ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area SURGER PROTECTOR (Service Entrance) SURVEY

Hello,

Looking at different Surge Protectors and came across this:
http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/pdf/Lightning.pdf

Questions:

1. Has anyone seen a blown-up Surge Protector? Can I see a picture of a blown-up SP somewhere?


2. Is the Siemens QSA15151/QSA2020 (monuted as a Breaker) better than let say Cutler-Hammer 3-way CHP EXTERNALLY Mounted?

* Siemens QSA1515/QSA2020 looks like this: http://www.nooutage.com/images/Qsa2020.gif

* Cutler-Hammer 3-way CHP EXTERNALLY Mounted looks like this: http://media.doitbest.com/products/560901.gif

Thanks guys.

cn
Chicago, IL

1, Yes I have seen them blown completely off the wall and send fragmented pieces through a wall and through th eenclosures of nearby equipment.

2. Yes and no. It is better to have the TVSS as close as possible to the bus with no connection leads. The problem with the CB types is they are realitivly small in size (K-amps per phase) therby reducing capacity. External devices or add-ons can be much larger in capacity, but the lead length to connect them to the buss nullifies its efectiveness.

The best TVSS units are built into the panels. For home use the best IMO are the ones supplied by the POCO in the form a collar at the meter socket, or in some cases the POCO will allow the owner to supply them.

For a service entrance types you want something in the range of 100K-amps per mode or larger.

Thanks for your reply.

I have researched all over the Internet but have not found a webpage where they do the actual testings of all these TVSS.

(It is kind of similar to car crash tests, the car mfg can say anything they want but only a government crash test ACTUALLY tests the product).

I would appreciate if you could direct me to a webpage that shows the ACTUAL testings of all these TVSS's and pictures of them being "damaged" (and therefore proving that they performed as they should).

The bottom line is I would appreciate link to the "Crash Tests" of TVSS's.

Thanks again.

cnguyen90
Chicago