For You Electrical Guys: Intermatic Surge Protector Quest., Please ?

[SQLit]

The unit you have purchased was designed to be installed at the electrical service. NOT BY plugging the wires into an outlet. Ya I caught the fact your just playing around.

Several posters have explained to you that lightning arrestors work better closer to the main grounding.

Have fun and do not be surprised if your money is for naught. MOV's like a lot of electronics do not take well to "playing around" the plugging of the wires could result in a premature failure because the circuit is not completed all of the time by your actions.

I find the situation you describe completely normal.

[Robert11]

Hello:

For you electrical wizerds:

I bought a new Intermatic Surge Protector, Model AG 2401C-IND. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I want to install it near a new furnace, to hopefully protect the furnace's circuit board from being fried, which has happened once (nearby lightning strike).

They spend a zillion bucks developing these products, and then skimp on the instruction manual. Makes no sense. Have downloaded the manual for it, which is a bit different from what they included. Both are very sparse.

Anyway, this model has 2 LED indicator lights that are, apparently, both supposed to be lit when the unit is providing protection. Meaning, I guess, that the MOV's aren't blown.

If anyone can spare a minute or two, and look at the wiring diagrams for the

-IND model, and also for the just plain AG 2401 without the lights, I would be most appreciative. I've included the links to both below.

I thought I'd try it out before re-wiring all the furnace stuff.

The circuit is just the ordinary house wiring setup: a hot lead, a neutral, and a ground; with the neutral and ground being connected back at the service box (hopefully).

I tried the unit out by plugging the leads in a wall socket, and can only get 1 LED to light. However I can get both to light if I parallel the two black leads and feed them to the hot side per the first diagram. This leads me to believe that the unit is not bad. Also, interchanging the 2 black leads changes which LED is lighted (with going to the hot, and the other to the Neutral).

On studying the diagrams, it seems to me that with the normal house wiring setup I have, and intend to use it on, there would never be 2 LED's lit.

The black lead that would be on the Neutral would have 0 Volts across it relative to Ground, and would never be normally lit.

The literature makes no mention of ever having only 1 LED lit. It implies that for all the wiring setups they show diagrams for, there would always be 2 lit, but I disagree (I think) How can the neutral to ground ever be lit if there is normally 0 V across it ?

But, for the 240 volt situation, where each hot is 120 V rerlative to Ground, i would imagine that both would then be lite ?

What do you guys think ? Is one LED normal and correct ?

Thanks, Bob

[Travis Jordan]

Yes - your conclusions are correct. I'd wire it as shown in the 2nd diagram, with one MOV to hot, one to neutral, and the white (common) to ground. That provides protection from neutral to ground if any voltage should be induced on the neutral circuit from current created by the lightning strike.