Surge Protection from Lightning?

[Ian]

I was just wondering if anyone knew if there's a way to protect from lightning electrical surges - either for the whole house or at a socket level?

We had quite a bit of stuff knocked out around a week ago and I really don't want it to happen again . I've now got a UPS for the NAS, which should protect it in future, but the surge protectors we've got for other items didn't do a thing. It looks like the phone line was where a decent amount of juice got through, as it managed to knock out 2 sockets (inc the master) and the router attached at the other end.

 

[TriplexDread]

loads of devices available mate. Some will even give you insurance incase they fail. Have a look on amazon. The best ones will have ethernet and phone socket protection aswell as the standard socket and aerial protection. You will end up paying extra for it however but worth it i guess

 

[crazylegs]

Have extension leads with surge protector switches built in..Cost an arm and a leg!

 

[Quadophile]

APC products are industry standard when it comes tUPS and surge protectors, not sure if they are available in UK if so do put it on your list when deciding to buy. I have at my workplace and they do a great job, I replaced two UPS units which were 6 years old, they gave great service. Replacement was with newer model from APC.

Just checked on Amazon and it is available

 

[muckshifter]

I'm gonna stick my neck out here and say, you won't "protect" your house from Lightning! with electrical surge protectors.

They'll do a good job protecting the circuits from electrical surges, but I highly doubt you'll survive Lightning. A single lightning bolt can carry up to 1 billion volts of energy and can reach temperatures of 28,000°C.

In a lightning storm, you should never rely on your surge protector to save your computer, or any other electronic equipment. The best protection is to unplug your computer and other sensitive electronic equipment.

surge protectors are an extremely controversial piece of technology

Right, having said all that, I have 3 surge protectors.

When looking for a surge protector, try to follow some simple rules ...

• Clamping voltage - This tells you what voltage will cause the MOVs to conduct electricity to the ground line. A lower clamping voltage indicates better protection. There are three levels of protection in the UL rating -- 330 V, 400 V and 500 V. Generally, a clamping voltage more than 400 V is too high.
  
• Energy absorption/dissipation - This rating, given in joules, tells you how much energy the surge protector can absorb before it fails. A higher number indicates greater protection. Look for a protector that is at least rated at 200 to 400 joules. For better protection, look for a rating of 600 joules or more.
  
• Response time - Look for a surge protector that responds in less than one nanosecond.
  
• Look for a protector with an indicator light that tells you if the protection components are functioning.
  
• Better surge protectors may come with some sort of guarantee of their performance.

Some source notes

 

[Ian]

Thanks for the replies

I've got a mixture of surge protectors for most of the items that blew (if not all!), but it didn't do anything .

APC products are industry standard when it comes tUPS and surge protectors, not sure if they are available in UK if so do put it on your list when deciding to buy.

As it happens, that's the brand of UPS I went for . The APC BE700G-UK 405 - it's able to run the NAS with a loss of power for quite some time and protect from lightning strikes (apparently!) .

They'll do a good job protecting the circuits from electrical surges, but I highly doubt you'll survive Lightning. A single lightning bolt can carry up to 1 billion volts of energy and can reach temperatures of 28,000°C.

That certainly does seem to ring true in this case! Thanks for the additional tips Mucks.

Let's hope the old adage about lightning never strikes twice is true .

 

[floppybootstomp]

Probably the best and most obvious protection is a lightning conductor on the outside of the building, a non-ferrous metal strip from roof to earth.

And Mucks speaks truth, a surge protector will offer some small protection but lightning is pretty lethal - and often strong. telephone lines seem to be the most vulnerable, around '99 my house was hit by lightning and it knocked out a dialup modem and one computer's PCI bus.

I can remember reading at the time that the best protection was to 'unplug devices during a storm'.

I once had to replace two 'Contacta' units in a school that had been struck by lightning, they are heavy duty relays that were being used to switch on all the bench mains sockets in the science classrooms. Lightning is powerful stuff.

 

[Anon_F]

We had a direct hit by lighting when staying at my older sister 10 odd years ago.
Even with surge protectors it blew everything, even a flame out of the power socket!
These days if there is lightning i un plug all power sockets, pc of & disconnect phone.