a thought, and probably a pipe dream, but I just thought I'd put that out there as food for thought. Maybe a remote that did the same thing as hang up the receiver on these old phones would do the trick. When you are ready to use a device the remote would be like picking up the receiver of an old phone and make using your devices possible until a surge comes along and the lighting fast electro/mechanical circuit slams the door shut on damaging spikes. Of course it is really more like opening a gate or switch, but i hope you get my point.

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Whole House Surge Protector
Jul 4, 2017 9:43PM PDT

In past years, most of the appliances we used every day were operated by rugged, analog and mechanical control systems. For example, our old toaster started when you pushed a lever down to start the heating coils and a mechanical timer, and to store energy for follow-on mechanical operations in a spring. It was When the mechanical timer reached zero, it tripped a release mechanism that mechanically turned off the heating coils, released the spring-powered toast riser, and even struck a metal bell to let you know that your toast was ready! No power surge problems with that beast!

Now we have a fancy toaster oven that could probably control a lunar landing module. But, it might not survive a power surge. Ditto for all our other new appliances, all with embedded computers and or digital controllers, such as our new refrigerator, washer and dryer, heat pump, etc. So, now, I must protect not only my expensive computer and home entertainment systems, but I must worry about all those other devices.

It's impractical to install (and maintain) surge protectors for all those devices individually. A whole house surge protector, however, covers all of those appliances with embedded computers, and provides protection for older equipment, too.

I still keep my cable modem, router, computer, and computer peripherals on UPSs with surge suppression (for incoming power and data lines.) I do the same for my home theater system, with additional coaxial cable surge suppression for FM antenna, OTA TV antenna, & cable TV coax feed (ain't cut the cord yet!).

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Yet,. oddly enough...
Jul 5, 2017 12:40AM PDT

...when my microwave died, while spewing it's firey metal guts into the food, the touchpad was still working. Go figger!

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It Boils Down to Cost
Jul 5, 2017 11:11AM PDT

For example, if you live in the lightning capital of the world, you definitely need something but if you live in Southern California where you get one bit of lightning every year or two, then its a matter of the cost of the protection devices versus the cost just to replace or repair the affected device. IMHO, that is what it boils down to. As someone else here pointed out, it might just be cheaper to have no protection and just replace the devices/components as they get destroyed. We each have to make that assessment for ourselves and throw into the equation the cost of being down or losing data (I at least back up).
Sounds like you have an impressive system.

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surge protector
Sep 27, 2017 2:49AM PDT

For obvious, surge protector is the best thing to protect your electrical gadget from spark.