Eureka moment (surge protector)

I was seriously considering our house was haunted/aliens/cursed or sitting on top of an ancient burial grounds.
Over the last 4-5 years tech in this house regularly lasts less time than normal, by that I mean computer parts, consoles, anything with delicate parts in dies within 6 months, routers, modems, motherboards you name it everything failed before its best by date.

At first I thought it was just because I spend 14 hours plus a day every day and thus put tech through was would normally take years.

As we are moving house soon I was looking into replacing all the surge protectors in the house (6 of them) and while reading I had a kind of sinking feeling as I realized that surge protectors have a limited life span the parts in them that take the jolts fail over time (from what I understand lets say you have a 600 joule rated protector and you get hit with 6 100 joule spikes or 60 10 joule spikes over its lifetime it will then still work as an extension lead but no longer protect)

"no it can't be the brown outs or micro spikes I have surge protectors covering everything"

Said our surge protectors range from 5-10 years old and having tested them they probably stopped working 4-5 years ago our local line seems to be quite noisy with small spikes.

Ordered a set of new ones and placed it in my timetable budget to replace them once every three years (buying the masterplug 3 year warranty ones)

At least the house hold computers should not die as often .

Don't mind spending a few quid on a surge protectors save guarding ££££ worth of equipment. Tend to go for a replicable brand such as APC.

Calranthe said:

"no it can't be the brown outs or micro spikes I have surge protectors covering everything"

Click to expand...

Plug-in protectors never claimed to protect from those anomalies. Especially since all appliances already contain robust protection to protect from those anomalies.

Protectors adjacent to appliances do not claim to protect from the other and typically destructive type of surge. Those near zero protectors even have numbers that says so. How many joules does it claim to absorb? Hundreds? A thousand? Destructive surges can be tens or hundreds of thousands of joules.

Does not matter. It is called a surge protector. That proves it does surge protection? That rationalization is reasoning to recommend near zero protectors.

Now, long before any solution can be provided, first some facts must identify a defect. For example, do incandescent bulbs change intensity as other appliances power cycle? That would indicate a serious defect.

Protection for electronics is always about where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate. That means 'bad' incoming electricity must connect and be harmlessly absorbed by earth ground. Is there an earth ground at the service entrance? It must connect to all incoming AC wires - not just one. That means a 'whole house' protector must connect every incoming wire on a low impedance (ie less than 3 meter) path to single point earth ground. Otherwise, even a best surge protector (a 'whole house' protector) does nothing useful.

That so called 'earth' prong on a wall receptacle is not earth ground. If you do not have a 'whole house' protector, then most AC wires are entering without a connection to earth. Then you have all but invited even lightning to enter - to hunt for earth ground destructively through household appliances.

Best evidence is always in a dead body. Any informed tech could have identified an internal part that has failed. Then we have facts to identify a problem - long before any solution gets recommended.

We know this. You were told by many naive peers that brownouts and micro spikes cause damage. No way around this. They lied. They recommended because that is what advertising, propaganda, hearsay, and wild speculation claim. To say why damage has happened requires facts with numbers. And the identity of internally damaged parts.

Meanwhile, properly earth a 'whole house' protector in a new house. Since even direct lightning strikes to utility wires should never result in appliance damage. Since best protection is also a least expensive solution.

Finally, if APC is so well recommended, then why did APC recently admit that maybe some 15 million of their protectors must be removed immediately due to threats on human life? APC is recommended by many who are manipulated by advertising, hearsay, and wild speculation. It does not even claim to protect from potentially destructive surges. In some cases, it can make damage easier. Other companies known for their integrity provide a 'whole house' solution.