Power for 'almost' everything in my system runs back to a pair of PS Audio Power Plants... with the exception of my projector which is protected by a Brick Wall Surge Filter, and my ML Script i rears which are each plugged into a TrippLite Spikecube. Since I am going to be adding a pair of REL subs to my rear channels, I'm looking for recommendations to upgrade power conditioning/surge protection for both my rear ML's and REL subs. Any thoughts on this?
Power Filtration/Surge Protection on a Small Scale
- Thread starter BDH55
- Start date
Help Support MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum:
I find that having surge protection home-wide is the best answer, so products such as this https://www.amazon.com/Siemens-FS140-Whole-House-Protection/dp/B013WINMK6/ installed in the panel feeding the HT room would be my recommendation.
That way the subs can draw full amperage from the outlets and still have protection.
I live in North Georgia, and we get a lot of thunderstorms with lightning, and I've never lost any gear in the past 22 years thanks to each panel having a surge protector / power factor corrector installed covering both phases.
For the AV system, I run all my loads off of an Equitech 5KVA balanced power transformer plus my custom distribution system, see Power Distribution Unit with Relay controlled outlets –...
That way the subs can draw full amperage from the outlets and still have protection.
I live in North Georgia, and we get a lot of thunderstorms with lightning, and I've never lost any gear in the past 22 years thanks to each panel having a surge protector / power factor corrector installed covering both phases.
For the AV system, I run all my loads off of an Equitech 5KVA balanced power transformer plus my custom distribution system, see Power Distribution Unit with Relay controlled outlets –...
I wonder how that compares to what our power company installed on our home? They installed a ring shaped device that goes around the perimeter of the electric meter on the outside of the home. Its called strike stop. They disconnect the power while they install it, so it seems to be right there in the main line.
Speedskater
Well-known member
The power company installed unit at the meter and the Siemens unit at the service entrance will have about equal effectiveness. I receive e-mail ads from the power company about rental of the meter unit. The monthly charge in each as is different and after 5 years it's a lot of money.
The newest generation of whole home units are a lot smarter, some will send you a text if they have a problem. MOV's have also come a long way in the last half century, the bad things that you read about MOV's is now old news.
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-surge-protector/https://shedheads.net/whole-house-surge-protectors/https://ipropertymanagement.com/reviews/best-whole-home-surge-protectorhttp://www.levitonproducts.com/catalog/model_32120-1.htm
The newest generation of whole home units are a lot smarter, some will send you a text if they have a problem. MOV's have also come a long way in the last half century, the bad things that you read about MOV's is now old news.
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-surge-protector/https://shedheads.net/whole-house-surge-protectors/https://ipropertymanagement.com/reviews/best-whole-home-surge-protectorhttp://www.levitonproducts.com/catalog/model_32120-1.htm
We pay a fee each month, think its less than $5.00. Its nice too because it carries insurance on it and will cover the cost of your insurance deductible. Haven't needed it yet.
Prior to getting it our neighbor's tree got a direct hit by lightning. It shook our whole home. Two houses down it knocked a picture off the wall! The blast fried our entire burglar alarm board and my daughter's brand new pc.
spkrdctr
Well-known member
Robert D, I have extensive experience with equipment damaged by lightning. As you found out it is amazing how powerful and weird lightning is. 80% of time (at least) it is not worth fixing the gear that lightning had its way with. It does amazing electrical art to circuit boards and devices. It is mystical and downright otherworldly in its reach. Any and all lightning protection is worth it if you live in a lightning area. This thread brought back memories, one strike can destroy $200,000 worth of equipment in a flash.
Yeah, its weird how most of our equipment wasn't damaged. Fried one brand new computer, security system main board, and a modem on my personal pc. On my pc, the only thing damaged was the modem. The modem was built into the motherboard too. I figure maybe it came in through the cable. We were using cable for internet. So weird. My home theater thankfully was spared. Everything in the house was plugged into similar surge suppression strips.
I wonder, would a lightning strike be able to travel into your home through fiber optic cable? We have fiber now.
Speedskater
Well-known member
Yep, lightning is weird unpredictable stuff. I don't put much weight into any anecdotal reports because lightning doesn't view their house the was they do. Electronic equipment is often damaged because the cable TV/internet cable has one ground rod and the remainder of the house has the main grounding system.
fiber optic cable will be safe.
fiber optic cable will be safe.
Good source of ground loop(s).
JonFo, we went the same route as Robert D with a whole house unit from our power company called a StrikeStop. While it only costs us $2.99/mo, it's probably been installed for over ten years, so might be time for an upgrade. I'll be talking to my electrician about this Siemens unit. Thx!!!
Our power company sent a letter notifying me that after 10 years it was time to replace it with a new one if we want to continue the insurance policy with them. Policy being that that power company pays our deductible if we lose anything.
I replied to them that I want a new one, but its taking them a long time to get out here. Covid may have it slowed down like so many things.
Yep, these things need to replaced every decade. So I write the date things are installed on everything that has a multi-year replacement window.
Looking at my power-factor corrector / surge protector, it's time for me too. Thanks for the reminder, I went and looked today.
Nope, one of the great advantages of Fiber is it will NOT conduct electricity, as it is a strand of glass.
I have coax Internet service, which uses a conductive cable to deliver the service, so to protect my extensive (and expensive) home network, I use a 6' length of Fiber to isolate my network from the cable modem.
Even though the cable line has a gas-discharge surge arrestor I installed at the entry-point, it could still overwhelm the modem and fry my router and switches (and possibly other non-optoisolated devices).
I used a pair of media converters and some fiber-optic cable.
I deployed it a year ago, and it was very much plug-and-play. The physical mounting is what took the most head-scratching and effort. I wound up zip-typing them to the posts of my networking gear rack (with a patch panel, multiple 24-port switches, and other gear, including the cable modem and my IQrouter). The picture depicts just one of the units, which is connected to the cable modem and converts the signal to optical.
Link to article:
https://blog.jasonantman.com/2018/0...y6PA0kTP11rL-UndpvyhKa5BFr7CNwbWGixHj8SIZi4gw
