Insurer's tips on how to protect home appliances and mobile devices from power surges after load-shedding

[Jan]

What load-shedding does to your home appliances and mobile devices

South Africans are currently experiencing the worst year of load-shedding recorded, and the rotational power cuts can profoundly affect electrical devices and appliances.

Head of Dialdirect Insurance Anneli Retief told MyBroadband that the claims relating to power surges have doubled since 2018, while claims for burglaries and vehicle accidents have also increased.

 

[soulie]

some good advice here.no matter how many gizmos you have ,they can only do so much.if youre at home turn everything off at the db except for the lights and one big kickass fan, if you have one .turn back on only once your neighbours house has finished burning down .

 

[RedViking]

This:
.
Clearline Loadshedding Refrigeration Lightning & Surge Protector - 5 mins

Takealot

 

[bwana]

Load shedding power surges used to mean it was upgrade time... why would an insurance company want to put an end to that?

 

[W@P]

This:
.
Clearline Loadshedding Refrigeration Lightning & Surge Protector - 5 mins

Takealot

Help me here. Why not just install an over/under voltage protector at the DB? Or does the Clearline unit work differently?

 

[W@P]

I have a Clearline unit that my VDSL Router used to be on. Lost 3 routers in a month before that. Now i am using it for my Valve Audio Amplifier. Even though I have an over/under voltage protector installed at the DB and the Sunsynk inverter.

 

[RedViking]

Help me here. Why not just install an over/under voltage protector at the DB? Or does the Clearline unit work differently?

If it is your house. Go for it.

 

[Speedster]

I have a Clearline unit that my VDSL Router used to be on. Lost 3 routers in a month before that. Now i am using it for my Valve Audio Amplifier. Even though I have an over/under voltage protector installed at the DB and the Sunsynk inverter.

Have been wondering about this. Did you get surges passing through the SunSynk?

 

[W@P]

Have been wondering about this. Did you get surges passing through the SunSynk?

I had the F34 AC Overload error when my Sunsynk PC board blew after LS and the power came back. After that, I installed the over/under protection unit at the DB. I had one instance where it cut the power due to overvoltage.

If there was ever a surge that went through the Sunsynk I am not sure. Just the time my board blew up.

 

[mastercylinder]

Help me here. Why not just install an over/under voltage protector at the DB? Or does the Clearline unit work differently?

Is that thing sabs certified?

It seems rather small for an 80A contactor and a safe power supply to run the control circuitry. If it's just an 80A relay? Yeah, it's gonna weld the contacts after a while.

 

[Mekon]

Criminals come out to play when the power goes off​

Yeah well we cannot ever blame the cANCer for not being an equal opportunities government. Got to let the little fish steal and plunder as well.

 

[soulie]

Help me here. Why not just install an over/under voltage protector at the DB? Or does the Clearline unit work differently?

those are usually not quick enough for surges .it will work for over and under voltage .if you leave the disconnect on minimum seconds it may work but may also leave you in the dark constantly .if you add a good surge protector before it it will be great .but remember consumer surge protectors can lead to nuisance tripping of the earth leakage especially the electronic ones .if you want big surge protection get a Surgetek unit .it gets installed before the earth leakage unit in the db .good for lightning and high surge .if you install an over/under voltage unit make sure it conforms to local standards and has the certs .dont buy a no name made in china one.also check with your insurance company some want specific db mounted units for cover .

 

[r00igev@@r]

Lost a few Tuya devices! :-(

 

[access]

many options for protection,

for example

DB Board Surge Protection South Africa | PHD Powerhouse

PHD Powerhouse offers you top-of-the-range surge protection for your DB board, at an affordable cost. Contact us for a DB Board Surge Protection quote today.

www.phdpowerhouse.co.za

some power conditioners or surge protectors/arrestors directly at the main db

 

[HartsockZA]

Well, neighbors used to run gennies, but since times are now hard, people are not running as many as they used to. When possible I just turn the mains breaker off when load-shedding hits and only 10 min after power is restored do I turn everything back on again. Works for me, I also have ups for my computer and Ellies safe plugs on fridge and tv (the ones with actual replaceable fuses) luckily stove and geyser is gas analog so no need of AC mains to turn them on.

 

[soulie]

many options for protection,

for example

DB Board Surge Protection South Africa | PHD Powerhouse

PHD Powerhouse offers you top-of-the-range surge protection for your DB board, at an affordable cost. Contact us for a DB Board Surge Protection quote today.

www.phdpowerhouse.co.za

some power conditioners or surge protectors/arrestors directly at the main db

DB mounted should allways be youre first line of defense .the rest that you plug in are just additional layers of protection and are designed to drive you insane when they start tripping the el unit occasionally .

 

[soulie]

Well, neighbors used to run gennies, but since times are now hard, people are not running as many as they used to. When possible I just turn the mains breaker off when load-shedding hits and only 10 min after power is restored do I turn everything back on again. Works for me, I also have ups for my computer and Ellies safe plugs on fridge and tv (the ones with actual replaceable fuses) luckily stove and geyser is gas analog so no need of AC mains to turn them on.

by far the safest way but alas very few listen

 

[bruce_the_loon]

Help me here. Why not just install an over/under voltage protector at the DB? Or does the Clearline unit work differently?

Not specifically sure about the Clearline's surge protection specs, but an over/under voltage device isn't fast enough on its own to protect against surges. A proper modular surge protector with at least class 2 protection if not class 1 and 2 immediately after your main switch in the DB will provide protection against instantaneous surges. They contain spark gaps or MOV (metal oxide varistors) which react at physics speed to the spikes.

A surge protector doesn't stop brownouts or high line voltages like the over/under devices. For complete protection, you'd place an over/under device after or in parallel to the surge protector. DB mounted surge modules don't conduct the house load power, they are hanging off the live and neutral and dump the surge excess current to ground.

Having the surge device in the DB ahead of the entire household load should not cause the EL to trip because the current differential between live and neutral happens ahead of the EL sensor. The trips caused by the surge protector multi-plugs are because the dump to ground happens after the EL sensor and it sees a differential.

Just an anecdotal note from this weekend. If I had an over/under voltage device in place, it would have shut down my load because Eskom went to 251V for a lot of Saturday night.

 

[Gravedigger]

I have bought a FridgeSafe from Ellies. Works wonders.
It delays the "output" by a few mins, so if the power comes back on, it waits a few mins, before switching on my fridge.
Apparently also protects over,under voltage and brownout cases.
Plan to buy that for my networking equipment soon.

 

[Grubscrew]

I only go back to mains after the fifth passive aggressive "power on" message is posted on our neighbourhood whatsapp group. Sometimes I just rev the generator for and extra 10mins