Quote:
Originally Posted by paullynnchetti
Generally a surge protector at the electric service point (meter or breaker box) should give you pretty good protection if your grounding system is all properly connected.
|
Appreciate that a protector does not really do protection. Where do hundreds of thousands of joules dissipate? Earth ground. Some protection systems do not even have protectors. Many protection systems replace the protector only with a wire. But every protection system always has earthing. Either hundreds of thousands of joules are absorbed in earth. Or no effective protection exists. Even with over 100 power strip protectors.
Protectors are simple science. As posted, surges that can overwhelm protection inside appliances are typically 20,000 amps. So a minimal 'whole house' protector starts at about 50,000 amps. These numbers say nothing about protection. Only that the protector will remain functional after every lightning strike. Simple science only defines the system's life expectancy after many surges.
Earthing is the art. How much protection do you have? Well, how much did you upgrade the earth ground? Only item that determines how much protection exists during each surge is the quality of and connection to that earthing. Earthing is the art. Only earthing does the protection. Only earthing says how well hundreds of thousands of joules dissipate harmlessly outside.
A protector - any protector - or a wire - connects that energy harmlessly to earth ground. A protector is only a connecting device to the only thing that does all protection. That absorbs energy harmlessly. Either energy is harmlessly absorbed by single point earth ground. Or that energy is inside destructively searching for earth via appliances.
Do not spend so much time on the protector. Worry more about what is actually doing all protection: earthing. Your solution is the only one used anywhere that damage cannot happen. But don't let a 'box' attract your attention. Pay far more attention to what everyone ignores because they do not see it. Protection is defined by what most everyone ignores. Protection during each surge is only defined by the quality of an earthing system. A protector is sized so that all surges - any direct lightning strike - do not damage the protector.
Either a protector or a wire can connect a surge to earth. Neither that protector nor wire should be damaged - so you have a 75,000 amp protector. That does not say anything about the quality of your protection. The art - earthing - defines the protection.
BTW, same applies to lightning rods. Rods also do not do protection. That rod is only as effective as earthing electrodes it connects to. Those rods are simple science. The art is in earthing electrodes. It sounds like your electrician knows all this.