Comments on: Surge Protector

By: cinnamondouche

cinnamondouche — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:30:18 +0000

This is the biggest …
This is the biggest lie i’ve ever seen:

1. Lightning travels from the earth to the sky using the path of least resistance. It doesn’t hit your lawn and then go into your house looking for high end electronics.

2. Surge protectors are not designed to prevent lightning from doing anything. Even if one existed that was powerful enough to stop a 100KV bolt, the lightning would just arc around it. Remember: path of least resistance.

By: mandrake2273

mandrake2273 — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:30:18 +0000

Very helpful.
Very helpful.

By: AsktheBuilder

AsktheBuilder — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:30:18 +0000

You are most …
You are most welcome!

By: carioca1959

carioca1959 — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:30:18 +0000

This is very …
This is very helpful. Thank you!!!!

By: AsktheBuilder

AsktheBuilder — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:30:17 +0000

Once again you are …
Once again you are wrong. Ask an electrical engineer about the size of the grounding conductor for large cell tower poles or TV towers. The conductor is much larger than the small ground wire used in homes. The lightning overloads the smaller cable. You should do your homework before making comments. Visit websites that specialize in lightning protection.

By: AsktheBuilder

AsktheBuilder — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:30:17 +0000

With all due …
With all due respect, you are 100 percent wrong. did you notice that was an underground electric service? If you don’t believe me, call your insurance agent. Ask how many claims they settle from damaged electronic items each year. If after that you are still not convinced, visit your local firehouse and ask them about the damage lightning does to both houses and electrical components.

By: cinnamondouche

cinnamondouche — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:30:17 +0000

3. If lightning …
3. If lightning enters your house through wiring, then your electrician didn’t ground things properly.

By: cinnamondouche

cinnamondouche — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:30:16 +0000

Or better yet, look …
Or better yet, look at your surge protector’s packaging. How many joules does it protect against? 300? 800? 2000? 4000? 6000? Highest I found shopping online was 10,000. Kinda pales in comparison to the average lightning strike which is 300,000,000,000 joules. (300 GJ). You would need 50 million commercial quality surge protectors to absorb a lightning strike.

By: cinnamondouche

cinnamondouche — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:30:16 +0000

And 2, if a portion …
And 2, if a portion of your electrical service WAS in the path of least resistance, it will be molten goo after lightning travels through it. Go ahead and calculate how the resistance of a few feet of household wiring would affect a 1GV lightning bolt. Go on.. Mr. Electrican, use ohm’s law and tell me how many degrees celcius that surge protector would become. Go on. I bet you it’s a little hotter than the melting point of everything inside that surge protector.

By: cinnamondouche

cinnamondouche — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:30:16 +0000

Damage done to …
Damage done to homes is due to the fact that lightning actually strikes homes. It strikes people. Thats not what i’m debating. My 2 points are that: 1. Lightning takes the path of least resistance from the earth to the sky. This path does not normally include any stereo’s or TV’s. It also doesn’t normally include romex wiring. It usually includes the aluminum siding or steel infrastructure of a home.