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Re: [TowerTalk] whole house surge protectors

To: John Elsik <wa5zup@msn.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] whole house surge protectors
From: Barry <w2up3@verizon.net>
Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 23:29:34 +0000
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
You're the second one to ask.  It's a GE model # THSASURGE60.  It also 
has an LED on it so you know it's still working.  If the LED goes out, 
something inside needs to be replaced.
Barry

John Elsik wrote:
> It appears I need to do more shopping for the AC protection.
> Don't happen to know the GE model number do you?
> Thanks
> John wa5zup
>
>
>
>   
>> Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:52:43 -0400> From: w2up3@verizon.net> To: 
>> towertalk@contesting.com> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] whole house surge 
>> protectors> > I had the ICE suppressor on my mains. I had a lightning strike 
>> earlier > this summer and the internal parts of the ICE box were fried. The 
>> > electrician who inspected the house and did some repairs said it > 
>> probably saved us from much more extensive damage (radios, computer, > VCRs, 
>> TVs, etc. were dead.) He replaced it with a GE unit that has a > quicker 
>> response time and greater Joule rating, and was more expensive> Barry W2UP.> 
>> > John Elsik wrote:> > I have been reading this with great interest. I am 
>> installing a ground system now. I was going to use an I.C.E 330 for the AC 
>> mains (whole house). Would that be adequate? Something is better than 
>> nothing. It looks like it is a shunt type also.> > > > John wa5zup> >> >> >> 
>> > > >> Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 10:34:55 -0700> From: jimlux@earthlink.net> 
>> To: towertalk@contesting.com> S
 u
>>     
>  bject: [TowerTalk] whole house surge protectors> > I've been doing a bit of 
> browsing> Most of the whole house protectors are shunt mode (which, by the 
> way, > can actually cause some problems, making things worse)> > Intermatic 
> IG1240RC> Leviton 51120-1> Panamax gpp8005> Siemens various models> > etc.> > 
> In any case, a shunt mode suppressor will also suppress transients > 
> originating within the house.> > There is a case where they will be of less 
> effectiveness.. if you have a > transient induced on the branch circuit 
> between the panel and your load, > then the transient propagates both 
> directions, and, depending on the > relative lengths of the wire, it will get 
> to the load before it gets to > the clamp. Once the clamp goes into effect, 
> an inverted transient gets > reflected back, so you can calculate the maximum 
> width of the > unsuppressed pulse. (you could use something like> > >> > > 2 
> ns/ft as a > propagation speed... so for a 100 ft run, with the transient 
> induced > ne
 xt
>   to the load (or downstream from the load), you get half a > microsecond or 
> so before the voltage is clamped.> > > If the transient is induced on a 
> branch circuit other than the one your > load is on, the suppressor is 
> between the transient source and your > load, so it would clamp the transient 
> before it arrives at the load.> > If you put a point of use transient 
> suppressor *with a higher voltage* > than the whole house protector, it will 
> take care of the half > microsecond impulse before the whole house protector 
> kicks in, and won't > have to absorb as much energy.> > FWIW, statistics show 
> that most transient damage occurs from transients > originating outside the 
> house, typically from a lightning strike or MV > line / LV line fault 
> somewhere (MV = 10-30kV, LV = 120,240,480V). That > makes the rise time of 
> the transient much slower (it's low pass filtered > by the power line), and 
> a> ls> > o makes the whole house protector more > effective.> > In the event 
> of a MV/LV sho
 rt
>   (the only kind of line transient I've had > personal experience with in 
> Southern California.. we don't have much > lightning here), you've probably 
> got a significant overvoltage that > lasts 8-10 milliseconds or longer (until 
> the MV breaker trips or fuse > blows). You'd have to hope that the surge 
> suppressor can hold on that > long without blowing its internal fuses. Or, 
> ideally, it would short, > and trip your main breaker. Since most of these 
> whole house protectors > have energy absorptions in the few kilojoule range, 
> I'm not very > sanguine about their ability to protect against this kind of 
> fault. > Figure the case of a 14.4kV feeder shorting to the 240V drop into 
> your > house (this has actually happened to me). If the series impedance of > 
> the feeder, through the drop, into the grounding system, is on the order > of 
> an ohm or so, the fault current is around 10-20kA.> > If the surge pr> ot> > 
> ector is based on an MOV, the 400V MOV is going to > dissipate about 4-8 MW,
  o
>  r, 4-8 kJ/millisecond. If it takes a half > cycle for the breaker to 
> trip/fuse blow, that's 8 ms, and about 50kJ > (which is why things literally 
> explode when this happens).> > A surge protector based on a spark gap, which, 
> once it fires, has a much > lower clamping voltage, will dissipate less 
> energy in the protector, so > has better survivability.> > 
> _______________________________________________> > > > 
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-- 

Barry Kutner, W2UP             Newtown, PA   


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