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To protect only the phone .................
To protect only the phone line, must a surge protector be pluged-into a wall
outlet? |
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#2
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To protect only the phone .................
Yes, once you plug in the surge protector to the wall outlet, then connect
the phone lines. JS "b11_" wrote in message ... To protect only the phone line, must a surge protector be pluged-into a wall outlet? |
#3
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To protect only the phone .................
A surge suppressor doesn't accomplish anything if it's not plugged into
an outlet. --- Ted Zieglar "Backup is a computer user's best friend." b11_ wrote: To protect only the phone line, must a surge protector be pluged-into a wall outlet? |
#4
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To protect only the phone .................
To protect phone lines (or anything else), a shunt mode protector
must make a short ('less than 10 foot) connection to earth. Wall receptacles are so many times too far away which is why plug-in protector numerical specifications don't even claim to provide effective protection. Effective 'whole house' protection makes that less than 10 foot connection. And what does that? A phone line protector provided for every subscriber by the telco for free. Yeph. Phone lines already have an effective phone line protector. A protector only as effective as the earthing electrode you have provided. b11_ wrote: To protect only the phone line, must a surge protector be pluged-into a wall outlet? |
#5
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To protect only the phone .................
A surge suppressor doesn't accomplish anything if it's not plugged into an
outlet. Exactly. To amplify this a bit, what the outlet gets you is an attachment to ground. Of course, the supressor's protection is only valid if the outlet is, in fact, properly wired and the third conductor is properly bonded to an earth ground back at the service panel. -John O |
#6
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To protect only the phone .................
If you're not sure if the ground wire is hooked up properly in the outlet,
but an outlet tester. They're $5 at WalMart. "JohnO" wrote in message ... A surge suppressor doesn't accomplish anything if it's not plugged into an outlet. Exactly. To amplify this a bit, what the outlet gets you is an attachment to ground. Of course, the supressor's protection is only valid if the outlet is, in fact, properly wired and the third conductor is properly bonded to an earth ground back at the service panel. -John O |
#7
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To protect only the phone .................
w_tom wrote: To protect phone lines (or anything else), a shunt mode protector must make a short ('less than 10 foot) connection to earth. Wall receptacles are so many times too far away which is why plug-in protector numerical specifications don't even claim to provide effective protection. Effective 'whole house' protection makes that less than 10 foot connection. And what does that? A phone line protector provided for every subscriber by the telco for free. Yeph. Phone lines already have an effective phone line protector. A protector only as effective as the earthing electrode you have provided. I agree that if you are protecting only a phone the telco protector should be enough and running just the phone line through a plug-in surge suppressor doesn't add much. If you are protecting a device connected to power and a phone line a plug-in surge suppressor is effective. The best information I have seen on surge protection is at http://www.mikeholt.com/files/PDF/Li...ion_May051.pdf - the title is "How to protect your house and its contents from lightning: IEEE guide for surge protection of equipment connected to AC power and communication circuits" - it was published by the IEEE in 2005 - the IEEE is the dominant organization of electrical and electronic engineers in the US A second guide is http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/p.../surgesfnl.pdf - this is the "NIST recommended practice guide: Surges Happen!: how to protect the appliances in your home" - it is published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the US government agency formerly called the National Bureau of Standards - it was published in 2001 Both guides were intended for wide distribution to the general public to explain surges and how to protect against them. The IEEE guide was targeted at people who have some (not much) technical background. For plug-in suppressors all interconnected devices, like a computer and printer, need to connect to the same surge protector. If a device, like a computer, has external connections like phone or LAN, all those wires have to run through the surge suppressor for protection. This type of suppressor is called a surge reference equalizer (SRE) by the IEEE (also described by the NIST). The idea is that all wires connected to the device (power, phone, CATV, LAN, ...) are clamped to a common ground at the SRE. The voltage on the wires passing through the SRE are clamped to a voltage safe to the connected device. The primary action is clamping, not filtering or earthing. A plug-in outlet tester can detect wiring problems, but is not necessarily right if it shows no problem. In particular, it will show a very high resistance ground as OK since the test current used is very low. Connecting a 100 watt light bulb from hot-to-gorund and measuring the voltage across it is a lot more useful. bud-- |
#8
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To protect only the phone .................
Outlet tester ($5 in Wal-Mart) cannot report existence of an earthing
ground. It can report the existence of safety ground. But safety ground is typically not sufficient to make a protector effective. Repeated references to 'less than 10 feet' are based in something critical to effective protection - impedance. Things that make an outlet safety ground insufficient for earthing include too many splices, sharp wire bends, too much wire length, and ground wire bundled with other wires. Accurately noted is how surge protection was performed effectively even before WWII and what plug-in protectors must avoid discussing to promote their ineffective products. Essential is a short connection to earthing. Effective protectors have a dedicated earthing wire or connector to make that 'less than 10 foot' connection. Meanwhile the outlet tester cannot measure impedance (one reason why it reports insufficient) and cannot detect the existence of an earthing connection. Inspection is required. That earthing connection must meet and exceed post 1990 NEC requirements. And this only for secondary protection. Primary protection also should be inspected because that tester also cannot detect that essential earthing connection: http://www.tvtower.com/fpl.html A protector is only as effective as its earth ground - not to be confused with wall receptacle safety ground. No earth ground means no effective protection. So plug-in protector manufacturers avoid the entire topic. Effective protectors make a short connection to the most critical component in a protection system: earthing. Eric wrote: If you're not sure if the ground wire is hooked up properly in the outlet, but an outlet tester. They're $5 at WalMart. |
#9
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To protect only the phone .................
"w_tom" wrote in message ups.com... Outlet tester ($5 in Wal-Mart) cannot report existence of an earthing ground. It can report the existence of safety ground. But safety ground is typically not sufficient to make a protector effective. Repeated references to 'less than 10 feet' are based in something critical to effective protection - impedance. Things that make an outlet safety ground insufficient for earthing include too many splices, sharp wire bends, too much wire length, and ground wire bundled with other wires. Accurately noted is how surge protection was performed effectively even before WWII and what plug-in protectors must avoid discussing to promote their ineffective products. Essential is a short connection to earthing. Effective protectors have a dedicated earthing wire or connector to make that 'less than 10 foot' connection. Meanwhile the outlet tester cannot measure impedance (one reason why it reports insufficient) and cannot detect the existence of an earthing connection. Inspection is required. That earthing connection must meet and exceed post 1990 NEC requirements. And this only for secondary protection. Primary protection also should be inspected because that tester also cannot detect that essential earthing connection: http://www.tvtower.com/fpl.html A protector is only as effective as its earth ground - not to be confused with wall receptacle safety ground. No earth ground means no effective protection. So plug-in protector manufacturers avoid the entire topic. Effective protectors make a short connection to the most critical component in a protection system: earthing. Eric wrote: If you're not sure if the ground wire is hooked up properly in the outlet, but an outlet tester. They're $5 at WalMart. The $5 outlet tester will tell you if the outlet is properly wired and if it's grounded. As far as whether it's "properly" grounded as far as your earthing goes, I leave that up to the electricians that wired it. If I'm plugging in something I really care to protect, I'd buy a UPS, but normally the surge protectors are sufficient. Surge/spike protectors often even include insurance that will replace any item plugged into them if electricity actually does spike through it and destory those items with an overload. |
#10
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To protect only the phone .................
Safety ground typically does not provide sufficient earthing for
surge protection. UPS uses same protection circuit found on power strip protectors. Don't take my word for it. Review numerical specs. They both claim joules because both use same protection circuit. UPS for surge protection? Typical plug-in UPS connects an appliance directly to AC mains when not in battery backup mode. Will that relay create surge protection? Of course not. Review those numerical specs. Learn details of that warranty. Once all those exemptions are confronted, a warranty will end up only replacing the protector. But again, it requires learning details - and numbers. Or learning from real world experiences. Recommendation for a surge protector is based upon myths. Most critical component in a surge protection 'system' is earth ground. Where is a dedicated earthing wire for that power strip or UPS? Does not exist. Where do they even claim protection for each type of surge in their numerical specs? Does not exist. The $5 outlet tester can report a defective safety ground. Tester cannot report a good safety ground AND does not detect nor report the most critical component in surge protection: earth ground. Earth ground is your responsibility AND necessary for effective protection. Earth ground required visual inspection. Effective protection must make a short ('less than 10 foot') connection to earth. Recommending the tester suggest knowledge of what surge protectors do was not learned. Even the UPS and power strip use a same protector circuit. Review numerical specs. Neither even claim to provide protection from each type of surge. Obviously. No dedicated connection to earth ground exists. A ground that tester cannot test. A ground that the building owner is responsible for if effective protection is required. A ground that plug-in protectors ignore so that you might recommend their product. Eric wrote: The $5 outlet tester will tell you if the outlet is properly wired and if it's grounded. As far as whether it's "properly" grounded as far as your earthing goes, I leave that up to the electricians that wired it. If I'm plugging in something I really care to protect, I'd buy a UPS, but normally the surge protectors are sufficient. Surge/spike protectors often even include insurance that will replace any item plugged into them if electricity actually does spike through it and destory those items with an overload. |
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