Resi whole house surge prot.

[electricmanscott]

Do any of you install whole house surge protection? I have a customer that is interested. I have a couple types in my own house but I honestly don't know what is best to have. Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[peter d]

Re: Resi whole house surge prot.

I like the type that looks like a "dummy" breaker. Snap it in, connect the neutral, done! This is assuming you have room in the panel of course.

Otherwise, the Intermatic hardwired version is pretty popular.

 

[electricmanscott]

Re: Resi whole house surge prot.

Thanks Peter. I actually have both types in my house. I don't know if one is better than the other.

 

[peter d]

Re: Resi whole house surge prot.

I don't know if one is better than the other.

I don't either. I never studied the packaging too carefully but I'm from what I remember they offer the similar levels of protection.

The Intermatic was a pretty hot seller at the supplier I used to work at.

How about lighting arrestors? Do you put those in too?

 

[straps]

Re: Resi whole house surge prot.

I have installed 4 different types.
1. My ex contractor that I subed too used one that required a double pole space and intalled thru a ko 1/2" failed every day.
2. Was manufactured is SQUARE D" it fits any panel and it is mounted thru the same ko hole and is totally external of the panel.No problems
3. Was amanufactured by SEIMENS and it had a red and a green light on the body of the unit that was also external of the panel. When it was actuated the green light went offf and the red came on.
4. Is manufactured by a outfit in california and failed the first day . It layed inside the cb cabinet loose and had a green idiot light. It was supposed to last 5 years and down here in Florida it lasted 8 hours. We do have a lot of problems in South-East Florida with voltage surges and spikes cause the tree huggers will not allow a second nuke electric power plant to be built. 1 Plant now powers dade county-Broward County-Palm Beach County and Marion County.
Yes Matilda the wackos invaded Florida just before Al Gore and his 500 lawyers.

 

[paul]

Re: Resi whole house surge prot.

Originally posted by straps:
...We do have a lot of problems in South-East Florida with voltage surges and spikes cause the tree huggers will not allow a second nuke electric power plant to be built. 1 Plant now powers dade county-Broward County-Palm Beach County and Marion County...

Being from WA State and having been to FL several times I have made the following assessment of FL. Y'all ain't got many trees to hug down there, so why would ya have any tree huggers???

Personally, I like the Joslyn SA's that mount through a 1/2" KO. I've got one in my own panel right now.

This also brings up a question. What's the difference between a surge suppressor and a surge arrestor?

 

[George Stolz]

Re: Resi whole house surge prot.

This also brings up a question. What's the difference between a surge suppressor and a surge arrestor?

280.2 Surge Arrester. A protective device for limiting surge voltages by discharging or bypassing surge current, and it also prevents continued flow of follow current while remaining capable of repeating these functions.

285.2 Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor (TVSS). A protective device for limiting transient voltages by diverting or limiting surge current; it also prevents continued flow of follow current while remaining capable of repeating these functions.

Well...DUH! Oh, nevermind, they say practically the same thing.

I'm guessing from the way they're listed in the index, SS's deal with lightning, TVSS's deal with the power company's eccentricities. But that's a wildly flaming nosediving corkscrew kamikaze blind guess.

Glad I could help.

 

[goldstar]

Re: Resi whole house surge prot.

Scott,

I've used a product manufactured by Delta. I usually install both the surge suppressor and the lightening arrestor units at the breaker panel. They are about the size of a 12 oz. soda (or beer !!!) can and mount in a 1/2" k-o. They're available in both single and three phase models and install at any available 2 (or 3) pole breaker. It's hard to say whether they work or don't work unless, of course, they fail.

I had a rep. from Cutler-Hammer come out to a small strip mall that I service, where lightening hits and power surges occur frequently. His suggestion was to use a "cascading" approach to surge suppression, meaning that devices should be installed at the head end switchgear and again downstream at any sub panels. I thought his idea was a good one and made sense until he said that the surge suppression equipment would end up costing around $ 10K. Long story short - about 3 years ago I installed 3 phase Delta surge suppressors and lightening arrestors (at a cost of about $50.00 per unit) in the photo developing store, dentist's office and the house panels of the building and haven't had a problem since.

I asked, at my supply house, whether these devices actually work and the response I got was to think of them as "shock absorbers". If you drove your car without shock absorbers you would feel every bump in the road. These units help smooth the hit or surge if you get one.

[ December 04, 2004, 08:08 AM: Message edited by: goldstar ]