surge protection on washer??

Can a surge protector such as this

be used on a modern clothes washing machine to protect the washer electronics?

Also, the unit offers two levels of protection: what level offers more protection: 50db or 75db? I'm guessing the 75db, but don't know anything about this stuff.

Thanks

Reply to
CRNG
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Yes, it will offer some surge protection. The 75db refers to the noise filtering, which I would not be concerned about. It's surges from lightning coming in on utility lines that are destructive. Instead of protecting just the washer, why not put in a whole house surge protector at the panel? That will protect not only the washer, but other appliances too. You can get a good one for $125, that will give a lot more protection than the one you're looking at. Then supplement that with plug-in type on any applicances that are connected to more than just AC, eg cable tv, phone, etc.

Reply to
trader4

I would look on Tripp-Lite's webpage and see what they say.

They have a good reputation and I don't think they will lie to us.

Reply to
micky

On Sat, 25 Jan 2014 08:32:57 -0500, micky wrote in

Thanks for the suggestion. I originally go a 404-error for their surge protector page, but eventually found some info. It's rated at 330 joules.

Regards, CG

Reply to
CRNG

On Sat, 25 Jan 2014 05:32:12 -0800 (PST), " snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net" wrote in

Thanks for the comment. I do in fact have a surge protector (or lightning arrester??) at the electric meter that the electric company installed years ago. It's cylindrical, about 2" in diameter and 3" long and connects into the base of the electric meter mount box. Since I don't know exactly what and how good it is, I also like to put additional protection on sensitive equipment. This is a new bottom of the line Maytag washer (replacing a 25 year old unit) but it still has more electronics than I prefer.

BTW, this leads me to another question. Can surge protectors be "chained" in series thus increasing the amount of protection? E.G. if you have to 500 joule protectors and connect them in series will that give 1000 joules of protection?

Regards, CG

Reply to
CRNG

The protectors can be put in series. Each one will add to the protection. I am not sure ,but would think the number would just add up so that two of the 500 joules would give 1000 of protection. Many of the less expensive ones have the MOV device across the line and one from each line to the ground. Beter ones will have a coil in series with the line. That is why I think the numbers will just add.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

It certainly wouldn't hurt and will most likely help. How much depends on many factors. If you had two MOV's that were exactly the same and they were connected in parallel, that would give you 2X the max surge handling. But what your proposing has some differences. For example, the second surge protector has 3 ft or whatever of wire separating it from the first. That wire has impedance and the surge looks like an impulse, so it's not exactly the same.

But the first line of defense is a whole house surge protector and it sounds like you have one. That is where you want to stop most of the energy from ever getting into the house. I guess one problem with the power company supplied one is that you probably don't know what exactly it is, what it's rated at, etc., unless you can see a label on it. Also, the whole house ones typically have a light that indicates they are working. Does the power company's have one? Was it a one time charge or do they charge you by the month?

Reply to
trader4

You will not find any manufacturer that suggests that. Protectors with high ratings are readily available.

It is also a violation of UL standards to daisychain outlet strips, which is likely to also cover plug-in protectors.

Reply to
bud--

On Sat, 25 Jan 2014 08:03:52 -0800 (PST), " snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net" wrote in

No, there is no indicator light on the power company suppressor. It is a Delta Lightning Arrestor model LA302-R

I don't understand the specs, but it looks like it will protect against any surge, not just lightning. Does that seem correct?

There was/is no charge for it; which amazed me given my particular power company.

Thank you for your comments. I appreciate it.

Regards, CG

Reply to
CRNG

Yes, the specs say it will take a 10,000 amp surge pulse with voltage let through of 480V. Bigger surges, then a bigger voltage rise will exist. Where the surge comes from doesn't matter as long as it's the same voltage, current, duration, etc. Appliances have some small surge protection in them that can then handle the remaining

480V pulse, probably couple times that. So, that protector should be fine. The only problem I see is how you know it's working. Actually, I'm not sure how the indicator lights on the ones that have them work and if they really do tell you with 100% assurance that it's working.

That's a good thing.

Reply to
trader4

After reading Bud's response, I agree with him. I was thinking from a standpoint of a theoretical electrical aspect with regard to having more than one surge protector in series. But from a practical standpoint, ie why use two when you can get a higher rated single one, daisy chaining anything, especially to a washer, doesnt' sound like a good idea, etc.

Plus you have a whole house protector at the meter. If it were me, I'd probably be satisfied with just that and not put anything on the washer. And if you do put one on it, the 3300 joule one you're looking at should be plenty.

I did notice one additional thing. I think that surge protector also has a 12 amp breaker? What does the washer call for? I think they usually go onto a dedictaed 15 amp outlet, not sure how much they actually pull and if 12 amps is OK, won't trip, etc.

Reply to
trader4

On Sat, 25 Jan 2014 11:13:03 -0800 (PST), " snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net" wrote in

Yes, reading the comments here I now have the same conclusion.

It's only 330 joules, not 3300, which seems a little light-duty to me considering what I have learned here and the specs of current generation plug-in suppressors. I had forgotten about the suppressor at the meter. I think I will replace the 330 joule unit with a 700 joule Trip-Lite ($9) when I have a chance, but now that I remember the lightning arrestor, together with your comments, it doesn't seem urgent.

The spec sheet I found indicates an output rating of 9 amps. That's not good. Thanks for reminding me.

Regards, CG

Reply to
CRNG

Where are you seeing 330? The thing is supposed to be an lb-4. The closest thing I found is this, which is 3300 joules. It looks similar:

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I had forgotten about the suppressor

Reply to
trader4

Why lightning is printed on the suppressor is strange. When I moved in here, the power company wanted to know if i wanted to continue use of meter supressor. I said no. Costs a few dollars a month. Never saw where there was on to begin with, and the former owners cheap. I have installed a supco unit in the breaker box. The first one blew out one day, bang. The power was going off and on during a storm. Replaced unit.

Like the tripplite, it has two or four inductors, in series, with caps. Movs at the end of an inductors have a better chance of working since the voltage is delayed. Noise suppression goes both ways, in or out of strip.

Whole house suppressors have trip voltages all over the place. Some are a bit too high for me. NONE will protect lightning direct hit.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

That wasn't what I had in mind to look at.

The problem I see is that afaict the Tripplite page doesn't have a model ib-4. Instead, they have Isobar.... and I think the first letter I becomes the I and the first letter in bar becomes the B in IB4, and the

4 just means there are 4 receptacles (check out ISOBAR6. It has 6.), and the nearest I can tell is that this is the model in the url above:
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It looks like it (which often doesn't mean anything) , and it says it has line noise suprression, which
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doesn't mention .
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doesn't mention noise either but it does include insurance, which ISOBAR4220 doesn't mention. Neither of these urls show items that look like the ISOBAR4220, either.

Looking at any of these pages, just to the right of "Home > Products > Surge Protectors > Isobar® Surge Protectors >" is a drop down list of all their Isobar surge protectors and none is as close to yours as

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so I'm going to assum that that is the same as the one you posted, and look at its specs.

What I was hoping you'd find was something that mentioned household appliances, Instead all it says is "Typical Applications Ideal for premium protection of personal computers with peripherals, network and CAD/CAM/CAE workstations, internetworking accessories, telecommunications systems, point of sale equipment, audio/video and home theater systems in any home, office or industrial application"

That's what the majority of buyers want it for, and not so many are worried about their washing machine yet, I think. (The other 2 models say the same thing, so the absence of appliances in Typical Applications probably doesn't mean anything.)

The other thing to concern oneself with is the output amperage, if it's enougn to power the washing machine. It says, "Circuit Breaker (amps)

9".

Does your washing machine use less than 9 amps?????????

(I have no idea what mine uses. Though fwliw I think it does have it's own breaker, I never gave that much importance, since it's only 5 feet from the breaker box and the cost of a separate circuit was pretty low in time and parts.)

Reply to
micky

They won't reliably protect from a direct strike to the house - for that you need lightning rods.

The largest surge with any reasonable probability of occurring on power service wires is 10,000A per wire. That is based on a 100,000A lightning strike (only 5% are stronger) to the utility pole behind a house in typical urban overhead distribution. Service panel protectors with ratings much higher than 10,000A are readily available. A higher rating means the protector will have a long life. A properly installed service panel protector is likely to protect anything connected only to power wires from a very near very strong lightning strike. I would much rather have a protector at the service panel than the meter base.

A plug-in protector with high ratings, connected correctly, is likely to protect anything connected to it from a very near very strong strike. Connected correctly means all interconnected equipment is on the same protector, and all external wires - including cable/phone/... - go through the protector.

Reply to
bud--

Having the MOVs in 2 locations with impedance between them is one of the reasons I wouldn't recommend it.

Reply to
bud--

On Sat, 25 Jan 2014 14:45:37 -0800 (PST), " snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net" wrote in

Well, that's interesting. I'm seeing the 330 joules here mine looks exactly like this _except_ mine does not have 240V written on it. I'm guessing one of those spec sheets may have a typo?

Reply to
CRNG

.

No, they look like different products. It's not just that one is rated at 3300 joules, the other at 330. The 3300 joule spec sheet has other major differences, max surge current of 85K, or 135K amps vs 22K for the other product, much lower clamping voltage, etc.

I think the problem is that the seller's posting only calls it an "LB-4" and that doesn't exactly match a specific product, at least as far as I can tell. One thing is for sure, between those two data sheets there are major differences and one is a much more substantial product.

Reply to
trader4

I agree we don't know exactly what the effect will be. But you do have MOV's in multiple locations all the time anyway. For example, a whole house protector, then maybe another one on the HVAC, plug-ins for a PC or appliance, followed by another MOV inside the PC/appliance, etc.

Reply to
trader4

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