Why whole house surge protectors are not enough
TL;DR:
One measure of a surge protector is the clamping voltage. That is, at what voltage does the surge protector actually start to work. Whole house surge protectors are limited to no less than ~ 600 Volts (instantaneous) between a leg and neutral or ground. That’s up to 1,200V if symmetrical.
The best surge protecting strips and conditioners clamp below 200 Volts.
Please keep this in mind when deciding whether or not to use surge protectors at your PC, stereo, TV, etc. in addition to a whole house unit.
I wrote more about this here:
https://inatinear.blogspot.com/2021/09/time-for-new-surge-suppression.html
No manufacturer of whole house surge protection claims that their devices alone are enough for sensitive electronics when you check the fine print.
Great, so which of their gear has been UL or ETL tested? Do they promote any of it as surge protectors?
That is interesting if true. Are you sure that isn't how it clamps after activation? |
This Belkin surge protector in front of your gear rack is all you need. Less than $45. |
Did I miss the response to what we think about "Envionmental Potentials" as a protective technolgy? VH Audio has always seemed to be edgy, but grounded in things that work, and they carry their products. I would really love to have more protection for my system than the whole house Leviton I have and several Shunyata Defenders plugged into my amps dedicated lines. |
Than most people here is not setting a very high bar but even then I am not sure. They say a lot of dumb stuff. 150 vrms. They use 140v MOV probably. Not doing anything till 240 DC. A big surge is going to be over 400V. The datasheets don't give a lot of details. What's the controversy? Whole house plus a power bar for surge protection. Seems pretty obvious. MOVs don't do anything to your audio. Crazy to believe they do.
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