lightning and electrical surge protection
It saddens me that there's all this mystery around internal lightning and electrical surge protection devices/equipment despite there being IEC standards (that have been adopted by the SABS) and are applicable around the world!
The blame for consumer mis-/dis-information must lie squarely on the shoulders of the lightning and surge arrester manufacturers who have taken a strategic commercial decision to focus the marketing of their cutting-edge (and hence HIGHLY EFFECTIVE!!!) lightning and surge arresters (arrestor, if u speak american!) on the industrial and commercial customer, to the absolute exclusion of us domestic users!!!!!!!!!!!!! So these reliable & affordable products (guaranteed against failure for up to 10 years, by the leading manufacturers!!!) are used by the likes of ESKOM, TELKOM, ACSA, SENTECH, HOSPITALS, AIRPORTS, SABC, ETC, ETC but we householders are blissfully unaware of their existence!
Incidentally the world's 1st surge arrester was released by DEHN (after considerable R&D, which continues to this day!) in 1954, so it's disappointing to hear of your data losses and electronic equipment damage over 5 decades later........
www.dehn.de if anyone's interested
Important point about physical electrical/electronic equipment damage/data loss is that it is normally due to non-lightning-induced electrical surges rather than surges arising from direct lightning strikes or lightning-induced surges! Lightning intensity and occurrence increases the closer one is to the equator (eg. Uganda which has a site listed in the Guinness book of records as having the highest lightning flash-density in the world) and the higher one's altitude (which explains why the occurrence of lightning is higher in Gauteng, than in Cape Town, which means that it is riskier NOT to use a proper surge arrester in Gauteng than in Cape Town!)
these non-lightning-induced electrical surges routinely arise in conducting cables/circuits as a direct result of utility power company (ESKOM, in our case) generator-switching, power-shedding & similar activities from time-to-time......
here are some facts and pointers related to internal lightning protection at household-level:
INTERNAL Lightning Protection
How can you protect your house?
You need three components to fully protect your family, your house, and your electrical equipment:
External lightning protection protects you against direct lightning strikes which may set your house on fire.
Tip:have the external lightning protection installed, that way lightning is safely conducted to the ground.
Internal lightning protection protects against damage caused by indirect lightning strikes.
Tip: have the internal lightning protection installed. It protects against surges caused by indirect lightning strikes.
Direct protection of electrical equipment protects computer, TV set etc.
Tip: protect your electrical equipment like telephone, fax, ISDN, TV set, computer etc. What about watching TV during a thunderstorm?
Provided the house is fully protected and the electrical equipment is protected (e.g. with TV-protectors) you can listen to the radio or watch TV without any risk.
... being on the telephone?
If your telephone is correctly connected with the equipotential bonding bar and protected by fax- or ISDN-protector there is nearly no risk when using the phone during a thunderstorm.
... taking a bath or shower?
Taking a shower or a bath during a thunderstorm is dangerous if the metal mains are not connected correctly with the equipotential bonding bar.
... working at the computer?
Computers are very sensitive machines.They should be protected against surges caused by nearby strikess by means of special protection devices.
If your house is fully protected with external and internal lightning protection you may work at the computer or surf the internet without any risk.
So, where does one get the SAME affordable, but proven, lightning & surge arrester protection devices that are used by commerce and industry worldwide and especially here in SA? well, it's definitely NOT to be found at your local hardware store/electrical wholesaler or Incredible Connection, In fact IF they, or GAME/DION for that matter do sell any lightning/surge arrester products these are normally the mickey-mouse classIII lightning/surge arresters that have as much chance of themselves surviving lightning and other surges (let alone protecting yr vital equipment/data) as a maltese poodle has of felling a burly intruder!
In short, 1) your home needs to have proper external earthing/lightning protection (in compliance with SABS NATIONAL codes AND municipal building regulations);
2) next everything (electrics, plumbing, telephone, satellite, TV-aerial, etc, etc!!!) MUST be properly earthed (equipotentially bonded) to the COMMON earth-bar that spans your home
3) you need a classII surge arrester fitted to your distribution box/es (to every DB, if more than 1!) and
4) every plug must have an earth wire (GREEN!!!) connected NOT JUST brown (live) and blue (neutral)
5) FINALLY, a classIII lightning/surge arrester MUST be fitted to protect ALL sensitive equipment such as computers, microwave ovens, intercoms, pool pumps, radios, tv's, satellite decoders, etc, etc (DON't make the mistake of covering the power supply, and forgetting the data-protection arrester for TV-aerial/satellite antenna/telephone/adsl/etc connections) - THERE ARE RELIABLE, GUARANTEED DEVICES FOR ALL OF THESE!!!!!
on the issue of UPS, note that these are essential IF you desire/NEED the benefit and are prepared to accept the associated expense of an uninterrupted power supply, but then yr UPS too needs to be properly earthed, and itself protected from lightning/surge with a classIII surge arrester that sits downstream of a classII-DB-mounted surge arrester, ALL within the realms of a PROPERLY EARTHED (equipotentially bonded) home environment!!!!
UPS ON ITS OWN IS NOT A LIGHTNING/SURGE ARRESTER, NEITHER IS A CIRCUIT-BREAKER OR A FUSE!!!! UPS is just that, a UPS! so too with a fuse and a circuit-breaker, they are what they are named!
I haven't mentioned CLASS I surge arresters cos these are relatively expensive (R000's, as opposed to R00's for class II and class I surge arrestors) as CLASS I surge arresters are engineered to withstand DIRECT LIGHTNING STRIKES and are used mainly by nuclear & other power stations, hospitals, civil aviation, telcos, broadcasters, avaiation, civil and military facilities, etc, etc - where equipment is "mission-critical" and service-delivery is generally in the public-interest..... however at a cost of approx. R10,000 it is NOT inconceivable that any corporate or domestic user might decide to install a class I arrester at the meter-box (utility-interface) on their property to provide absolute protection, in addition to the class II arresters on every downstream DB and additional class III's indicidually at every downstream piece of equipment that requires/deserves surge protection (remember, BOTH power & data-lines!!!)
try browsing
www.surgetek.co.za for more info
I HOPE THAT THIS IS HELPFUL IN ERADICATING LOSS/DAMAGE DUE TO LIGHTNING AND ROUTINE ELECTRICAL SURGES!!!!!
THOR
