Are mains surge protectors needed in the UK?

"Lem" wrote in message
...
Are surge protectors on the main power supply actually needed in
the UK?

here in the UK we have few overhead mains power lines and have a
relatively steady mains power supply when compared to many other
countries (including the US).

However there seem to be very many surge protector products
advertised for sale in the UK (Argos, Maplins, etc).

I am quite sure it is not bad practice to use a surge protector but
in fact I have never known anyone who has has a problem from a
surge coming in through the power supply.

So personally I don't bother using a surge protector on my PC.

Am I being too complacent?

Do you live in an area where lightning is frequent? A lightning strike that
is merely _near_ to an underground utility circuit can induce damaging
voltages into them meaning that your power mains, telephone, and cable TV
are all possible carriers. Admittedly there is no place in the UK that I've
heard of that experiences the sort of storms that ravage parts of the USA,
Flordia comes immediately to mind, but if you ever do have even one event
then a small investment in protection would be invaluable.
--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

"John McGaw" wrote in message
.. .
"Lem" wrote in message
...
Are surge protectors on the main power supply actually needed in
the UK?

here in the UK we have few overhead mains power lines and have a
relatively steady mains power supply when compared to many other
countries (including the US).

However there seem to be very many surge protector products
advertised for sale in the UK (Argos, Maplins, etc).

I am quite sure it is not bad practice to use a surge protector but
in fact I have never known anyone who has has a problem from a
surge coming in through the power supply.

So personally I don't bother using a surge protector on my PC.

Am I being too complacent?


Yes.

I have seen damage caused by a current surge and a friend of mine has had a
machine totalled by a surge following a nearby lightning strike that shot up
his phone line, in through the modem and spaltted his mobo to hell and gone.

I also read the results of a survey a couple or three years ago that claimed
78% of all data loss in the UK was caused by unprotected machines suffering
power surges. I have always used a protector and never had a problem. If a
computer is plugged into a domestic ring main, it is subject to all sorts of
fluctuations, from kettles, central heating, wall mounted dildos etc etc.

It isn't as common as newbies screwing the mobo directly to the case
baseplate (I have actually seen that too) but it is worth avoiding for a
tenner at the local computer fair for a 6 gang protector.

Strange lad.
--
I do not consider it an insult, but rather a
compliment to be called an agnostic.
I do not pretend to know where
many ignorant men are sure --
that is all that agnosticism means.
Clarence Darrow

"John McGaw" wrote in message
.. .
Do you live in an area where lightning is frequent? A lightning strike
that
is merely _near_ to an underground utility circuit can induce damaging
voltages into them meaning that your power mains, telephone, and cable TV
are all possible carriers. Admittedly there is no place in the UK that
I've
heard of that experiences the sort of storms that ravage parts of the USA,
Flordia comes immediately to mind, but if you ever do have even one event
then a small investment in protection would be invaluable.

My house (in England) was struck by lightening - great big sodding hole in
the roof, and of course it was raining (doh!). My computer and everything
attached to it was safe as I had a surge protector incly telephone sockets.
Unfortunatelky I didn't have surge protectors on my 2 widescreen TV that
each had a DVD player attached to and my stereo so they all got
fried..........literally there was black scorth marks!!

They say lightening doesn't strike twice, but I have everything on surge
protectors now - Worth every penny imho

Assumed is that lightning confronted everything inside the
house equally. Just not true. Based upon your description,
the circuit from cloud to earth borne charges found a good
path via those TVs. Therefore only TVs suffered a direct
lightning strike incoming and outgoing. Incoming and outgoing
are essential requirements for surge damage. If the computer
only had an incoming path and no outgoing path, then lightning
currents did not pass through nor damage computers. That
complete electrical path to earth ground is the essential
requirement for surge damage. Clearly other household
appliances did not make that same "complete electrical
circuit" connection; therefore were not damaged.

No adjacent protector that will stop, block, or absorb the
transient. An effective protection must shunt (divert,
connect, short circuit) the direct strike to earth so that the
direct strike does not find a better path via TVs. In your
case, that solution was a lightning rod (and not plug-in
protectors that cost tens of times more money per protected
appliance).

But again, first identify why lightning took that path to
earth ground through TVs and not through computers to learn
why damage occurs. First lightning passes through everything
in a circuit from cloud to earth. Only then does something
inside the TVs get damaged - even though other parts also
carries the electrical transient.

Concepts such as 'whole house' protectors and lightning rods
are long ago proven to be superior protection. Why? They
(unlike the ineffective plug-in protector) make a superior
connection to earth ground so that lightning does not find
earthing via TVs or computer.

AK wrote:
My house (in England) was struck by lightening - great big sodding hole in
the roof, and of course it was raining (doh!). My computer and everything
attached to it was safe as I had a surge protector incly telephone sockets.
Unfortunatelky I didn't have surge protectors on my 2 widescreen TV that
each had a DVD player attached to and my stereo so they all got
fried..........literally there was black scorth marks!!

They say lightening doesn't strike twice, but I have everything
on surge protectors now - Worth every penny imho

AK wrote:

My house (in England) was struck by lightening - great big sodding hole in
the roof, and of course it was raining (doh!). My computer and everything
attached to it was safe as I had a surge protector incly telephone sockets.
Unfortunatelky I didn't have surge protectors on my 2 widescreen TV that
each had a DVD player attached to and my stereo so they all got
fried..........literally there was black scorth marks!!

Hint: could you possibly have had the TVs connected to some wiring on
the roof?

On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 23:16:17 UTC, "AK" wrote:

My house (in England) was struck by lightening

Did it change colour - say from beige to white? :-)

--
Bob Eager
begin a new life...dump Windows!

Strange Lad wrote:


a friend of mine has had a machine totalled by a surge following a
nearby lightning strike that shot up his phone line, in through the
modem and spaltted his mobo to hell and gone.



I thought BT master sockets, NTE5s, have a built in lightning arrestor?
Maybe they don't, or he has an old type?

Parish

On 9 Jul 2004 06:46:06 GMT, "Bob Eager" wrote:

-On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 23:16:17 UTC, "AK" wrote:
-
- My house (in England) was struck by lightening
-
-Did it change colour - say from beige to white? :-)

I hear the whoosh of passing thuneder.

Thanks for the chuckle, Bob.


-Rob
robatwork at mail dot com

In article , w_tom
writes

[more crap from w_tom]

Therefore only TVs suffered a direct
lightning strike incoming and outgoing. Incoming and outgoing
are essential requirements for surge damage.

No ****.

No adjacent protector that will stop, block, or absorb the
transient.

There's a big difference between a direct lightning strike and a
transient arriving via the mains. As you've been told many times.

An effective protection must shunt (divert,
connect, short circuit) the direct strike to earth so that the
direct strike does not find a better path via TVs. In your
case, that solution was a lightning rod

Really? Care to tell me how a lightning strike is going to discriminate
between a roof-mounted lightning rod and a TV aerial? (hint: in the
UK, most houses have a roof-mounted TV aerial.)

(and not plug-in
protectors that cost tens of times more money per protected
appliance).

Absolute bull****. No-one claims that plug-in surge protectors will
protect against direct lightning strikes. They, however, because of the
decent earthing system available on UK and European mains wiring, do a
good job of shunting spikes and surges to earth, thus protecting the
equipment plugged into them. And they are cheap insurance; 4 to 10 UK
pounds per protector.

Concepts such as 'whole house' protectors and lightning rods
are long ago proven to be superior protection.

Here we go again. In the States, maybe. Not in Europe.

--
A. Top posters.
Q. What's the most annoying thing on Usenet?

Surge protectors (be they capacitors, varistors, or anything else) must
absorb the energy they're dealing with. Anything physically small will
vaporise and give little protection against a direct lightning strike on
the building, though they may protect against surges from further away.

I would expect a suitable Uninterruptible Power Supply to provide
reasonable lightning protection -- some APC units guarantee this, though
you'd have to ensure that all computers, monitors, etc. on a network are
powered through the UPC for safest results (or use fibre optic cabling
or wireless networking).

Surge protectors are probably of some use. A lightning rod for the
building is important. Personally I unplug computer equipment from mains
and phone during electrical storms if possible, But, in a city
environment, I haven't come across lightning damage, though I've heard
of it.

Obviously there are differences between a building in the middle of a
city and a house on a lone mountaintop!

Best wishes,
--
Michael Salem