Re: Band Uisng Tripplite Line Conditioners/surge-suppressor

Excellent... Never expect a detractor to acknowledge your input w/ anything other than silence however- they're just 'cool' like that.

:-) Regards,

Marc Mulay
http://tinyurl.com/32j32m



w_tom wrote:
On Jul 24, 1:05 pm, JP <J...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Give us an example (web site) where this is demonstrated both visual
as well as explained in layman's terms...I would like to see at least
a blueprint of this wired up correctly in a house or commercial
building as well as bom with specs or at least the bom of the parts
for the earth with specs - (brand, model number, ect)
AFAIK, the only ground wire on homes are from the main breaker box
to a 10' grounding rod with a fat copper wire. Maybe two ground
rods...the calble , ect are grounded on water pipes and such..
Why isn't an equipment ground good enough to ground equipment?
Isn't that what it is for?

Again, equipment ground is low resistance but not low impedance.
Put 100 amps of 60 hertz AC electricity on that Romex wire. Voltage
between wall receptacle and breaker box is probably less than 10
volts. But put a 100 amp surge on that same Romex wire. Voltage
between wall receptacle and breaker box is probably something less
than 12,000 volts.

At less than 10 volts, it is a safety ground. At something
approaching 12,000 volts, it is not earth ground.

Protection was demonstrated by Ben Franklin. Lightning seeks what?
Earth ground. Lightning found a conductive path to earth via wooden
church steeples. (Item not considered conductive becomes a conductor
at surge voltages.) However church steeples are not conductive
enough. Therefore voltage increases to dissipate more energy
(destructively) in church steeples.

Franklin protected steeples by connecting a lightning rod into
earth. Now lightning has a better conductive path to earth. Since a
grounding wire is more conductive, voltage is reduced, meaning more
energy instead dissipates in earth. Effective surge protectors also
do that. Surge energy must be dissipated somewhere. Intercept a
surge before it can travel through a church steeple (or into household
appliances). Divert that surge so energy gets harmlessly dissipated
in earth ground.

There is no alternative. Surge energy must be dissipated
somewhere. Protection is about diverting energy where it can do no
harm.

A home has numerous cables that carry surges into appliances. Once
a surge gets inside a building, numerous and potentially destructive
paths exists including pipes, air ducts, linoleum tile, and yes, even
wood. A surge earthed before entering the building also means
protection inside all appliances is not overwhelmed.

Cable TV needs no surge protector. A properly installed cable drops
down to earth before entering a building. Its ground block diverts
(shunts, connects, clamps) surges into earth. No surge current need
enter the building; destructively find a TV. Surge protection is
provided by earthing - not by a protector.

Unfortunately, telephones don't operate if either wire connects
directly to earth. A surge protector earths each telephone wire
without harming phone service. Any surge incoming on either phone
wire gets connected to earth ground by a telco 'provided for free'
protector. - need not enter the building. Again, that connection
must be short - be low impedance. Every subscriber line has a surge
protector where their wires connect to yours. Like Ben Franklin's
church steeples, a surge earthed by a more conductive path need not
find earth ground, destructively via household appliances - or a
wooden church steeple.

Numerous responsible sources demonstrate this concept. No protector
provides protection. A protector is simply a diverting device. From
QST Magazine in an Oct 2002 article on surge protection:
The purpose of the ground connection is to take the
energy arriving on the antenna feed line cables and
control lines (and to a lesser extent on the power and
telephone lines) and give it a path back to the earth,
our energy sink. The impedance of the ground
connection should be low so the energy prefers this
path and is dispersed harmlessly. To achieve a low
impedance the ground connection needs to be short
(distance), straight, and wide.

The NIST guide bluntly says same:
A very important point to keep in mind is that your surge
protector will work by diverting the surges to ground. The
best surge protector in the world can be useless if
grounding is not done properly.

Every responsible source notes this fundamental need for low
impedance earthing. From an IEEE Standard - the Emerald Book:
From IEEE Emerald Book (Std 1100?):
It is important to ensure that low-impedance grounding and
bonding connections exist among the telephone and data
equipment, the ac power system's electrical safety-grounding
system, and the building grounding electrode system. ...
Failure to observe any part of this grounding requirement
may result in hazardous potential being developed between
the telephone (data) equipment and other grounded items

Surge protection was pioneered even 100 years ago on telephones and
ham radios. Utility wires are equivalent to radio antennas connected
to every household appliance. What was done to radio station antennas
and telephone wires into switching stations is now required in homes.
Another professional demonstrated the concept:
Well I assert, from personal and broadcast experience spanning
30 years, that you can design a system that will handle *direct
lightning strikes* on a routine basis. It takes some planning and
careful layout, but it's not hard, nor is it overly expensive. At
WXIA-TV, my other job, we take direct lightning strikes nearly
every time there's a thunderstorm. Our downtime from such
strikes is almost non-existant. The last time we went down from
a strike, it was due to a strike on the power company's lines
knocking *them* out, ...
Since my disasterous strike, I've been campaigning vigorously to
educate amateurs that you *can* avoid damage from direct strikes.
The belief that there's no protection from direct strike damage is
*myth*. ...
The keys to effective lightning protection are surprisingly simple,
and surprisingly less than obvious. Of course you *must* have a
single point ground system that eliminates all ground loops. And
you must present a low *impedance* path for the energy to go
. That's most generally a low *inductance* path rather than just a
low ohm DC path.

Surge protection is that simple. Either a surge is earthed before
entering a building OR a surge finds earth destructively inside the
building. Surge energy diverted into earth without entering a
building causes no damage. Surge energy permitted inside the building
can overwhelm protection inside appliances - create damage just like
Franklin's church steeples. Surge protection is always about
diverting energy on a more conductive path into earth.

Before entering a building, every wire must first make a short (ie
'less than 10 foot') connection to earth. A connection directly
(cable TV, satellite dish) or a connection via a 'whole house'
protector (AC electric, telephone).

Above is what diverts a surge. What makes a better earthing
electrode to divert to? Making single point earth ground was posted
previously in alt.home.repair on 14 Jul 2008 at:
http://tinyurl.com/6bc2jw

These concepts are discussed in highly regarded application notes
from Polyphaser at:
http://www.polyphaser.com/technical_notes.aspx
What does Polyphaser discuss? Their products? Polyphaser discusses
protection in terms of earthing. Earthing is what effective
protectors do. Protectors without that earthing connection do not
protect from typically destructive surges. Two simple rules quickly
identify an ineffective surge protector: 1) No dedicated earthing
wire. 2) Manufacturer avoids all discussion about earthing.

Simple concept: surge energy must be connected to and dissipated in
earth before entering any building. A surge protector is only as
effective as its earth ground.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Surge protection without grounded plugs
    ... like 130 ohms impedance to the surge. ... protector attempts to earth a trivial 100 amp surge via neutral wire? ... The effective protector earths before that surge gets anywhere near ... Surge that damaged electronics seeks earth ground. ...
    (sci.electronics.basics)
  • Re: what is the joule rating on surge protectors?
    ... protector) OR do they absorb the entire energy (a series mode ... The advantage of a MOV is that the voltage is dropped across grain boundaries throughout the bulk of the device, not at a single junction as in a semiconductor. ... With a large surge current through them, and a clamp voltage, MOVs obviously dissipate power. ... A surge at well under a millisecond makes their use practical since energy deposition is relatively low. ...
    (sci.electronics.basics)
  • Re: MOVs and surge suppressors
    ... If you think the energy absorbed in the MOV is *all* the surge energy ... Demonstrated in that thread was a 39 joule protector ... Earth ground. ...
    (sci.electronics.basics)
  • Re: MOVs and surge suppressors
    ... It does not know about 'ground' or 'earth'. ... A surge has energy. ... Therefore protector was at 8000 volts on all wires. ...
    (sci.electronics.basics)
  • Re: MOVs and surge suppressors
    ... It does not know about 'ground' or 'earth'. ... A surge has energy. ... Therefore protector was at 8000 volts on all wires. ...
    (sci.electronics.basics)
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