Is it possible to repair a whole house surge suppressor?

[whit3rd]

On Jan 31, 8:57 am, mm <NOPSAMmm2...@bigfoot.com> wrote:

On Mon, 31 Jan 2011 22:16:51 +0900, "Michael Kennedy"

mikek...@crap.comcast.net> wrote:

"whit3rd" <whit...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:844078cf-ed6d->>493b-a693-227b095fc__BEGIN_MASK_n#9g02mG7!__...__END_MASK_i?a63jfAD$z__@x17g2000yqa.googlegroups.com...
On Jan 30, 8:03 am, mm <NOPSAMmm2...@bigfoot.com> wrote:
Is it possible to repair a whole house surge suppressor?

Ask your home insurance agent.  It's unlikely that the
prospect of homeowner repair of fire-safety items is
going to be highly regarded.  

I didn't think of this until Michael posted but so what?  Say I
repaired it and say I didn't do a good job: My insurance doesn't
require me to have a surge suprressor, so if I repair it and do a bad
job, and it doesn't cause damage nor does it prevent damage the next
time, they are no worse off than if I had never bought one.   So they
should still pay.  

A whole-house suppressor is wired without any circuit breaker
protection, usually inside the circuit breaker box. Every item in
that box has a "UL" or other safety certification, and NONE are
intended for disassembly or repair. Your insurer may well claim
contributory negligence if the item has been modified or altered.
If something inside a 2 foot breaker box shoots 3 foot flames,
the house is at hazard.

Faulty fuses, breakers, or whole-house suppressors are intended
to remain safe (they're fail-safe devices); it's normal to replace
them when they fail.

 

[Fred]

mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in
news:162bk6l0qi1ch7st69ish5urh344qpkacb@4ax.com:

Is it possible to repair a whole house surge suppressor?

At 100 to 200 dollars, I don't want to keep buying new ones.

Totally unnecessary. Call your power company about every other year and
file a report that your lights are blinking when the wind blows. They'll
send out a service truck to investigate with a guy we don't pay anywhere
near enough to risk his life working around the 23KV primary on the pole.
Ask him to check your house's connections at the pole for tightness,
paying special attention to the NEUTRAL connections, which are the ONLY
way your 120VAC can surge up to 240VAC if neutral comes loose and there's
a big load on the OTHER phase from the one your computer is on. While
he's there, ask him to inspect the grounding on your meter base and
verify its lightning gap hasn't been damaged by any hits. It's inside
the meter base and he's the only one with a replacement seal to install.

Please consider offering these great lineman a refreshing beverage to say
thank you for the free service they provide you. I usually show up with
a cold Coke for each of them as they are nesting the bucket and stowing
their HV gloves. I'm more of a shock to them than anything the
generators can produce....(c;] If it's quitting time when they finish, I
move from Coke to a quality beer as they've had a hard shift in the hot
sun. Guess who's power gets restored FIRST after the next storm!....(c;]


If your house if FIRMLY attached to the pole transformer, "surges" are
virtually impossible UNLESS you get hit by lightning. NO surge
protector, no matter how expensive, says anything about LIGHTNING
PROTECTOR, ever. That would be a lie. The 23KV primary phase of
America's 3 phase Tesla multiphase AC power system is quite stable. The
natural magnetic hysteresis of the 60 hz core in your distribution
transformer prevents any pulses from being sent to your house until the
lightning protector in its primary fuse holder explodes in defeat.

"Surge Protector" is a great sales gimmick. If you want to save your
computer, buy it a nice UPS to protect it from LOSING power, especially
during disk write operations where you can lose EVERYTHING on that drive.

If you're intent on spending money, please consider replacing your
breaker panel breakers on all electrical outlets and appliances with GFI
breakers, making it much less possible to kill a child sticking a metal
object into America's absurdly designed bladed receptacles designed in
1900. The only way to get shocked after their installation is to get
right across the powerline from hot to neutral, which rarely happens to
kill anyone. I support GFI installation 100%!

 

[GS]

On Jan 31, 2:23 pm, bud-- <remove.budn...@isp.com> wrote:

mm wrote:
On Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:37:32 -0800 (PST), GS <ze...@comcast.net
wrote:

On Jan 31, 9:45 am, GS <ze...@comcast.net> wrote:
On Jan 30, 11:03 am, mm <NOPSAMmm2...@bigfoot.com> wrote:

Is it possible to repair a whole house surge suppressor?
At 100 to 200 dollars, I don't want to keep buying new ones.
I was going to install a whole house surge suppressor.  When one of
them does its function, I think the MOV burns out, or some part does..
I haven't seen anything on the web about replacement modules for even
those units that might have them.
Will I be able to find, buy, and solder in replacement MOVs after the
first one burns out? (the green led goes out and the red led goes on)
I can't find any info about plug-in replacement parts, so if I can
repair any unit myself, I won't have to shop so thoroughly.
Items for sale, if interested:
I can install it myself.  I'm considering, in ascending price order:http://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-IG1240RC3-Type-2-Protection-Device/d.......
and less likely (plus two are required, one for each leg)http://www.amazon.com/Square-D-SDSA1175CP-ARRESTER-LIGHTNG/dp/B002GUZ1NI
Its easy to find expensive ones. I guess if you can figure out how to
take it apart
you can fix it. I bought one a few months ago for $35. Here is anotherhttp://www.drillspot.com/products/122270/Square_D_SDSA1175_Surge_Arre...
Drillspot sells Grainger stuff.

Thanks.  Now it's 56 dollars.   I see that Amazon has this 36 also
including shipping.
greg
So I showed you the same model you showed first. But, you do NOT need
TWO.

Oh, thank you.  I got confused by the drawing, at
http://surgelogic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/SDSA1175_IB_8291-001...
which shows two for 3-phase (but only one for single-phase), and since
it has only 3 wires, one to the neutral, but none to the ground like
some others have.  

It is intended for installation in a service panel. In the US, the
service panel (containing the service disconnect) has the neutral and
ground bonded together

I have yet to see suppressor not intended to be connected to breakers
in a service
panel.

I also don't like to call these surge, but SPIKE yes.
Surges to me a re very slow increases in voltage over the
safe limit.

You can usually make local neutrals by connecting ground
to a neutral, or make it using an isolation transformer, which
makes ground to neutral noise non existent at that point.

greg

In a subpanel (with separate neutral and ground bars) there would be
separate wires for the neutral and ground.



Do you think I should to connect a surge suppressor to unused circuit
breakers?  Some instructions say to do that for increased sensitivity
but others say nothing about it.    Because the circuits I wanted to
use are often off or almost totally off, just the baseline portable tv
current or a cordless phone charger running.

It shouldn't matter.

(You are suppressing surges on the service busbars, not branch circuit.
Not obvious if you were saying something different.)



It also says "Twist wires one half turn or more for
every 12 in. (305 mm) of length."  That means when all three wires are
running together, right?  In conduit or something?  Once they
separate, even if the wires are stranded, there's no point to twisting
them, is there?

A surge is a very short-time event. Therefore it has relatively high
frequency components. The inductance of the wire is more important than
the resistance. Wire length is more important than it would seem. You
want a short connecting wires from the suppressor to the panel
connections. That is why the instructions say "keep the wire length as
short as possible. If the wires are in close proximity the wire
inductance is reduced. That is why  the wires are slightly twisted.



There seems like a lot of confusion on protectors and the
manufacturers seem
to have various schemes going on. Some of the very small portable
devices by
Tripplite have ratings that indicate higher amps than the regular
whole house protectors. I installed the 'secondary" protector in my
breaker box

A useful rating for a MOV is its joule rating.  UL does not have a
defined way of specifying joules. As a result some manufacturers are
using misleading or deceptive joule ratings on their products, which
puts honest manufacturers at a disadvantage. As a result, some
manufacturers no longer provide a joule rating. The amp rating is
equivalent, but defined. A high amp rating (like a high joule rating)
indicates a suppressor will have a long life.  A plug-in suppressor with
high ratings could have an amp rating higher than a service panel
suppressor. (There is no possibility of a very high current on a branch
circuit; high current ratings just reflects a high joule rating.)

MOVs intrinsically try to limit the voltage across their terminals. In a
service panel the H-N voltages are limited (also H-H). That can result
in a high current to earth. Most of the energy in the incoming surge is
dumped to the earth. A small part of the energy is dissipated in the MOVs..

At a plug-in suppressor, the MOVs also limits the voltage H-G, N-G and
H-N. Because of the impedance of the ground wire, not much energy gets
dumped to the earth. But because of the impedance of the H and N, there
is similarly a very limited current that can flow. Energy dissipated in
the MOVs is surprisingly small (and there is another reason for this).
But the "ground potential" at the suppressor can be far different from
the service panel. All interconnected equipment needs to be connected to
the same suppressor and all external wires (power, phone, cable, ...)
need to go through the suppressor. The voltage on all wires is clamped
to the ground at the suppressor.

--
bud--

 

[tm]

"Fred" <nobody@home.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9E7E9CF2166DFnobodyhomecom@74.209.131.13...

mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in
news:162bk6l0qi1ch7st69ish5urh344qpkacb@4ax.com:

Is it possible to repair a whole house surge suppressor?

At 100 to 200 dollars, I don't want to keep buying new ones.


Totally unnecessary. Call your power company about every other year and
file a report that your lights are blinking when the wind blows. They'll
send out a service truck to investigate with a guy we don't pay anywhere
near enough to risk his life working around the 23KV primary on the pole.
Ask him to check your house's connections at the pole for tightness,
paying special attention to the NEUTRAL connections, which are the ONLY
way your 120VAC can surge up to 240VAC if neutral comes loose and there's
a big load on the OTHER phase from the one your computer is on. While
he's there, ask him to inspect the grounding on your meter base and
verify its lightning gap hasn't been damaged by any hits. It's inside
the meter base and he's the only one with a replacement seal to install.

Please consider offering these great lineman a refreshing beverage to say
thank you for the free service they provide you. I usually show up with
a cold Coke for each of them as they are nesting the bucket and stowing
their HV gloves. I'm more of a shock to them than anything the
generators can produce....(c;] If it's quitting time when they finish, I
move from Coke to a quality beer as they've had a hard shift in the hot
sun. Guess who's power gets restored FIRST after the next storm!....(c;]


If your house if FIRMLY attached to the pole transformer, "surges" are
virtually impossible UNLESS you get hit by lightning. NO surge
protector, no matter how expensive, says anything about LIGHTNING
PROTECTOR, ever. That would be a lie. The 23KV primary phase of
America's 3 phase Tesla multiphase AC power system is quite stable. The
natural magnetic hysteresis of the 60 hz core in your distribution
transformer prevents any pulses from being sent to your house until the
lightning protector in its primary fuse holder explodes in defeat.

"Surge Protector" is a great sales gimmick. If you want to save your
computer, buy it a nice UPS to protect it from LOSING power, especially
during disk write operations where you can lose EVERYTHING on that drive.

If you're intent on spending money, please consider replacing your
breaker panel breakers on all electrical outlets and appliances with GFI
breakers, making it much less possible to kill a child sticking a metal
object into America's absurdly designed bladed receptacles designed in
1900. The only way to get shocked after their installation is to get
right across the powerline from hot to neutral, which rarely happens to
kill anyone. I support GFI installation 100%!

I agree with the GFI protection on all household outlets. Good idea.

As to the "free" service, that is not true. We pay for the service in the
distribution fees on
the electric bill. So it's the same as "free health care".

As to the service guys getting paid what they deserve, that's between them
and the
utility. I would offer them a well deserved chilly also.


tm

 

[Jeffrey Angus]

On 1/31/2011 12:13 PM, William Sommerwerck wrote:

The "parallel" components (such as MOVs) in a surge suppressor will have
some effect on every other parallel line (lines connected to the same
phase). It doesn't matter whether any device is attached to the suppressor,
or is turned on.

Sigh.... NO.

Parallel though they may be, they really only protect things
that are "beyond" (or very close) to them. Other branches
have enough series impedance as far as transients are concerned
to deliver on hell of a spike regardless of what a MOV is doing
50-100' of wiring away

Jeff

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

tm wrote:

I agree with the GFI protection on all household outlets. Good idea.

No, it isn't. You can get nuisance trips on refrigerators and
freezers. They have grounded cords and they don't need GFCI. I haven't
seen a new copy of the NEC lately, but I was told it is against code in
the US to use a GFCI to power either.


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

 

[tm]

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:w56dnXFlDNzhydrQnZ2dnUVZ_smdnZ2d@earthlink.com...

tm wrote:

I agree with the GFI protection on all household outlets. Good idea.


No, it isn't. You can get nuisance trips on refrigerators and
freezers. They have grounded cords and they don't need GFCI. I haven't
seen a new copy of the NEC lately, but I was told it is against code in
the US to use a GFCI to power either.


--

So don't use them on either. They are usually blocked for child access
anyway.


tm

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

tm wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:w56dnXFlDNzhydrQnZ2dnUVZ_smdnZ2d@earthlink.com...

tm wrote:

I agree with the GFI protection on all household outlets. Good idea.


No, it isn't. You can get nuisance trips on refrigerators and
freezers. They have grounded cords and they don't need GFCI. I haven't
seen a new copy of the NEC lately, but I was told it is against code in
the US to use a GFCI to power either.

So don't use them on either. They are usually blocked for child access
anyway.

A GFCI won't protect a kid from sticking something into an outlet and
killing themselves if they are across line & neutral.


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

 

[tm]

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:HZydnd9wZo9aCNrQnZ2dnUVZ_rKdnZ2d@earthlink.com...

tm wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:w56dnXFlDNzhydrQnZ2dnUVZ_smdnZ2d@earthlink.com...

tm wrote:

I agree with the GFI protection on all household outlets. Good idea.


No, it isn't. You can get nuisance trips on refrigerators and
freezers. They have grounded cords and they don't need GFCI. I
haven't
seen a new copy of the NEC lately, but I was told it is against code in
the US to use a GFCI to power either.

So don't use them on either. They are usually blocked for child access
anyway.


A GFCI won't protect a kid from sticking something into an outlet and
killing themselves if they are across line & neutral.

A young child will usually not be dexterous enough to simultaneously stick a
bare metal object into both line and neutral. Even if they do, the main
current
path will not be through the chest. They most likely stick a metal object
into
the line terminal while sitting on the floor and get the current through the
body.
The GFI device will trip under those conditions doing exactly what they were
designed for.

But it's really your choice how safe you want the environment for your young
kids.

But you know this and are only looking for a pissing contest.




tm

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

tm wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:HZydnd9wZo9aCNrQnZ2dnUVZ_rKdnZ2d@earthlink.com...

tm wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:w56dnXFlDNzhydrQnZ2dnUVZ_smdnZ2d@earthlink.com...

tm wrote:

I agree with the GFI protection on all household outlets. Good idea.


No, it isn't. You can get nuisance trips on refrigerators and
freezers. They have grounded cords and they don't need GFCI. I
haven't
seen a new copy of the NEC lately, but I was told it is against code in
the US to use a GFCI to power either.

So don't use them on either. They are usually blocked for child access
anyway.


A GFCI won't protect a kid from sticking something into an outlet and
killing themselves if they are across line & neutral.



A young child will usually not be dexterous enough to simultaneously stick a
bare metal object into both line and neutral. Even if they do, the main
current path will not be through the chest. They most likely stick a metal
object into the line terminal while sitting on the floor and get the current
through the body.

That doesn't stop them from chewing on a cord, or getting hold of a
lamp they knocked off a table.

The GFI device will trip under those conditions doing exactly what they were
designed for.

Um, no.

But it's really your choice how safe you want the environment for your young
kids.

But you know this and are only looking for a pissing contest.

If anyone is pissing, it's you. Most outlets are no where near a
ground path other than the ground terminal in that outlet. Ones in a
kitchen, bathroom or outdoors should have GFCI protection. That's what
the US electrical code calls for. It can either be built into an outlet
for around $10, or into a circut braker for $25 or more. A GFCI outlet
can protect regualr outlets that are down stream from it. There is no
reason for whole house GFCI. In the US, with split phase 120/240, it
would require a pair of sensors, and trip up to 200 amps. Only a madman
would require that when a single circuit can be protected for lower cost
and with a higher level of safety. In fact, lights and outlets in a
room should be on seperate circuits so you aren't left in the dark if
something takes out the outlet circuit.

Keep pissing if you want to. I deal in facts, not fantasy.


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

 

[Fred]

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in
news:w56dnXFlDNzhydrQnZ2dnUVZ_smdnZ2d@earthlink.com:

No, it isn't. You can get nuisance trips on refrigerators and
freezers. They have grounded cords and they don't need GFCI. I
haven't
seen a new copy of the NEC lately, but I was told it is against code in
the US to use a GFCI to power either.

So, you're saying it's ok if the motor windings are leaking to, or worse,
connected to the chassis of the fridge as long as it's grounded? That's
the only thing that makes the GFCI trip....about 10ma of something's
wrong.

Back in the 1980's, I submitted a Navy Beneficial Suggestion that GFCIs
be installed at all electronic benches in our calibration and test
equipment repair facilities after an apprentice technician nearly killed
herself pulling a TV-7 tube tester out of its case, inadvertently not
unplugging it. The TV-7 has a big rheostat right close to the case on
the bottom (sitting up) with exposed windings where the slidewire contact
is. She really got burned as she was also touching exposed, highly
grounded metal parts of her workbench (another benny sugg submission).
Months went by and Navy accepted my suggestion system wide, not just in
our shop, handing me a very nice check for both suggestions.

We had some equipment that tripped the GFCI every time, frustrating the
hell out of the bench techs who blamed me. 3 benches, themselves,
tripped out every time it was reset.

Leaking line filters in every case, and the Navy loves line filters, were
the problem. Once the leaking line filters were replaced, making the
equipment SAFE should the ground connection become open, the problem
disappeared. Equipment in the shipyard became safer to operate because
of it. Some metal cased test equipment no longer "bit" its user with low
AC voltages on its grounded case, something we never figured out. It
must have been miswired grounds in the ships crazy balanced 115VAC line
systems. GFCIs fixed it because they instantly detected faulty line
filters, transformers with windings touching the frames or miswired
equipment that had been used for years.

None of my GFCIs on any appliances trips, except during major
thunderstorms. If they do trip, there's a reason....leaky appliances.
One hot water tank ago, there was a heater coil shorted to its metal
calrod sleeve quite near the balance point of the 240VAC line. This
ground fault only shorted out around 12% of the element's resistor so the
element just ran hot in one place, but cold in another from the
imbalanced load shooting high current through the little ground wire.
The GFCI found this short as soon as it happened, eliminating a potential
electrical fire hazard if the current had overrun the flimsy ground wire.

I think many electrical fires could be stopped if GFCI were required on
all circuits....including faulty appliances that trip them.

 

[Fred]

"tm" <the_obamunist@whitehouse.gov> wrote in news:ii85p0$4ae$1
@speranza.aioe.org:

But you know this and are only looking for a pissing contest.

....rationalizing NOT spending the money for GFCIs.....

 

[Fred]

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in
news:FuCdnUpmjq7LA9rQnZ2dnUVZ_sOdnZ2d@earthlink.com:

That doesn't stop them from chewing on a cord, or getting hold of a
lamp they knocked off a table.

The 7ma current-to-ground trips the GFCI every time under your stretching
scenario for the pissing contest. Yes, the kid would get an
instantaneous shock in the millisecond range, to no harm, but there's
plenty of leakage from hot to ground to trip the GFCI if he bites into a
wire, even if he's across the neutral. I've heard this BS
rationalization before trying to save money because they are expensive.
But, we tested it. We took an old metal 2-wire Porter-Cable electric
drill and ran a bright yellow wire from hot to the case of it....creating
the electrical fault. If you stayed totally insulated from ground, the
drill would run, but that damned GFCI was uncanny finding you out. Body
leakage to the air Xc would even trip it. If you stood in your sneakers
(insulated!) and touched the hot drill case, the GFCI tripped from the
capacitor your foot made with the concrete under the insulated sole. If
you started by touching NEUTRAL, THEN touching the hot drill motor, the
trip was instantaneous, and you barely could feel the shock DIRECTLY
ACROSS THE AC LINE before the GFCI tripped. Your idiot rationalization
with the little kid across the line wouldn't wash....especially if he was
sitting on a floor, even a wooden one with a vinyl top. (Click), dead
circuit, live kid.

 

[tm]

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <gsm@mendelson.com> wrote in message
news:slrnikg439.iml.gsm@cable.mendelson.com...

Fred wrote:
I think many electrical fires could be stopped if GFCI were required on
all circuits....including faulty appliances that trip them.

Here in Israel they are required by the electric company BEFORE main
breakers.

You can't get a new connection without one, and every few years there is
an advertising campaign to get people to install them in old homes.

We have 230 volt single phase service, and 230 volt 3 phase split into
three
separate circuits, so we don't have the 120/240 problem in the US that
was previously discussed.

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

I did a brief web search and was surprised that as many as 500 children (?)
a year in the US
are electrocuted. Before the GFIs were required in wet areas by code, it was
over 800 per year.


tm

 

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

Fred wrote:

I think many electrical fires could be stopped if GFCI were required on
all circuits....including faulty appliances that trip them.

Here in Israel they are required by the electric company BEFORE main breakers.

You can't get a new connection without one, and every few years there is
an advertising campaign to get people to install them in old homes.

We have 230 volt single phase service, and 230 volt 3 phase split into three
separate circuits, so we don't have the 120/240 problem in the US that
was previously discussed.

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

 

[Fred]

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <gsm@mendelson.com> wrote in
news:slrnikg439.iml.gsm@cable.mendelson.com:

Here in Israel

Sorry, Geoff. It's not your fault, but I cannot forget my 3 friends who
died....ever.

http://gtr5.com/

It was no accident.
By the luck of the draw, I wasn't one of the dead.

 

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

Fred wrote:

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <gsm@mendelson.com> wrote in
news:slrnikg439.iml.gsm@cable.mendelson.com:

Here in Israel

Sorry, Geoff. It's not your fault, but I cannot forget my 3 friends who
died....ever.

http://gtr5.com/

To quote the website:

"the Johnson administration never sought the prosecution of the guilty
parties or otherwise attempted to seek justice for the victims. They
concealed and altered evidence in their effort to downplay the attack.
Though they never formally accepted the Israeli explanation that it was
an accident, they never pressed for a full investigation either. They
simply allowed those responsible literally to get away with murder."

Israel is a democracy, and has a very active High Court of Justice. The concept
of people suing the state for compensation is very much alive here.

Although it is over fourty years, and it might be impossible to find
anyone who was in charge that can testify, you might want to consider,
as a group, filing a law suit against the IDF for compensation and
information.

Geoff.


Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

 

[bud--]

GS wrote:

On Jan 31, 2:23 pm, bud-- <remove.budn...@isp.com> wrote:
mm wrote:
On Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:37:32 -0800 (PST), GS <ze...@comcast.net
wrote:
On Jan 31, 9:45 am, GS <ze...@comcast.net> wrote:
On Jan 30, 11:03 am, mm <NOPSAMmm2...@bigfoot.com> wrote:
Is it possible to repair a whole house surge suppressor?
At 100 to 200 dollars, I don't want to keep buying new ones.
I was going to install a whole house surge suppressor. When one of
them does its function, I think the MOV burns out, or some part does.
I haven't seen anything on the web about replacement modules for even
those units that might have them.
Will I be able to find, buy, and solder in replacement MOVs after the
first one burns out? (the green led goes out and the red led goes on)
I can't find any info about plug-in replacement parts, so if I can
repair any unit myself, I won't have to shop so thoroughly.
Items for sale, if interested:
I can install it myself. I'm considering, in ascending price order:http://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-IG1240RC3-Type-2-Protection-Device/d......
and less likely (plus two are required, one for each leg)http://www.amazon.com/Square-D-SDSA1175CP-ARRESTER-LIGHTNG/dp/B002GUZ1NI
Its easy to find expensive ones. I guess if you can figure out how to
take it apart
you can fix it. I bought one a few months ago for $35. Here is anotherhttp://www.drillspot.com/products/122270/Square_D_SDSA1175_Surge_Arre...
Drillspot sells Grainger stuff.
Thanks. Now it's 56 dollars. I see that Amazon has this 36 also
including shipping.
greg
So I showed you the same model you showed first. But, you do NOT need
TWO.
Oh, thank you. I got confused by the drawing, at
http://surgelogic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/SDSA1175_IB_8291-001...
which shows two for 3-phase (but only one for single-phase), and since
it has only 3 wires, one to the neutral, but none to the ground like
some others have.
It is intended for installation in a service panel. In the US, the
service panel (containing the service disconnect) has the neutral and
ground bonded together


I have yet to see suppressor not intended to be connected to breakers
in a service
panel.

I also don't like to call these surge, but SPIKE yes.
Surges to me a re very slow increases in voltage over the
safe limit.

A surge is defined (IEEE) as a "subcycle disturbance"

A "swell" is a disturbance that lasts from 1/2 cycle to a few seconds.

Longer is "temporary overvoltage".

A "spike" is essentially the same as "surge".

You can usually make local neutrals by connecting ground
to a neutral,

Not obvious to me what you are saying, but in the US connections
between ground and neutral downstream from the service not allowed (some
specific exceptions).

or make it using an isolation transformer, which
makes ground to neutral noise non existent at that point.

greg

 

[bud--]

Fred wrote:

...
If your house if FIRMLY attached to the pole transformer, "surges" are
virtually impossible UNLESS you get hit by lightning.

"You" don't have to get hit. Strikes to power lines can cause damaging
surges into a building. So can close strikes. Surges can also enter on
cable and phone wires. And there are other sources of damaging surges.

NO surge
protector, no matter how expensive, says anything about LIGHTNING
PROTECTOR, ever. That would be a lie.

The surge guru at the NIST looked at essentially a worst case event - a
100,000A lightning strike to the high voltage wire on a utility pole
(with transformer) behind a house with typical urban overhead
distribution. There are multiple paths to earth. The surge to the house
was 10,000A max for each service wire to the house. Service panel
suppressors are readily available with higher ratings. The probability
of a worse strike is close to zero.

You can protect from very close lightning strikes.

Lightning strikes to a building, of course, require lightning rods.

The 23KV primary phase of
America's 3 phase Tesla multiphase AC power system is quite stable. The
natural magnetic hysteresis of the 60 hz core in your distribution
transformer prevents any pulses from being sent to your house until the
lightning protector in its primary fuse holder explodes in defeat.

Doesn't need the transformer. In the example above, a utility lightning
arrestor (installed on all the distribution transformers around here)
dumps the strike to earth via the grounding electrode on the pole. Since
the resistance to earth of that electrode is a few ohms at best, the
"ground potential" at the pole rises thousands of volts above "absolute
earth potential", and more particularly, above the earth potential at
the house. Since the secondary neutrals are connected to the "ground" at
the pole, this causes a large surge on the neutral to the house. A
significant portion of that surge is transferred to the hot wires by
inductive and capacitive coupling.

Usually the next worst to lightning for surges are normal and abnormal
utility operations. Potentially one of the worst of these is switching
of power factor correction capacitors. Utility produced surges can also
get into a building and cause damage to equipment.

"Surge Protector" is a great sales gimmick.

It is a "gimmick" use by the IEEE in an excellent guide on surges and
surge protection at:
<http://www.mikeholt.com/files/PDF/LightningGuide_FINALpublishedversion_May051.pdf>

And by the US-NIST in a surge guide at.
<http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/practiceguides/surgesfnl.pdf>
This one is less technical and aimed at the unwashed masses.

Both say surges from lightning and other sources are a problem and you
can protect against them.
===============

In something that hasn't come up in this thread - the NIST guide, using
US insurance information as one source, suggests that high voltage
between power and cable/telephone/.... wires causes much of the damage,
not just a surge reaching equipment through the power wires. The IEEE
surge guide has an example of such damage starting pdf page 40.

To protect from high voltage between power and phone/cable wires, the
ground wire from the entrance protector for both phone and cable has to
be short and connect to the power earthing system near the power
service. If wires are too long, surges coming in on phone or cable
wiring can produce high voltage between those wires and power wires.
That is what is shown in the IEEE guide example starting pdf page 40.
With a large surge, the building ground can rise thousands of volts
above "absolute earth potential". Much of the protection is that power
and phone and cable wires rise together.

Particularly for expensive equipment with power and phone/cable
connection a plug-in suppressor may be useful. All interconnected
equipment needs to be connected to the same suppressor, and all external
wires - phone/cable/... - need to go through the suppressor. The voltage
on all wires is clamped to the ground at the suppressor. (This is also
in the example in the IEEE guide starting pdf page 40.)

--
bud--

 

[bud--]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

tm wrote:
I agree with the GFI protection on all household outlets. Good idea.


No, it isn't. You can get nuisance trips on refrigerators and
freezers. They have grounded cords and they don't need GFCI. I haven't
seen a new copy of the NEC lately, but I was told it is against code in
the US to use a GFCI to power either.

It was never against the code to use GFCIs on refrigeration.

But the NEC used to have exceptions for GFCI requirements in garages and
basements where a refrigerator/freezer would be plugged in. Those
exceptions are gone.

Plug-in refrigerators/freezers using 15/20A 120V receptacles in
commercial kitchens are required to be on GFCI protected receptacles.

The UL allowed leakage for refrigerators/freezers is about 0.5mA.
Tripping a GFCI means the appliance has a problem.

--
bud--