can't you just turn off the house electricity if you're going to b gone awhile?

btw, you might not have noticed, but i'm no electrician. :lol:

If you turn off the house electricity there goes the frig.

Yes, surge protectors are not made for storm protection i.e., lightning strikes and the like.

We have surge protectors on most all of our electronics with the exception of small appliances like toaster, coffee maker, etc. and I always unplug the sewing machine, even if it's turned off.

EEEEK! we can't have that, now, can we?

so let's see if i have this right:

we use a surge protecter for the surges that are created during a normal day. this can be created by a sudden increase or decrease in the amount of electricity used/generated in your locale.

potentially dangerous surges (during a storm for example, or ALL of the house lights coming on at the same time) cannot be prevented from damaging electronics.

when not in use everything has to be unplugged in case there's a dangerous surge from whatever cause. this includes all audio/visual equipment, computers, sewing machines, tool room machinery. whole-house air conditioning?

the only things that don't need protecters and don't have to be unplugged are little appliances and phone.

do i have this right?

until 2 years ago, i never heard of a surge protecter. i only got one when i got my tin lizzie. it set me back just under $100 because i wanted a very good one.

i have been un pluggingmy machines lately an i have a sewing table that moves up & down an i even haveit unplugged but i do use surge protecters on just about everything.i have a few things i can't get replaced so easiely any more or from who bought them.he aint here no more an i sure wish he was.god rest his soal

I have lost 2 computers to lighting strikes. And they were just in the area. On the first one, I called the computer maker and they said, there is no surge protectors, that fully protect,from light strikes. and it can come in on the phone line connected to your computer. so when I hear or see any distant lighting, I unplug the computer stuff from the wall,and phone line, but I never thought of my sewing machine, thanks for that tip.

I wouldn't be without surge protectors. Everything in my house is on one. You don't need just a beep in electrical and your machine can be ruined.

We have surge protectors on most everything. I still unplug the TVs and Sewing machine and computer during a big thunderstorm. My daughter lost her electronics even with a surge protector, but then the lightening hit her house.

I use a surge protector for electronics including sewing machine. When I go on vacation I unplug it all. We get some really nasty thunder boomers here sometimes.

I use a surge protector with a battery back up system on my sewing machine. My machine is computerized, so I was told this was the best thing to do.

I live in the Lighting Capital (Central Florida) I have my entire house on a surge protector thru my utility company, it's worth $5.00 extra a month and if it don't work the electic company will replace all items hooked up.

Yes! We have them for the computer, TV and especailly my sewing machines. If we get a warning on the local news about big thunderstorms moving in, we'll unplugg things.

How do tese surge protectors look like and where can u get them?

We have a lot of power surges and outages, so I have big, office type surge protectors...three of them.
1 - sewing machines, and I unplug them, when done sewing
2 - computer and monitor
3 - hubby's med. equipment

I would like to have one on my stove and refrigerator, but can't afford to buy them right now. I had a motherboard ruined by surges in past, and the maintenance person reccommended these heavy duty s. protectors. They cost on average of 40.00 -50.00, but well worth it. They usually last at least 3 years.
I lost a really nice stove for the same reason, and hubby picked this one out, while I was too sick to go look at them. Neither of us, care for the el cheapo, stove. Spend the money, to protect your machine!

this is not to imply that sp's aren't necessary, but did you know that anything lost is covered by homeowner's insurance, i believe. also, i keep downloading to cd's just in case. can't hurt, right?

We live out in the countryside, and get a lot of power "blips" and short disruptions, as well as thunderstorms with lightening. My sewing machine is on a power bar with a fuse, and we unplug the computers (we use laptops) during bad storms and whenever we go away for more than a few hours. Apart from that, we don't worry too much about power surges. We have a tall antenna with our wireless internet dish on the top - that's what's most likely to get hit by lightening, and our internet provider would replace the dish if it did. The antenna tower is very well grounded.

Jan

aha! that makes a difference. here in central new jersey, there are lots of taller buildings close by. we're nowhere near the tallest thing around. if lightning struck close by, it would be attracted to a tall, metal thing (we also have a dish and an old-fashioned antenna on a tall pole in the ground). in my town, that would be any number of schools, the municipal building, the library, the Y, many office buildings, banks, etc. my house is a low ranch. i've never heard of anyone near here who ever had any trouble. in the country out in the open it would be very different, i'm sure. i will however get some strips for my machines.

Yes, I use a surge protector, but I always unplug my machine when I am done sewing for the day. I'm taking no chances with my 730. Tho, now that i think about it, would the insurance cover lightening strike burn out..........maybe I could get a 830, or whatever it is. :twisted:

i'm pretty sure it would.

Yes because I lost 3 TV's in 2 months. I have $55,000.00 protection on the protector on my computer. Sewing machine as well. Sewing machine cost more than the TV or computer. I still turn off computer when it storms & we can get some douseys in East Texas.

Yes, always use one. I lost an Ott light because it wasn't plugged into the surge p. Also always take one with me on retreats and classes.

We have a whole house surge protector.........and I unplug my machine when it is not in use...........and NEVER use the computerized machine during a thunderstorm..........

tell me what that is.[img]http://www.pic4ever.com/images/eghfal.gif[/img]

I always use surge protectors because I would never be responsible enough to unplug each time. I 'fried' my sewing machine about 11 years ago - fortunately it just froze up when it was hit, and was able to get fixed.

I'm also curious - what is a whole house surge protector? I'd be interested in adding that to our collection of protectors we have - every computer has one - we unplug also. My sewing and embroidery machines also get unplugged. I'm trying to get in the habit of unplugging after every use - which is also good.

We have been lucky that the only time we have been affected by a storm and electronics it only blew out a few things on the tv and the ps3 which were not on protectors and I'm still angry with the husband about that... but both still run fortunately. We just had to change the way they get hooked up.

Losing stuff to a storm is a hard lesson to learn but I think a lot of us have to see it to believe it. protect & unplug when you can.

I live in FL which is the lightening capital of the US and I have protectors on everything. I also unplug my laptop and my sewing machines.

We also have a surge protection on our electric pole outside. The electric company puts it on, of course we pay a monthly fee for it, but I feel its worth it. Cheaper than having to purchase another TV or Refrig.

Pam