I have a Micromark surge protector. Just a plug (not as in to connect an appliance, it just plugs into a socket to absorb surges, no cable comes out of it). I was interested in the LED on the front which says "protection active", so I opened it to look inside to see how it knew if it had expired. What do I find? An array of varistors as expected, but the only connection to live was through a clumsily soldered on piece of fusewire about 1-2 amps thickness. So.... it blows the fusewire as soon as there's an infinitely tiny surge, so therefore can't absorb much of it anyway? What's the point in that?
Surge protector is a lie?
Started by ●March 11, 2023
Reply by ●March 11, 20232023-03-11
On Sat, 11 Mar 2023 08:35:54 -0000, Birdbrain Macaw (aka "Commander Kinsey", "James Wilkinson", "Steven Wanker","Bruce Farquar", "Fred Johnson, etc.), the pathological resident idiot and attention whore of all the uk ngs, blathered again: <FLUSH the subnormal sociopathic trolling attention whore's latest attention-baiting sick bullshit unread again> -- damduck-egg@yahoo.co.uk about Birdbrain Macaw's (now "Commander Kinsey" LOL) trolling: "He is a well known attention seeking troll and every reply you make feeds him. Starts many threads most of which die quick as on the UK groups anyone with sense Kill filed him ages ago which is why he now cross posts to the US groups for a new audience. This thread was unusual in that it derived and continued without him to a large extent and his silly questioning is an attempt to get noticed again." MID: <be195d5jh0hktj054mvfu7ef9ap854mjdb@4ax.com> -- ItsJoanNotJoann addressing Birdbrain Macaw's (now "Commander Kinsey" LOL): "You're an annoying troll and I'm done with you and your stupidity." MID: <e39a6a7f-9677-4e78-a866-0590fe5bbc38@googlegroups.com> -- AndyW addressing Birdbrain: "Troll or idiot?... You have been presented with a viewpoint with information, reasoning, historical cases, citations and references to back it up and wilfully ignore all going back to your idea which has no supporting information." MID: <KaToA.263621$g93.262397@fx10.am4>
Reply by ●March 11, 20232023-03-11
Commander Kinsey wrote:> I have a Micromark surge protector.� Just a plug (not as in to connect > an appliance, it just plugs into a socket to absorb surges, no cable > comes out of it).� I was interested in the LED on the front which says > "protection active", so I opened it to look inside to see how it knew if > it had expired.� What do I find?� An array of varistors as expected, but > the only connection to live was through a clumsily soldered on piece of > fusewire about 1-2 amps thickness.� So.... it blows the fusewire as soon > as there's an infinitely tiny surge, so therefore can't absorb much of > it anyway?� What's the point in that?Simple. When the light goes out you give Micromark more of your money...but I think you knew that.
Reply by ●March 11, 20232023-03-11
Well, it is probably only meant for spikes caused by things switching on and off. I did, some years ago buy a packet of Surge protection vdr devices from RS and fitted them inside plugs where there was room. One day there apparently was a lightening strike nearby, and my stuff was fine except for 1 blown 5 amp fuse on a lamp. Interestingly these vdrs specs had an amazingly small reaction time and could for a split second dump many amps, but only over around 360v ish. So it was what one might call a limiter, I suppose. Many appliances have something like this inside, I'm told but never looked. Incidentally, I had a Samsung Fax machine, many years back trashed by a lightening strike to the public telephone wires about a mile away. It just rolled out black paper, It was under warranty, and the bloke who fixed it changed the pcb saying its a common fault, now fixed by a surge suppressor on the board. Of course if you do really get a very local strike, I have seen the result in a local factory. Every bit of electronics had its mains input circuit trashed and nearly all the internal wiring had to be replaced and the sockets were in fact blown off the wall and melted. Really a sobering thought. Brian -- --: This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from... The Sofa of Brian Gaff... briang1@blueyonder.co.uk Blind user, so no pictures please Note this Signature is meaningless.! "Commander Kinsey" <CK1@nospam.com> wrote in message news:op.11mvh4qamvhs6z@ryzen.home...>I have a Micromark surge protector. Just a plug (not as in to connect an >appliance, it just plugs into a socket to absorb surges, no cable comes out >of it). I was interested in the LED on the front which says "protection >active", so I opened it to look inside to see how it knew if it had >expired. What do I find? An array of varistors as expected, but the only >connection to live was through a clumsily soldered on piece of fusewire >about 1-2 amps thickness. So.... it blows the fusewire as soon as there's >an infinitely tiny surge, so therefore can't absorb much of it anyway? >What's the point in that?
Reply by ●March 11, 20232023-03-11
On Sat, 11 Mar 2023 10:55:49 -0000, Brainless & Daft, the TV-watching and pity-baiting senile "blind" mole, blathered again:> Well,Well, back to feeding the trolling swine again, you disgusting pity-baiting troll-feeding senile swine?
Reply by ●March 11, 20232023-03-11
On Sat, 11 Mar 2023 10:55:49 -0000, "Brian Gaff" <brian1gaff@gmail.com> wrote:> Of course if you do really get a very local strike, I have seen the result >in a local factory. Every bit of electronics had its mains input circuit >trashed and nearly all the internal wiring had to be replaced and the >sockets were in fact blown off the wall and melted.I had a ground strike near me a few years ago. Apparently the surge of electricity in the ground was picked up by my satellite TV antenna's underground wire. The satellite receiver was fried AND SO WAS the UPS + surge control unit that the satellite receiver was plugged into. Nothing else in the house was affected. When lightning is real close, I now unscrew the dish antenna from the receiver and just watch things that I had previously recorded. -dan z- -- Protect your civil rights! Let the politicians know how you feel. Join or donate to the NRA today! http://membership.nrahq.org/default.asp?campaignid=XR014887 (use cut and paste to your browser if necessary) Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars.
Reply by ●March 11, 20232023-03-11
On Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 1:24:18 AM UTC+11, dyno dan wrote:> On Sat, 11 Mar 2023 10:55:49 -0000, "Brian Gaff" > <brian...@gmail.com> wrote:<snip>> Protect your civil rights!Allowing every lunatic to own a gun might be seen as a "civil right", but it is bit silly.> Let the politicians know how you feel.They need to know which of the constituents can't think straight.> Join or donate to the NRA today!Why bother. The NRA gets its money from gun manufacturers who want to maximise their market by selling to every half-wit who think that owning a gun is useful for self-defense, when the guns are much more frequently used by half-wits to delete themselves from the gene pool when they happen to feel depressed. That's no loss. But some of them kill other people in the process. <snipped access to dangerous nonsense >> Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars.A bizarre misconception. Are you sure that you aren't Flyguy posting under s new nym? -- Bill Sloman, Sydney
Reply by ●March 11, 20232023-03-11
On Sat, 11 Mar 2023 07:28:46 -0800 (PST), tardo_4, the notorious, troll-feeding, senile idiot, blathered again:> A surge protector doesn't absorb surgesLet's not forget, all you idiotic troll-feeding senile assholes on ahr that the troll you gladly keep feeding has a "degree" in electronics which he repeatedly and proudly uploaded on the Internet! He clearly THRIVES on senile idiots on Usenet! <BG>
Reply by ●March 11, 20232023-03-11
On Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 5:56:02 AM UTC-5, Brian Gaff wrote:> > Of course if you do really get a very local strike, I have seen the result > in a local factory. Every bit of electronics had its mains input circuit > trashed and nearly all the internal wiring had to be replaced and the > sockets were in fact blown off the wall and melted. > Really a sobering thought.Most people don't even know what a power surge is. A surge is from a nearby lightning strike, that induces current into the long lines of power and phone, just like a transformer. People read that a $10 outlet strip can work magic and protect them from bad stuff. There's very little you can to to protect your equipment actually. The worst stuff seems to be from the phone lines, rather than the power lines. Probably because there is much less load on the phone lines, so the voltage can spike higher. Surge protection is inherently lifespan limited. By passing the current of a surge, the power is absorbed into the protection device. Every device has limits and can be destroyed. Then you no longer have protection. A device that you plug into an outlet to protect the whole house, is inherently limited in its ability to protect, by the parasitic parameters of the house wiring. A proper device to protect the house, will be wired into the power panel where it can have maximum effect. Even then, it has to be checked after every event to see if it needs replacement. I've only ever had problems on modem type devices. Never on anything expensive. I don't bother with these gadgets. People will talk about the appliances they've lost, but no one can show any events of protection. I just don't see where they are worth anything. They are like an elephant shield. "It's working, isn't it?" -- Rick C. - Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging - Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209
Reply by ●March 11, 20232023-03-11
On Sat, 11 Mar 2023 08:35:54 -0000, "Commander Kinsey" <CK1@nospam.com> wrote:>I have a Micromark surge protector. Just a plug (not as in to connect an appliance, it just plugs into a socket to absorb surges, no cable comes out of it). I was interested in the LED on the front which says "protection active", so I opened it to look inside to see how it knew if it had expired. What do I find? An array of varistors as expected, but the only connection to live was through a clumsily soldered on piece of fusewire about 1-2 amps thickness. So.... it blows the fusewire as soon as there's an infinitely tiny surge, so therefore can't absorb much of it anyway? What's the point in that?Cheap chinese appliances with fake UL and CE labels need fake chinese surge protectors with fake UL and CE labels. Micromark seems to be sold in the UK but not in the US.
