Originally Posted by crashnquilt
I have NEVER told someone that a surge protector will protect against a lightening strike. In fact, I am smart enough to know that very VERY little will give protection to lightening strike DUE to the factor you are not assured WHERE the strike is going to travel!
Please stop taking any technical post emotionally. Even 100 years ago, surge protector were installed to make direct lightning strikes (and lesser surges) irrelevant.
Plug-in protectors are to protect from surges that do you overwhelm protection already inside every appliance. What is that best called? A scam. Which is why plug-in protectors are recommended without even quoting the manufacturer's specifications.
Defined is the only useful answser. Why would anyone recommend an APC or Tripplite protector that does not even claim to protect from any destructive surge? Because retail advertising is that powerful.
Meanwhile Norma in alt.fiftyplus entitled "The Power Outage" describes what power strip protectors can really do:
> Today, the cable company came to replace a wire. Well the cable man pulled a
> wire and somehow yanked loose their "ground" wire. The granddaughter on the
> computer yelled and ran because sparks and smoke were coming from the
> power surge strip.
What kind of protection was that? Well, it did exactly what its spec numbers said it would. You can be indignant. Or discover how others have so mislead you.
As I noted, most difficult admitting one was scammed. You can take it emotionally. Or deal with the hard facts and numbers. There is no insult here. Just reality from someone who has been doing this for a very long time.
Surge protectors are installed to make even direct lightning strikes irrelevant. Or again, numbers. A typical lightning stike is 20,000 amps. Buy one 'whole house' protector in Lowes or Home Depot for less than $50 - rated for 50,000 amps. Large enough to conduct direct lightning strikes harmlessly to earth. Numbers you should have learned before posting or becoming angry. But again, most difficult is admitting you did not know.