Is there any real protection from power surges?

[mattl]

I rarely have power outages around here, but when I do I flip off the main breaker. I think one of the riskiest times for equipment is when they attemp to reconnect the mains. Everyone in my neighborhood has lamp posts for lighting at night so if its dark I know when they power is on. During the day I just listen to hear when the generators are killed.

I think it's funny, we have very few outages, we've gone 5+ years , yet many do have generators. I do have a generator but I'm leary of using it with all the electronics I have, it's old from the early 90's and I think the power may be quite dirty.

 

[kb0nes]

Old generator

Matt, just because your generator is old doesn't make bad. The only thing that it could do to cause serious damage to electronics is have voltage regulation problems, especially over voltage. Generally old engine driven altranator gensets have very "clean" power although the frequency may vary a bit. Most loads are pretty insensitive to minor line freq variations.

If you have a Kill-A-Watt meter plug it in and see what you get. For really sensitive loads like a PC etc use a UPS in front of the load to provide protection.

I like your suggestion of isolating your house during a failure by turning off the main breaker. Only trouble could come from it tripping from inrush when you turn it back on if you have a lot of active loads.
Indeed the bouncing power that goes with many outages causes a lot of damage. All air conditioners should have a delayed relay for the compresser to prevent stalls and possible damage from trying to restart with head pressure.

 

[mattl]

Thanks, I do have a Kill-a-Watt meter, will try it and see what I get. 

 

I think flipping the main breaker does two things, one it prevents surges when the power comes back on and two it helps clean the contacts.  I recall hearing or reading that the main and I'd guess other breakers should be flipped perhaps annually to prevent corrosion.  True or not, I don't know, but ti does not hurt anything.

 

[davetranter]

Constant Voltage Transformer

One of these may help to limit 'spike' energy fed through to the load, and will minimise the effects of short 'brownouts' and/or longer 'sags'. Obviously, no protection from actual 'outages'.....

Still far cheaper than a generator/UPS. Can be had from Ebay, etc.

All best

Dave T

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

--And the Audio-Phile!

I wonder how, or at least if my stereo is on, and my washer or dryer should "cycle on", if there is any loss of power going to it...

A lot of worry, yet the music never really skips a beat!

So, I guess that's where "how" comes in... Does anyone know more?

-- Dave

 

[thomasortega]

Real, real, real protection.... and low cost... and really reliable

Unplug absolutely everything. AND NEVER PLUG THEM!

ducks and runs

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I have a multiple-plug outlet that actually has surge-protection for my stereo equipment, so reeling back a little, I think I can rest assured that my stuff is safe (even given that there is one plug unused, and saved only for my occasional window fan)...

--Yes, I am at the point of over-load: I have a portable CD that operates via AC adapter and a DVD, that occasionally gets unplugged for my "video tree" plugged into a small power bar that's hitched into that thing, in addition to my mainstream, consisting of my stereo rig, phono (plugged into an aux. equip. outlet in the amp/tuner), cassette, a table lamp and CD...

Just wondered & thought back if there were ever a time I would have gotten a "clipped" sound, or if even the cheapest, modest equipment (audio & video) might have any built-in protection (well, an old TV screen could get fuzzy) from that...

-- Dave

 

[fan-of-fans]

I had my bedroom TV and VCR plugged into a plain old power strip, one summer we had a lightning strike right outside and it got the TV but not the VCR, the power strip was fine. I also had a real surge protector on my computer, but an inexpensive one, the computer and printer were fine, but we were still on dial up and though the line was plugged into the surge protector, it still got the modem.

After that I got better APC surge strips for the computer and all TV locations. Haven't had any issues since. I usually keep the surge strip for my bedroom TV, VCR, DVD turned off so they aren't using power since I never really use them. I guess there is no protection since it's turned off, but just before the storm I unplugged them all anyway and still haven't plugged back in. All electronics use a small amount of power when turned off so they're ready to turn on when you need them (kind of like a pilot light on a stove or furnace). I figure no sense in wasting power for that on the ones that rarely get used, so keep the supply switched off. It may not be much power but still if it saves a few dollars why not.