protecting electronic washers from surge/spike damage

[cfz2882]

noticed when running my 2009 GE hydrowave(3.2 plastic tub version)with the front off there is a little green LED on the motor inverter that is lit when the washer is "off"-thinking about plugging into a switched outlet so that washer is all the way"off"when not in use in order to protect electronics from possible spike/surge damage.Now have to check if my Neptune 3000 is all the way "off" when inactive...

 

[kb0nes]

Pretty much all electronic devices today have circuitry energized at all times. The big tip off is when the switch isn't a mechanical switch but a momentary push button of some sort. Any form of remote control or clock means there is an active power supply while the device is "off".

A switched outlet switch or simply unplugging the device will provide a large amount of protection from power anomalies. This also reduces the power draw during non use which can add up.

Of course unplugging the appliance doesn't help protect it during use some active form of surge protection is still a good idea.

 

[mrb627]

Whole Home

Best solution is to seek out a whole home protection device, rather than an individual per appliance unit.

 

Malcolm

 

[yogitunes]

I have the whole house device......paid $500.00 installed......NOT worth a damn!....

blown out stereo, DVD, and TV all in one storm....proof positive it doesn't not work....

use a protector while in use, maybe can help, always best to pull the plug, unless the switch disconnects both sides and the ground....that machine is still connected one way or another...

 

[kb0nes]

The whole home protector is a highly recommended add on, but indeed they won't prevent all damage! Counting on any single surge protector for that is a mistake.

The whole home device that installs at the entrance panel is the first defense when an over voltage event comes zinging down your power line. We can't stop a surge so all that can be done is to shunt it onto the ground and neutral lines. Ideally this should be done as soon as possible, i.e. at the entrance panel.

But the rub that remains is that a significant event could cause the panel protector to fail or just the magnetic field caused by a nearby strike can induce spikes into the house wiring. Even with a whole home protector, additional protection devices at sensitive electronics are still needed.

I won't even go into dissimilar grounds for cable TV or telco. You can buy all the proctors you want and if your grounds aren't well bonded you will see tons of damage.

 

[tolivac]

I go along with the Whole house protection and the individual protective devices-If one fails-the one in the appliance provides backup and extra protection.The whole home devices need to be checked perodically to see if they are still effectrive.An electrician can do this.If you suffer a lightening hit to your place or strong surge-the home power supply surge device should simply be replaced.You can be sure it got blown.It did its job.
Dissimilar grounds for Telco,data,cable TV can cause noise and hum-hum bars in TV pictures and false data for computers.Not to mention for safety!They should and according to NEC must use common grounds.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Hmmmm .......Not sure

I can say this but I can't be sure it is the surge protector.

The first years of having my Duet, I got error codes......It was a bad board so it was replaced.......I think this was 2005 or 2006 (ish). I had been reading and hearing about the problems at that time so after the board was replaced, I have kept it plugged into a working surge protector and haven't had a single error code in over 7 yrs. There's no way to know if it's the surge protector or not......

 

[kb0nes]

Mark,

I'd wager its unlikely that your use of a surge protector stopped the error codes. Seems like the board swap probably was the cure.

While a surge protector does knock down big spikes that can cause damage, bear in mind the power supply in the appliance was engineered to operate in the real world, with real world mains power and all its faults. Its much like how the HiFi people have to spend hundreds (thousands?) of dollars on a power conditioner to make their system sound better. Its an insult to the engineer that designed the components to imply that they can't work in the real world. Big profits to be had at the expensive of people with over active imaginations...

But the use of the surge protector doesn't hurt, and it could prevent a failure. Heck if hanging a rubber chicken over the washer stopped the error codes that would be good too!