Re: belkin power conditioner for my Samsung LCD - is it worth it???

w_tom wrote:
On Aug 4, 10:45 pm, Piggy <pigglywiggly...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Does this thing extend the life of my tv 5-10 years or not? if not,
i'd rather use the money to frame some of my beautiful paintings for
the rest of my living room .

Based upon your post, I assume a saleman said certain voltage
variations harm TVs - typically without even knowing what voltages
are. The surge protector will eliminate those voltage variations?
There is no way around the answer without numbers. Look on a plug-in
protector box for its let-through voltage number. For example, a 120
volt protector rated at 330 volts means all those voltage variations
between 90 and 150 volts are completely ignored. Those completely
ignored variations occur often. A protector sees no voltage
(eliminates no voltage variation) until voltage exceed 330 volts.
When does that happen? Maybe once every seven years.

Note that the voltages are measured on different scales. 330V is “peak” voltage and 120V is “RMS” voltage. 120V RMS is the same as 170V peak.

Are you likely to get damaging surges? Well, do you get thunderstorms often?


Meanwhile, a TV power supply makes voltage variations irrelevant. If
a TV is missing required functions, then a plug-in solution (that
ignores everything below 330 volts) will fix it? Of course not.
Let's assume voltage drops so low that incandescant bulbs are only 40%
bright. Still, a TV must work just fine. Why? That is what a power
supply did even more than 30 years ago.

At 40% brightness the voltage will be under 95V. Provide a source for that claim that TV power supplies are designed to work at 95V.


Meanwhile, earthed protection devices such as a 'whole house'
protector or a building wide UPS make thousand volt variations
irrelevant. That rare and larger variation may overwhelm protection
already inside a TV's power supply. But again, an effective protector
must make a short and dedicated earthing connection.

A repeat of w_’s nonsense that plug-in suppressors don’t work. The IEEE guide on surges and surge suppression at :
http://omegaps.com/Lightning%20Guide_FINALpublishedversion_May051.pdf
explains plug-in suppressors work primarily by clamping the voltage on all wires (power and signal) to the common ground at the suppressor, not earthing. The guide explains earthing occurs elsewhere (starting pdf page 40).

And the IEEE guide (as well as a NIST guide) says plug-in suppressors are effective. But they must be used properly.


As others noted, life expectancy can be shortened if components are
too warm. 'Too' without numbers says little. TVs must work just fine
even in a 90 degree F room. Some brands may fail faster at what should
be normally acceptable room tempertures. How much heat will remove 5
to 10 years from a TV? Maybe room temperatures of 150 degree F or
higher.


Provide a source for that claim that TVs are designed to work at 90 degrees. (As a rule of thumb, an 18 degree F increase in temperature will cut the life of electronics in half. A 36 degree F rise will cut life to 1/4.)

---------------------
Looking at the specs, a PF30 is not what I would call a power conditioner. Is Best Buy trying to sell you a power conditioner for $300? The salesman needs to provide a source for the claim that line voltage “fluctuations” will shorten the life by 5-10 years. I seriously doubt it. Where is a reliable source that says “power conditioners” (outside of a surge suppression function) will extend life.

I don’t see anything in the PF30 specs that would control "fluctuations”.

As a surge suppressor the PF30 looks good. You could probably get one cheaper but ratings are high. Connect it as the instructions indicate.

--
bud--
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: What are you using to protect your studio audio equipment from power issues?
    ... And also guide from the NIST: ... "Q - Will a surge protector installed at the service entrance be sufficient for the whole house? ... To limit that voltage you need a *short* wire connecting the cable/phone entrance protectors to the ground at the power service. ... According to the IEEE guide plug-in suppressors work primarily by clamping, ...
    (rec.audio.pro)
  • Re: What are you using to protect your studio audio equipment from power issues?
    ... "Q - Will a surge protector installed at the service entrance be sufficient for the whole house? ... Service panel suppressors do not prevent high voltages from developing between power and signal wires. ... To limit that voltage you need a *short* wire connecting the cable/phone entrance protectors to the ground at the power service. ... A ground wire that is too long is illustrated in the IEEE guide starting pdf page 40. ...
    (rec.audio.pro)
  • Re: http://h71000.www7.hp.com/?
    ... and the increased inductance wouldn't block a lightning induced surge. ... essentially an open circuit until the voltage goes past a knee in the characteristic curve, then the current rises very rapidly with increasing voltage. ... Ground potential to 'absolute earth potential' can rise thousands of volts, but phone, CATV and other signal wires are clamped to the grounded neutral through phone NID and CATV entrance block and all the wires ride up with the power conductors. ... Plug-in surge suppressors clamp the voltage H-N, H-G, N-G (and signal wires should go through the protector and be clamped to surge protector ground). ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: Does as GFCI give you some surge protection?
    ... computer's power plug all go to a common-mode voltage plus or minus line ... All interconnected devices, like a computer and printer, need to connect to the same surge protector. ... If a device, like a computer, has external connections like phone, all those wires have to run through the surge suppressor for protection. ... The voltage on all wires connected through the suppressor (power, phone, cable TV, ...) is clamped to the common ground at the suppressor and the voltages are held to a value that is safe to the connected devices. ...
    (alt.home.repair)
  • Re: Whole house Surge Protector?
    ... I doubt that it'll do much good for an open neutral problem. ... burn up and then let the over voltages into the house to burn up everything ... protectors are intended more to remove over voltage spikes caused by ... house surge protector are your best protection from lightning. ...
    (rec.woodworking)