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Old 10-07-11, 02:54 PM   #5
Xringer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zick View Post
That's a pretty good price.

This is the one I bought and installed last year.
Leviton 51120-1 Whole House Surge Suppressor / Surge Protector - Smarthome

I'm curious on what should be a "minimum" surge amp rating we should consider for a whole house surge protector?
The Eaton one is 36K and the Leviton is 50K.
That says "36k amp surge current capacity per phase rating"..
Does that mean 36K for each side of the box? 72k amps total?

I know very little about these things. Lightning hits are rare around here.

I read some reviews and one user described how a lightning storm worked
over his neighborhood, zapping electronics all over the place,
but his home's electronics weren't touched.
I said to myself, wow! That's the one for me!

But afterwards, I remembered when a big tree 30 yards across the street got hit.
Killed their GDO and my phone Modem.. Nothing else was damaged.
I was in the basement when it hit. All kinds of sparks snapping all around me,
as the juice headed down the slope into the swamp in my backyard..

All my ham gear (connected to antennas) & PCs were fine..
I think the EMP hitting the phone line is what killed the modem.
It was still trying to work. It could actually call out, but could not hear..

It's all random. If the hit is major, nothing is going to stop it. (IMHO).

What I need protection from, is the power company!
Sometimes they sent us about 256 volts and it has noise on it.
Plus, it's flat-topping.. That's without much load..


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