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In Reply to: Watts vs lightning storms posted by bobwood on December 21, 2004 at 13:17:12:
Lightening can "surge" through any connection to your equipment, regardless of it's ratings. Your best and only true protection from lightening is to unplug the equipment.The only advantage I can see to a surge protector is that you will only need to unplug it as opposed to each item seperatly.
Follow Ups:
Hi MarkW;You're right on target there. Back in the early '80's I had exactly that experience (and no, I did not expect a surge suppressor to help against lightning strikes - but I had forgotten to unplug the power strip before going to work....).
However, a good surge suppressor CAN help against transient spikes and momentary overvoltages - which is enough reason for me to use 'em. That and the convenience of unplugging everything at one whack.
Don't forget to undo the cable TV (or satellite dish) connection if you're really worrying about lightning storms. Lightning can and will travel down any connection it darn' well wants to.
A last thought is that the MOV's in surge suppressors are NOT eternal. They do wear out and do need to be replaced periodically. Thus, if you have a 20 year old surge protector and are expecting it to work, ummm, maybe those MOV's ought to be replaced...
I lost a Micom modem and a mux in a remote site and 16 terminals went down. And this was with a high buck UPS. Ligntning is like an 800 pound gorilla. It goes where it wants when it wants.
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