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Intermatic Whole House Surge Protector ? Robert11 04-17-2008
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Posted by Robert11 on April 17, 2008, 11:38 am
Hello,

Having a new service box installed in a residence.

Electrician has never used these before, so thought I'd ask here.

Was thinking of purchasing, and having him install, an Intermatic Whole
House Surge Suppressor
Model 4870 in the new box. Have had several large lightning storms in the
past, and one nearby strike fried the control board on our furnace ! The
Intermatic unit isn't all that expensive, about $80 or so.

Any of you folks ever used this model ?

Worth doing ? Thoughts on ?

BTW: If they do ever take a big hit, do they (usually) fail open or closed
?

e.g., would the MOV's be shorting the hot to neutral/ground after a big hit,
such that the unit would have to be removed prior to re-initiating service ?

Thanks,
Bob



Posted by ransley on April 17, 2008, 11:45 am
> Hello,
>
> Having a new service box installed in a residence.
>
> Electrician has never used these before, so thought I'd ask here.
>
> Was thinking of purchasing, and having him install, an Intermatic Whole
> House Surge Suppressor
> Model 4870 in the new box. =A0Have had several large lightning storms in t=
he
> past, and one nearby strike fried the control board on our furnace ! =A0 T=
he
> Intermatic unit isn't all that expensive, about $80 or so.
>
> Any of you folks ever used this model ?
>
> Worth doing ? =A0Thoughts on ?
>
> BTW: =A0If they do ever take a big hit, do they (usually) fail open or clo=
sed
> ?
>
> e.g., would the MOV's be shorting the hot to neutral/ground after a big hi=
t,
> such that the unit would have to be removed prior to re-initiating service=
?
>
> Thanks,
> Bob

After a major strike costed our insurance co 10000 + we installed one
and a Lightning arrestor, there is better stuff out there but it costs
more. An electrician that hasnt used one? Maybe you need one who is up
to date on these issues and what you really need.

Posted by Smitty Two on April 17, 2008, 11:52 am

> Hello,
>
> Having a new service box installed in a residence.
>
> Electrician has never used these before, so thought I'd ask here.
>
> Was thinking of purchasing, and having him install, an Intermatic Whole
> House Surge Suppressor
> Model 4870 in the new box. Have had several large lightning storms in the
> past, and one nearby strike fried the control board on our furnace ! The
> Intermatic unit isn't all that expensive, about $80 or so.
>
> Any of you folks ever used this model ?
>
> Worth doing ? Thoughts on ?
>
> BTW: If they do ever take a big hit, do they (usually) fail open or closed
> ?
>
> e.g., would the MOV's be shorting the hot to neutral/ground after a big hit,
> such that the unit would have to be removed prior to re-initiating service ?
>
> Thanks,
> Bob

I'd guess that for $80, you're just buying a single premium lightening
strike insurance policy. If you want actual protection, look to the
professional stuff:

http://www.lightningprotectioncor.com/

Give my friend Chester a call out there and he can recommend something.

Posted by Pete C. on April 17, 2008, 12:46 pm

Smitty Two wrote:
>
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > Having a new service box installed in a residence.
> >
> > Electrician has never used these before, so thought I'd ask here.
> >
> > Was thinking of purchasing, and having him install, an Intermatic Whole
> > House Surge Suppressor
> > Model 4870 in the new box. Have had several large lightning storms in the
> > past, and one nearby strike fried the control board on our furnace ! The
> > Intermatic unit isn't all that expensive, about $80 or so.
> >
> > Any of you folks ever used this model ?
> >
> > Worth doing ? Thoughts on ?
> >
> > BTW: If they do ever take a big hit, do they (usually) fail open or closed
> > ?
> >
> > e.g., would the MOV's be shorting the hot to neutral/ground after a big hit,
> > such that the unit would have to be removed prior to re-initiating service ?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Bob
>
> I'd guess that for $80, you're just buying a single premium lightening
> strike insurance policy. If you want actual protection, look to the
> professional stuff:
>
> http://www.lightningprotectioncor.com/
>
> Give my friend Chester a call out there and he can recommend something.

You should not think of lightning protection and surge protection as
being synonymous. There are plenty of surges on the power lines that
have nothing to do with lightning. I put the Square D "Surge Breaker" in
my QO panel, I don't recall the exact price but I think it was well
below $80. The normal surge suppressers work well for non lightning line
surges as well as induced surges from nearby lightning strikes. They
complement, not replace lightning protection devices such as air
terminals (lightning rods) and other technologies. In any event it is
not generally economical to lightning harden a residence to the point of
being able to survive a direct hit.

Posted by Charlie Bress on April 17, 2008, 4:02 pm

>
> Smitty Two wrote:
>>
>>
>> > Hello,
>> >
>> > Having a new service box installed in a residence.
>> >
>> > Electrician has never used these before, so thought I'd ask here.
>> >
>> > Was thinking of purchasing, and having him install, an Intermatic Whole
>> > House Surge Suppressor
>> > Model 4870 in the new box. Have had several large lightning storms in
>> > the
>> > past, and one nearby strike fried the control board on our furnace !
>> > The
>> > Intermatic unit isn't all that expensive, about $80 or so.
>> >
>> > Any of you folks ever used this model ?
>> >
>> > Worth doing ? Thoughts on ?
>> >
>> > BTW: If they do ever take a big hit, do they (usually) fail open or
>> > closed
>> > ?
>> >
>> > e.g., would the MOV's be shorting the hot to neutral/ground after a big
>> > hit,
>> > such that the unit would have to be removed prior to re-initiating
>> > service ?
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Bob
>>
>> I'd guess that for $80, you're just buying a single premium lightening
>> strike insurance policy. If you want actual protection, look to the
>> professional stuff:
>>
>> http://www.lightningprotectioncor.com/
>>
>> Give my friend Chester a call out there and he can recommend something.
>
> You should not think of lightning protection and surge protection as
> being synonymous. There are plenty of surges on the power lines that
> have nothing to do with lightning. I put the Square D "Surge Breaker" in
> my QO panel, I don't recall the exact price but I think it was well
> below $80. The normal surge suppressers work well for non lightning line
> surges as well as induced surges from nearby lightning strikes. They
> complement, not replace lightning protection devices such as air
> terminals (lightning rods) and other technologies. In any event it is
> not generally economical to lightning harden a residence to the point of
> being able to survive a direct hit.

I'll second that. We have a neighbor that took a lightening hit that did NOT
come through the power lines.

It took out a couple of TVs as well as a DSL modem and a video card. Maybe
some other stuff, but that's all I remember.

I unplug sensitive electronics when a thunder storm is close. And don't
forget modems: Disconnect the signal path in either cable or phone line
based modems.
That's inexpensive protection.

Charlie in SW Florida



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