Your responses are classic examples of "it is called a surge
protector - therefore it must be surge protection". Again
they would have you believe the protector will stop what miles
of air could not? Go figure. What does the destructive surge
seek? Earth ground. It will blow right through those in-line
protectors and destructively through computer to obtain earth
ground. Furthermore, anything that those grossly overpriced
protectors claim to accomplish is already inside the computer.
Internal computer protection that assumes you have earthed
destructive transients before they can enter a building. Its
called a 'whole house' protector. It is installed for free by
the telco on phone lines. Those overhyped in-line protectors
are made unnecessary by a properly installed cable because the
cable is earthed (without a surge protector) at the single
point earth ground.
What does a protector do? Connects each wire to earth
ground only during the surge. Why? Surge protection is
ground. Surge protector is only effective if it connects a
surge to earth ground.
This was demonstrated using a figure from the National
Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST):
http://www.epri-peac.com/tutorials/sol01tut.html
Why is the fax machine damaged? Destructive surge was not
earthed by a 'whole house' protector at utility service
entrance. A surge protector is only as effective as its earth
ground.
And not just the building earth ground. Building ground is
only secondary protection. Primary protection must also be
inspected:
http://www.tvtower.com/fpl.html
Notice what those who recommend ineffective protection avoid
discussing? Earth ground. No earth ground means no effective
protection. Both cable and telephone lines, properly
installed, already make that so critical 'less than 10 foot'
connection to earth ground. Those who never learned this
instead promote myths from retail store shelves - rather than
learn the science. A surge protector is only as effective as
its earth ground.
