It sounds like this woman is describing a poltergeist. "Alarm was going off, passcode didn't work! Ice was SHOOTING out of the ice maker! toaster oven didn't work, oven did work!"
One problem, electrictricity is not seeking the shortest path to ground. It's not seeking anything but will follow any and all conducting paths that are presented. The most current will flow through the path of least resistance to the source which is the secondary of the supply transformer via the neutral.
I have seen 1000's of houses and have also wired panels for new constructions home, but have never ever seen a panel with wires that neat, on the outside at least. That looked so awesome!
thats honestly not that neat. im a electrician and there are some super ocd electricians out there. thats pretty sloppy by some standards ive seen. but nice work
(1) get a quality UPS for your sensitive electronics, they protect against both brown outs and surges. (2) If that house is actually struck by lightening it is totally unprotected. That requires a wholly different system with lightening rods on the roof, etc. What was installed here only protects against excess power coming in from the grid.
I reallyyy love the way you explain things. Its clean, feels realistic, and informational. And I never get distracted with anything, making this such an educational video. Thanks for your awesome work.
Good one. I worked in power utilities in Asia. In their distribution overhead line system, surge arresters are installed in transformer terminals close to the household.
Love the question and answer session at the end. Those were the exact questions I had (e.g. why does a SPD in the breaker box protect every circuit there if a sudden surge can go through every circuit in the panel).
Ok, so...my refrigerator recently got damaged during an outage that only lasted like a few seconds. I'm not sure if the refrigerator was damaged by a surge or a drop. All I know is that just 2 months ago, I had to install a secondary defrost heater because of Samsung producing a defect within their design. After installing the secondary heater kit, which included other strategic mods to eliminate the chronic ice build-up behind the rear panel. Anyway, the kit was a success and for over 2 full months, I had zero icing-over issues and if I set the fridge to 34° it would hold 34° 24/7. Moving forward to 2 weeks ago, when we had that very brief power interruption, wherein, the power failed and then turned right back on in a few seconds, the fridge hasn't been right since. I did all the suggested DIY procedures to get the fridge operating normally again, but despite all that, it's no longer getting as cold as it did before and now I'm seeing ice build-up seeping through the vent holes in rear panel. My whole point in all this, is for all I know, it may have been the surge when the power came back on, or it may have been the drop in voltage during this event that damaged my $1,300 fridge. I'll never know. The point is, this video is giving consumers a false sense of security, by suggesting it's only critical to protect against power surges. In reality, drops in voltage can be just as harmful for major appliances. So, assuming that a surge suppressor or diverter is total protection, is a flawed notion. I'm just surprised they don't talk about an Uninterrupted Power Supply device (UPS) and how such a device can be just as important.
I LOVE TOH!!!! Was totally confused as to why I needed BOTH Whole House protection AND portable suppressor power strips.... Thanks for asking that ? Kevin!!!
Computers should have at least some battery backup, if not for power outages, but mostly to add power if the voltage goes too low (AVR). Sine wave regulators or "true wave" (or what ever branding) ensures a clean signal as required by most computers. Look for it on the backup. A tiny bit extra on power protection can save a bundle. (CyberPower 1350AVR is a good one I have tested)
I thought you were not supposed to punch wires into the back of a socket? I was told to always wrap each wire around its matching screw on the sides of the socket.
About 18 years ago, my house had a lightning bolt hit the roof. I was home when it happened. The lightning shattered a handful of roof tiles and blew a small hole through the roof. It did not hit any power lines. There are no exposed power lines - this community has all below ground power lines. But the EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) damaged several items inside my house. The EMP blasted the electronic dog fence module right off the wall. The burnt area was where the wires on the perimeter of the yard connected to the module. Those yard wires sent thousands of volts into the electronic fence module. The modem in my PC was destroyed. The EMP came in through the phone line. The three CRT's in my house were severely magnetized causing the color picture to be severely distorted. I don't see how a surge protector would have helped in my situation. The surge wasn't coming through the power lines, it came through all lines (phone lines, speaker wires, etc.). Thankfully, my homeowner's insurance stepped up and paid to have all damaged items replaced. They weren't interested in repairing anything - just replacing. Of course, they also paid to have the hole in the roof repaired.
I think they neglected to mention explicitly that surge protectors eventually lose their protection over time--at least the APC one I use for my computer does. It has status lights to let you know if it is working, overloaded, or if there is a ground fault. I think most high quality surge protectors last about 10 years depending upon environment and usage conditions.
Noticed how you said keep the surge protector as close to mains as possible. Usually the open breaker spaces are at the bottom. Should you shift the breaker positions of existing ones down? Or just put the surge protector on the bottom.
I used to work in the telecom industry. We had a gas grounding protector. When it sensed excessive voltage such as 110 vac or lightning strikes, it supposed to open the path to the house and send the voltage to ground which was attached to the protector. I once (and only once) did a service call where lightning hit the phone cable in the air, blew the gas module all to he!! and melted the customers phone. Nothing is perfect which is why it is suggested that you do not watch TV during a lightning storm.
I'm saying to turn off the TV and don't sit or stand in front of it during a lightning storm. If you like to stare at a blank TV screen, well that's another topic.
My parents always taught Me to stay off the phone/turn off the TV during an electrical storm. They were right. My friend's TV (1992) got blown out when lightning came through the window the glass screen got cracked. My cousin was on his phone (1987) and it got damaged during an electrical storm.
Electricity does not want to go to ground. It wants to go to its source. Lightning however does want to go to ground. Also, electricity does not take the shortest route. It takes all paths to its destination. The amount of current is inversely proportional to the resistance of the route, so to some extent a longer route will have higher resistance. But the way it was state is just inaccurate.
Great information. I am having a house built and where the panels go in the garage The do a drywall bupout with the panel recessed in the wall between the studs. How do I connect the whole house protection? The builder will not add it since it is a deviation from what they do in all houses.
Great video, for your sensitive Electronics I would recommend a UPS over a surge protector sensitive Electronics don't like losing power like computers it can damage them. Are you lose all your data or corrupt your files. And it's also very nice for things like routers and cable boxes because you don't have to wait for the reboot when you lose power for an instant.
That SYCOM surge protector has nearly burned down several people's homes. It's been recalled and is no longer for sale. See reviews of SYC-120/240-T2 with photos of burned device and burned walls on Amazon.
Love the way he says "when the device reaches the end of it's life the green light goes out." What he should have explained is this device is a "one shot deal" and will only protect one time. If you get several surges during the same storm you could be out of luck!
It is interesting. I never thought that an appliance would send a power surge but it makes sense. The voltage kickback from motors and solenoids. But, we've all done it, I've done it. I do this all the time. Plug my fan into the same power strip as my computer. My lamp shares the same power strip as my computer. Probably not a good thing.
Its usually the loss of power to destroy appliances. Alot of times it is. However a great power surge will do it to. But rarely does the power come 8n at higher voltages. Count on loss of a leg than extra voltage as the culprit. Seen it many times in 30yrs in construction doing HVACR.
Hi my name is Jon and am a Electrical professional Expert, I also have worked and Assisted my neighbor friend Steve over lots of years as extra assistance who is a Electrician. For those who are trying to save money and want to buy cheaper and still have ease and protection to all there appliances you can just buy a high quality power strip with a built in circuit breaker and a GFCI and AFCI and a surge protector strip that has all in one and will cover everything. You do not have to spend extra money on a whole house Surge protected installed directly into your service panel if you do the all in one power strip protection. You do want to keep an eye on that Green protection light on the power strip though, it the light goes out you should buy a new power strip as there only good for so long. You do not have to have a surge protected wall outlet installed either if you go with a power strip all in one protection but remember anything that is not plugged into the protected power strip is not protected. In my opinion as for lightning strikes it’s best to just unplug your devices during storms as sometimes lightning strikes are to big of surges to withstand even the highest quality of surge protectors and will not always work for those surges. You might want to add in lightning rods for that.
Okay for surge, but the brownout needs protection at least at the AC unit. If the voltage drops down to 100 or even lower, higher current is being pulled during brown out which is not good for the AC if the fast blow fuse did not blow out.
What I need to know is where did they get the cool surge/power strip box shown @ 3.38 minutes in to the video? My desk has 3 PC's and 2 monitors on KVM switches, what a mess of wire, cable and adapters under my desk. Also there are some assumptions wrong, Surge protection is not the same as as lightning protection. For a direct lightning only a lightning rod system to divert will help, this is a whole other subject. Surge is an increase in power, so a surge protector will not help brownouts. For power fluxuations this would be a line regulator, very expensive and I mostly installed them in hospitals for my work as an imaging/biomedical engineer. when power goes out and comes back on, all connected devices want power at the same time at once, causing an extreme pull of power causing a bounce effect on the power going from a brownout to surge cycle. Suggesting it is best to disconnect in extreme storms. UPS battery backups are best for expensive electronics like computers and AV equipment, I currently use 4 1500 APC, and 4 600 APC UPS battery backups. Electricity dose not take the shortest path but the path of least resistance, and any path. In Example: if connected in parallel a 22 gauge wire 1 foot long and a 4 gauge wire 10 foot long most of the power will travel on the longer wire as it has less resistance. The thinner wire may be shorter but has more resistance and may even burn out, as the 22 gauge has 16 ohms/foot and the 4 gauge @ 025/.foot would only be 2.5 ohms @ 10 feet
Is it safe to use power strips with surge protectors even if you already have a surge protector connected to your panel? I heard that you should connect surge protectors together
Every power strip should be surge protected internally. Some power strips are just that. Some have no surge protection. You don't connect anything together.
Eaton says it doesn't matter where you put the protector,some of their load centers come with this protector factory installed at the bottom of the buss,be sure to follow the installation instruction sheet word for word.
One point I would like to make is that you can often use a "triplex" breaker when the spots at the top of the panel are already full. The triplex takes 2 spots(like a double pole), but has a double pole and 2 single pole breakers in it. I ordered one for my panel because it is a rat's nest and I want to move as few wires as possible. I used a 50amp double pole and 2 15 amp single pole option.
also do not over look for protection an apc ups device for the internet as well as any computer or digital device. they work! and yes the whole house units work well!
Internal surges can occur true, but most likely, your panel protector only handles about a 600V surge. Anything lower will still get through. But at least it will prevent most Type 3 protectors from blowing out entirely. They will protect and survive rather than protect and fry by having the Type 2 panel protector there.
Did... Did he BACKSTAB?! 😮😮😮 I'm kidding... A bunch of electrician's FB groups I'm in, everyone's all up in arms about that... 😂🤣 So THAT'S how it works! I couldn't figure it out.
Scott, Are you saying that the point of location power surge protection for the TV is an option because the window summertime AC is on the same branch circuit? In this situation shouldn't the window AC be on a single breaker separate branch thus not affecting other appliances? Finally, do I use an electrical panel surge protection option as to how to protect an AC from its own voltage transients as to extend its lifetime?
The double circuit breaker the Surge Protection Device (SPD) connects to can not be used to power any load, if you were right, the SPD would not protect anything at all. The SPD needs no protection as its purpose is to sacrifice itself to protect ALL THE LOADS fed by the rest of circuit breakers in the panel.
We recently had a multiple surge/across several devices in our house. The problem was a result of a broken Neutral wire coming from the Utility (outside the house due to severe storm). The Utility guys did reconnect that wire. My Square D - QO Panel didn't have a whole house surge protector. I want to install a Type 2 Surge protector (QO2175SB). Am very handy and am a retire EE Eng. No need to warn me of hazards.... My question is: 1) if I connect the grounding wire of the Surge protector to the NEUTRAL bus in the panel and a similar incident happens, where would the shunting go!? Should I connect it to the Panel Ground instead (it would shunt it to the ground of the house via the existing copper wire tied to the water main in my case) ? 2)note that I am not sure if my Neutral and my panel ground are tied together!?!? - how could I find out? Thank you!
Back in the mid 80's our Maple tree (was only 5 or 6 feet tall) was struck by lightning (it melted the tree) and everything in my room was destroyed. Not only the ones that was plugged in I soon found out too. Gone was my computer equipment, TV etc...
@CactusLadySouth I meant that everything in the room, except for the window unit AC, was destroyed. What happens is the lightning goes down the wire and creates an EMP so everything electronic that is within range will cease to work not only the items that were plugged in. Since it was 10-15 feet away from my room I not only had the spike/surge I had the EMP as well and everything electronic was dead regardless if plugged in or not.
@@thebeststooge Wow, I thought about it and it came to mind that it might have been a EMP effect. I did not know lightening could do that. We are in S.C. upstate and we have much damage to electronics inside the home for a couple of years now. Just put in the home surge protector today. I need to add the surge protector strips for each item not sure what brand to buy, would you have any ideas on that? They mention them in the video but really don't recommend one.
Whole house surge protection just protects your whole house from EXTERNAL surges from the power grid. Not INTERNAL surges from devices plugged in inside your house.
You showed only the Type 2 and Type 3 surge suppressors. The Type 1 surge suppressor fits into the electric meter housing and then the electric meter is inserted into it. If the power company gives you its permission to use this Type 1 surge suppressor, go ahead. If not, do not install one. The Type 4 surge suppressor is built into the appliance. Unless the appliance literature lets you know it is there, you do not know. The surge suppressors do not protect against a direct lightning strike! A lightning protection system can do this.
There are comments and link indicating the device used started lots of fires. That aside, the panel box has two sides, each fed by a separate 120V cable, the two out of sinc to create 240V for oven, etc. The video shows breakers attached to only one side. Looks to me like the other side, half the circuits, are left unprotected. Was one of the two black wires supposed to attach to the other 120V side on a separate breaker? Or am I just jealous of the flat-blade screwdriver on the Phillips head screw?
I see my error! I hadn't noticed that every other single pole breaker slot on one side is attached to first the left, then the right 120V cable, so any pair next to each other have potentially 240 V for a single circuit or alternate wave 120V circuits. Need I add I'm not an electrician, just a DIYer.
It does not matter which location you use for the SPD breaker. What matters is making the wire length from the SPD to the breaker absolutely as short as possible. Since the neutral bar is usually located at the top of the panelboard, it is best to install the SPD as close to as possible too. And that drives you back to installing the SPD breaker in the top two spaces. Every additional foot of wire over six inches in length increases the let through voltage by 150 volts.
SP outlets are $20+ each. A whole house SP circuit breaker is less than $150. Alternatively, some utilities will install SP at the meter for a small monthly fee.
So imagine the whole house with a main surge protector and in every square inch of the house! all the receptacles. So no more surge protector strips or any other type of surge protector attached to the outlet, yes it’s expensive but I think it’s still a cool idea and a great investment!
If you installed whole house surge protection why would you need point of use protection too? I'm installing 5 mini-splits into my house and I'm told I need surge protectors on each one and it really adds up. Will a whole house unit cover them all?
The spd in the panel was for external surges such as from your electrical company. the point of use spd's are for internal surges such as from your AC that when cycle on and off send surges through out the house. Hope this helps
@@bushrod6258 My house is 100% electicity including a heat pump (old, non-inverter) and I've never had issues but I'm installing 5-6 new mini-split heat pumps and I've been told I need surge protectors on each pump. At $75 each it's just another aspect of this project nickel and diming me to death. What would you suggest for someone like me? Can I go with cheap surge protectors or is there a certain quality level I need to reach?
3:40 I had a belkin surge protector on a computer once. We had a power surge a shortwhile after that. It blew out the Belkin surge protector AS WELL AS everything connected to it. I was pissed as I paid quite a bit for it. I've also had a couple of Belkin power cables fail. I'll never buy a POS Belkin item again. As for lightning strike, I've seen a strike melt a couple dozen feet of wire and set the wall on fire from the heat. No surge protector is going to protect from a large, direct lightning strike.
This sounds like a bandaid fix. Just pull out the entire bar and put a surge/RCD combo on each circuit. Also, how the hell did an electrician not install a surge protector when that cabinet was previously updated? The panel and cables look new! I hope this was a production setup!
The mfg recommendation is to have two single pole breakers, not a ganged dual pole. This way you dont loose protection on one phase if the other is triggered.
Is this really an install a beginner or novice should actually attempt? I can screw up a basic faucet install and get a little wet, but one mistake with the internals of the electrical box might just kill me.
Will the whole house surge protection cover smart appliances (refrigerators, washers,& dryers) or will the appliances need individual outlet protection?
How does the circuit surge protector send the electricity to the ground if it's only mounted to the box? What if the box is not wired up to grounding rods or some previous homeowner removed the wiring connecting it to a metal water pipe?
The surge protectors they show are ok but are based on metal oxide veristor (mov). They still let in surges especially lighting strikes and their warranty do not cover that and man made surges so their useless. Only site suppressors like surge x can protect and warranty against lightning strikes
It's pretty cool that he took time off from Disturbed to help this lady with her surge problem.
Hes ground with the surges.
Now, she can enjoy the sounds of silence while listening to The Sounds Of Silence.
Oh wa wa wa wa!
Don't quit your day job. Lol
@@thatoneguy6313 😂😂😂
Loved this guy as King Imhotep in The Mummy.
LOL!
no it's Vin Diesel
National touring company of The King & I.
@@6string327 you mean Vin Unleaded? 😆
It sounds like this woman is describing a poltergeist.
"Alarm was going off, passcode didn't work! Ice was SHOOTING out of the ice maker! toaster oven didn't work, oven did work!"
DC hahaha yep
"Doctor Venkman, you've come all this way, would you like to check the kitchen?"
“My daughters head was spinning 360 degrees”
“My tv is just strobing”!
@corey Babcock my router has a heart attack and showing death threats. what to do???
One problem, electrictricity is not seeking the shortest path to ground. It's not seeking anything but will follow any and all conducting paths that are presented. The most current will flow through the path of least resistance to the source which is the secondary of the supply transformer via the neutral.
I have seen 1000's of houses and have also wired panels for new constructions home, but have never ever seen a panel with wires that neat, on the outside at least. That looked so awesome!
That's definitely from someone who takes pride in their work... Or just OCD.
Boris h
thats honestly not that neat. im a electrician and there are some super ocd electricians out there. thats pretty sloppy by some standards ive seen. but nice work
Wasn't that a thing of beauty?
@@anonymouspost8407 do you zip tie everything creating hot spots so it looks nice?
(1) get a quality UPS for your sensitive electronics, they protect against both brown outs and surges. (2) If that house is actually struck by lightening it is totally unprotected. That requires a wholly different system with lightening rods on the roof, etc. What was installed here only protects against excess power coming in from the grid.
How do you know that the rods are not already in place.
@@techo205Maybe because THEY DIDNT MENTION THEM🙄
Once again, TOH delivers clear, concise, and accurate information that is easily digestible. Bravo!
I reallyyy love the way you explain things. Its clean, feels realistic, and informational. And I never get distracted with anything, making this such an educational video. Thanks for your awesome work.
There are waaay bettter whole house surge protectors than this garbage sycom unit , do your research
Good one. I worked in power utilities in Asia. In their distribution overhead line system, surge arresters are installed in transformer terminals close to the household.
This is a Type 1 surge protector.
Never knew about the surge protector outlets. Ordering one now for my wall mounted tv project!
This is the best explanation of how a whole house surge protector functions. Thank You!!
There are waaay better quality surge protectors then garbage SYCOM
@@scundoorsup5342 I'm not sure that's the intent of this video. Thank you for your thoughts!
Love the question and answer session at the end. Those were the exact questions I had (e.g. why does a SPD in the breaker box protect every circuit there if a sudden surge can go through every circuit in the panel).
The SYCOM surge protector being installed in this TOH segment was recalled by UL for potential fires...
Good, clear explanation with a satisfactory installation that provides the desired protection. Thanks
An AVR with surge protection at each appliance would work best, especially for voltage fluctuations.
Ok, so...my refrigerator recently got damaged during an outage that only lasted like a few seconds. I'm not sure if the refrigerator was damaged by a surge or a drop. All I know is that just 2 months ago, I had to install a secondary defrost heater because of Samsung producing a defect within their design. After installing the secondary heater kit, which included other strategic mods to eliminate the chronic ice build-up behind the rear panel. Anyway, the kit was a success and for over 2 full months, I had zero icing-over issues and if I set the fridge to 34° it would hold 34° 24/7. Moving forward to 2 weeks ago, when we had that very brief power interruption, wherein, the power failed and then turned right back on in a few seconds, the fridge hasn't been right since. I did all the suggested DIY procedures to get the fridge operating normally again, but despite all that, it's no longer getting as cold as it did before and now I'm seeing ice build-up seeping through the vent holes in rear panel.
My whole point in all this, is for all I know, it may have been the surge when the power came back on, or it may have been the drop in voltage during this event that damaged my $1,300 fridge. I'll never know. The point is, this video is giving consumers a false sense of security, by suggesting it's only critical to protect against power surges. In reality, drops in voltage can be just as harmful for major appliances. So, assuming that a surge suppressor or diverter is total protection, is a flawed notion. I'm just surprised they don't talk about an Uninterrupted Power Supply device (UPS) and how such a device can be just as important.
I LOVE TOH!!!! Was totally confused as to why I needed BOTH Whole House protection AND portable suppressor power strips.... Thanks for asking that ? Kevin!!!
Computers should have at least some battery backup, if not for power outages, but mostly to add power if the voltage goes too low (AVR). Sine wave regulators or "true wave" (or what ever branding) ensures a clean signal as required by most computers. Look for it on the backup. A tiny bit extra on power protection can save a bundle. (CyberPower 1350AVR is a good one I have tested)
I thought you were not supposed to punch wires into the back of a socket? I was told to always wrap each wire around its matching screw on the sides of the socket.
Excellent, and short, explanation of protecting a home from electric surge.
Every question I had was answered at the end, perfect info video.
6:21 was my question....
About 18 years ago, my house had a lightning bolt hit the roof. I was home when it happened. The lightning shattered a handful of roof tiles and blew a small hole through the roof. It did not hit any power lines. There are no exposed power lines - this community has all below ground power lines. But the EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) damaged several items inside my house. The EMP blasted the electronic dog fence module right off the wall. The burnt area was where the wires on the perimeter of the yard connected to the module. Those yard wires sent thousands of volts into the electronic fence module. The modem in my PC was destroyed. The EMP came in through the phone line. The three CRT's in my house were severely magnetized causing the color picture to be severely distorted. I don't see how a surge protector would have helped in my situation. The surge wasn't coming through the power lines, it came through all lines (phone lines, speaker wires, etc.). Thankfully, my homeowner's insurance stepped up and paid to have all damaged items replaced. They weren't interested in repairing anything - just replacing. Of course, they also paid to have the hole in the roof repaired.
Electricity wants to go back to source, not ground. It will take any and all paths back to source, including ground.
I think they neglected to mention explicitly that surge protectors eventually lose their protection over time--at least the APC one I use for my computer does. It has status lights to let you know if it is working, overloaded, or if there is a ground fault. I think most high quality surge protectors last about 10 years depending upon environment and usage conditions.
Square D breakers are the gold standard.
Noticed how you said keep the surge protector as close to mains as possible. Usually the open breaker spaces are at the bottom. Should you shift the breaker positions of existing ones down? Or just put the surge protector on the bottom.
Never mind. Watched more and saw you have a retro fit surge protector haha all good.
I used to work in the telecom industry. We had a gas grounding protector. When it sensed excessive voltage such as 110 vac or lightning strikes, it supposed to open the path to the house and send the voltage to ground which was attached to the protector. I once (and only once) did a service call where lightning hit the phone cable in the air, blew the gas module all to he!! and melted the customers phone. Nothing is perfect which is why it is suggested that you do not watch TV during a lightning storm.
How would turning off a TV prevent a high voltage power surge from reaching it?
I'm saying to turn off the TV and don't sit or stand in front of it during a lightning storm. If you like to stare at a blank TV screen, well that's another topic.
My parents always taught Me to stay off the phone/turn off the TV during an electrical storm. They were right.
My friend's TV (1992) got blown out when lightning came through the window the glass screen got cracked.
My cousin was on his phone (1987) and it got damaged during an electrical storm.
dont watch TV because you unplugged it. turning something off but leaving it plugged in does nothing
Nominal voltage in the USA is 120 Vac NOT 110 Vac.
Electricity does not want to go to ground. It wants to go to its source. Lightning however does want to go to ground. Also, electricity does not take the shortest route. It takes all paths to its destination. The amount of current is inversely proportional to the resistance of the route, so to some extent a longer route will have higher resistance. But the way it was state is just inaccurate.
WHAT????? Electricity doesn't want to go to ground? WTF????
But in terms of electricity, the earth (ground) IS the source😅 What are you saying 😂
@@putalaweaweonoh For utility power, that is false.
I'd never thought of an appliance causing a surge. What he described seems akin to an electrical version of water hammer.
Great information. I am having a house built and where the panels go in the garage The do a drywall bupout with the panel recessed in the wall between the studs. How do I connect the whole house protection? The builder will not add it since it is a deviation from what they do in all houses.
I love installing whole house protection then installing point of use protection. 😂
Great video, for your sensitive Electronics I would recommend a UPS over a surge protector sensitive Electronics don't like losing power like computers it can damage them. Are you lose all your data or corrupt your files. And it's also very nice for things like routers and cable boxes because you don't have to wait for the reboot when you lose power for an instant.
That SYCOM surge protector has nearly burned down several people's homes. It's been recalled and is no longer for sale. See reviews of SYC-120/240-T2 with photos of burned device and burned walls on Amazon.
Comment needs to be pinned. I had the same one and turned off that breaker. Ordered a different brand off Amazon.
Love the way he says "when the device reaches the end of it's life the green light goes out." What he should have explained is this device is a "one shot deal" and will only protect one time. If you get several surges during the same storm you could be out of luck!
It is interesting. I never thought that an appliance would send a power surge but it makes sense. The voltage kickback from motors and solenoids. But, we've all done it, I've done it. I do this all the time. Plug my fan into the same power strip as my computer. My lamp shares the same power strip as my computer. Probably not a good thing.
Its usually the loss of power to destroy appliances. Alot of times it is. However a great power surge will do it to. But rarely does the power come 8n at higher voltages. Count on loss of a leg than extra voltage as the culprit. Seen it many times in 30yrs in construction doing HVACR.
Hi my name is Jon and am a Electrical professional Expert, I also have worked and Assisted my neighbor friend Steve over lots of years as extra assistance who is a Electrician. For those who are trying to save money and want to buy cheaper and still have ease and protection to all there appliances you can just buy a high quality power strip with a built in circuit breaker and a GFCI and AFCI and a surge protector strip that has all in one and will cover everything. You do not have to spend extra money on a whole house Surge protected installed directly into your service panel if you do the all in one power strip protection. You do want to keep an eye on that Green protection light on the power strip though, it the light goes out you should buy a new power strip as there only good for so long. You do not have to have a surge protected wall outlet installed either if you go with a power strip all in one protection but remember anything that is not plugged into the protected power strip is not protected. In my opinion as for lightning strikes it’s best to just unplug your devices during storms as sometimes lightning strikes are to big of surges to withstand even the highest quality of surge protectors and will not always work for those surges. You might want to add in lightning rods for that.
What an excellent video Thanks for this - helps me a lot with an older box but newer computer appliance set up.
Okay for surge, but the brownout needs protection at least at the AC unit. If the voltage drops down to 100 or even lower, higher current is being pulled during brown out which is not good for the AC if the fast blow fuse did not blow out.
Lightning striking twice, sounds a little magical, just like your box
Lighting is more likely to strike multiple times in the same spot.
What I need to know is where did they get the cool surge/power strip box shown @ 3.38 minutes in to the video? My desk has 3 PC's and 2 monitors on KVM switches, what a mess of wire, cable and adapters under my desk.
Also there are some assumptions wrong, Surge protection is not the same as as lightning protection. For a direct lightning only a lightning rod system to divert will help, this is a whole other subject. Surge is an increase in power, so a surge protector will not help brownouts. For power fluxuations this would be a line regulator, very expensive and I mostly installed them in hospitals for my work as an imaging/biomedical engineer. when power goes out and comes back on, all connected devices want power at the same time at once, causing an extreme pull of power causing a bounce effect on the power going from a brownout to surge cycle. Suggesting it is best to disconnect in extreme storms. UPS battery backups are best for expensive electronics like computers and AV equipment, I currently use 4 1500 APC, and 4 600 APC UPS battery backups.
Electricity dose not take the shortest path but the path of least resistance, and any path.
In Example: if connected in parallel a 22 gauge wire 1 foot long and a 4 gauge wire 10 foot long most of the power will travel on the longer wire as it has less resistance. The thinner wire may be shorter but has more resistance and may even burn out, as the 22 gauge has 16 ohms/foot and the 4 gauge @ 025/.foot would only be 2.5 ohms @ 10 feet
4:00 minuets in wait why am I still watching this dude plugging stuff in... god I need to reconsider what I’m doing with my life
When you die you release your bowels but when a fridge dies it releases it's ice
Jeep Fanboy 3692 wierd
That's cause refrigerators don't need those things
Lol
bowels are human Ice.
@@Abhishek-C92 ohhh you got us!
Is it safe to use power strips with surge protectors even if you already have a surge protector connected to your panel?
I heard that you should connect surge protectors together
Every power strip should be surge protected internally. Some power strips are just that. Some have no surge protection. You don't connect anything together.
There is too much inductance in the wires. If you have a flow through design, please let me know.
Eaton says it doesn't matter where you put the protector,some of their load centers come with this protector factory installed at the bottom of the buss,be sure to follow the installation instruction sheet word for word.
One point I would like to make is that you can often use a "triplex" breaker when the spots at the top of the panel are already full. The triplex takes 2 spots(like a double pole), but has a double pole and 2 single pole breakers in it. I ordered one for my panel because it is a rat's nest and I want to move as few wires as possible. I used a 50amp double pole and 2 15 amp single pole option.
its called a quad breaker not a triplex breaker
It's nice seeing an electrician that doesn't remove his wedding ring while working around electricity.
Please Check the model number of the SPD installed @ the loadcenter SyCom brand has a recall with UL to make sure it is still safe to use.
also do not over look for protection an apc ups device for the internet as well as any computer or digital device.
they work!
and yes the whole house units work well!
Great information and I had the exact same questions that guy asked!!
What is the purpose of the whole house if you need smaller units????
Can wires be hooked right into main lugs? If not,why?
Thanks a lot for the clear video! Is there a similar device por brownout or voltaje low, instead of voltaje spikes?
Internal surges can occur true, but most likely, your panel protector only handles about a 600V surge. Anything lower will still get through. But at least it will prevent most Type 3 protectors from blowing out entirely. They will protect and survive rather than protect and fry by having the Type 2 panel protector there.
Are all Americans home circuit box that complicated? In my country you just need one fuse and a meter
Did... Did he BACKSTAB?! 😮😮😮
I'm kidding... A bunch of electrician's FB groups I'm in, everyone's all up in arms about that... 😂🤣
So THAT'S how it works! I couldn't figure it out.
What is that surge protector he used in the office under the desk? I can't find one like that.
The excess energy goes back on the neutral, it does not go to ground
So if the SP on the main box will protect the kitchen why can't it protect the TV ?
"electricity is very lazy."
I think that electricity will remember your words and catch you slipping.
Nice info,,,,,,,by the way what is the amperage of the breaker that you attached the surge protector
Correct me if I am wrong, but there was no ground on that TV outlet. The box was plastic, no green ground wire?
Scott,
Are you saying that the point of location power surge protection for the TV is an option because the window summertime AC is on the same branch circuit? In this situation shouldn't the window AC be on a single breaker separate branch thus not affecting other appliances? Finally, do I use an electrical panel surge protection option as to how to protect an AC from its own voltage transients as to extend its lifetime?
"Does that mean I'm protected?" Still need protectors down range at the computer for example and other small device locations. Video states this.
The double circuit breaker the Surge Protection Device (SPD) connects to can not be used to power any load, if you were right, the SPD would not protect anything at all. The SPD needs no protection as its purpose is to sacrifice itself to protect ALL THE LOADS fed by the rest of circuit breakers in the panel.
I agree with what you said. Was joking in the comment.@@pasajecolon5168
can some explain the point about connecting the white wire to neutral and getting a direct path to ground.
We recently had a multiple surge/across several devices in our house. The problem was a result of a broken Neutral wire coming from the Utility (outside the house due to severe storm). The Utility guys did reconnect that wire. My Square D - QO Panel didn't have a whole house surge protector. I want to install a Type 2 Surge protector (QO2175SB). Am very handy and am a retire EE Eng. No need to warn me of hazards.... My question is:
1) if I connect the grounding wire of the Surge protector to the NEUTRAL bus in the panel and a similar incident happens, where would the shunting go!? Should I connect it to the Panel Ground instead (it would shunt it to the ground of the house via the existing copper wire tied to the water main in my case) ?
2)note that I am not sure if my Neutral and my panel ground are tied together!?!? - how could I find out?
Thank you!
Asked my electrician to help me with this too. He “refused“ 😁
Power surges sound like they create absolute havoc
Stephen Snell Yes they can
Back in the mid 80's our Maple tree (was only 5 or 6 feet tall) was struck by lightning (it melted the tree) and everything in my room was destroyed. Not only the ones that was plugged in I soon found out too.
Gone was my computer equipment, TV etc...
@@thebeststooge what do you mean not just the ones that were plugged in......can you explain more? thanks
@CactusLadySouth I meant that everything in the room, except for the window unit AC, was destroyed. What happens is the lightning goes down the wire and creates an EMP so everything electronic that is within range will cease to work not only the items that were plugged in. Since it was 10-15 feet away from my room I not only had the spike/surge I had the EMP as well and everything electronic was dead regardless if plugged in or not.
@@thebeststooge Wow, I thought about it and it came to mind that it might have been a EMP effect. I did not know lightening could do that. We are in S.C. upstate and we have much damage to electronics inside the home for a couple of years now. Just put in the home surge protector today. I need to add the surge protector strips for each item not sure what brand to buy, would you have any ideas on that? They mention them in the video but really don't recommend one.
Looks to me that square d panel already had a TVSS built in at the bottom of the panel. I wonder if it was bad?
I was wondering the same thing.
The SPD mounted at the homeowners service should have been a Type 1 device, I know this is an old video, NEC now requires Surge in all new builds.
230.67 says type 1 or type 2. Type 1's are for BEFORE the main service disconnect. Type 2's are for after the main service disconnect.
So, what does one do for point of access surges in an old how with only two prong outlets? Just hope the whole home surge protector is enough?
I don’t understand why you need surge protection at points in the house if you have a whole house surge protection?
Whole house surge protection just protects your whole house from EXTERNAL surges from the power grid. Not INTERNAL surges from devices plugged in inside your house.
Great video and excellent, excellent, excellent questions asked at the end of the video via your teammates. Thanks for sharing
That surge project power strip with the lid is awesome, what product is that?
You showed only the Type 2 and Type 3 surge suppressors.
The Type 1 surge suppressor fits into the electric meter housing and then the electric meter is inserted into it. If the power company gives you its permission to use this Type 1 surge suppressor, go ahead. If not, do not install one.
The Type 4 surge suppressor is built into the appliance. Unless the appliance literature lets you know it is there, you do not know.
The surge suppressors do not protect against a direct lightning strike! A lightning protection system can do this.
There are comments and link indicating the device used started lots of fires. That aside, the panel box has two sides, each fed by a separate 120V cable, the two out of sinc to create 240V for oven, etc. The video shows breakers attached to only one side. Looks to me like the other side, half the circuits, are left unprotected. Was one of the two black wires supposed to attach to the other 120V side on a separate breaker? Or am I just jealous of the flat-blade screwdriver on the Phillips head screw?
I see my error! I hadn't noticed that every other single pole breaker slot on one side is attached to first the left, then the right 120V cable, so any pair next to each other have potentially 240 V for a single circuit or alternate wave 120V circuits. Need I add I'm not an electrician, just a DIYer.
Can you supply links to the products?
Nice, real nice dressing existing cables! Wow!
Why put in a surge protector down line on every device if you put one on the main of the panel
I assume this would work hand in hand if there was a surge of a generator ?
If ya had a transfer switch?
But what do i need if the voltage dips and my appliances turn off and on? Avr?
Use the Mike Holmes Eaton surge protector
If you were to install the SPD circuit breaker at the bottom of the circuit panel, will you still get the same level of surge protection?
It does not matter which location you use for the SPD breaker. What matters is making the wire length from the SPD to the breaker absolutely as short as possible. Since the neutral bar is usually located at the top of the panelboard, it is best to install the SPD as close to as possible too. And that drives you back to installing the SPD breaker in the top two spaces. Every additional foot of wire over six inches in length increases the let through voltage by 150 volts.
I wonder why not just install the "surge protected" outlets, as standard in homes?
They cost a little more and then no one would need to come back and charge you to upgrade your outlets.
SP outlets are $20+ each. A whole house SP circuit breaker is less than $150. Alternatively, some utilities will install SP at the meter for a small monthly fee.
They're $30 a piece
Builders go for the cheapest parts. Even a few additional bucks per outlet kills the idea.
So imagine the whole house with a main surge protector and in every square inch of the house! all the receptacles. So no more surge protector strips or any other type of surge protector attached to the outlet, yes it’s expensive but I think it’s still a cool idea and a great investment!
If you installed whole house surge protection why would you need point of use protection too? I'm installing 5 mini-splits into my house and I'm told I need surge protectors on each one and it really adds up. Will a whole house unit cover them all?
The spd in the panel was for external surges such as from your electrical company. the point of use spd's are for internal surges such as from your AC that when cycle on and off send surges through out the house. Hope this helps
@@bushrod6258 My house is 100% electicity including a heat pump (old, non-inverter) and I've never had issues but I'm installing 5-6 new mini-split heat pumps and I've been told I need surge protectors on each pump. At $75 each it's just another aspect of this project nickel and diming me to death. What would you suggest for someone like me? Can I go with cheap surge protectors or is there a certain quality level I need to reach?
Why doesn't square d have a dual purpose breaker surge device?
Vin diesel knows his stuff
3:40 I had a belkin surge protector on a computer once. We had a power surge a shortwhile after that. It blew out the Belkin surge protector AS WELL AS everything connected to it. I was pissed as I paid quite a bit for it. I've also had a couple of Belkin power cables fail. I'll never buy a POS Belkin item again. As for lightning strike, I've seen a strike melt a couple dozen feet of wire and set the wall on fire from the heat. No surge protector is going to protect from a large, direct lightning strike.
Belkin is bottom barrel garbage. Apc or nothing
This sounds like a bandaid fix. Just pull out the entire bar and put a surge/RCD combo on each circuit. Also, how the hell did an electrician not install a surge protector when that cabinet was previously updated? The panel and cables look new! I hope this was a production setup!
David Riley qqi
The mfg recommendation is to have two single pole breakers, not a ganged dual pole. This way you dont loose protection on one phase if the other is triggered.
Is this really an install a beginner or novice should actually attempt? I can screw up a basic faucet install and get a little wet, but one mistake with the internals of the electrical box might just kill me.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Will the whole house surge protection cover smart appliances (refrigerators, washers,& dryers) or will the appliances need individual outlet protection?
6:50 The answer to your question.
NO. You need local surge protection at the load device you turn on.
Does the surge protector box need a surge protector to protect it? 🤔
Pls how much is the cost for the panel surge protector from Ghana thanks
At 3:20, you say “this is a power strip only.” How do you know it’s just a power strip? Lucky guess?
Please explain what amp is the two pole breaker
How does the surge from the AC make it to the outlet plug on the tv which is on a completely different circuit????
Back through the panel. Everything is connected. The breakers do not isolate circuits (unless tripped).
How does the circuit surge protector send the electricity to the ground if it's only mounted to the box? What if the box is not wired up to grounding rods or some previous homeowner removed the wiring connecting it to a metal water pipe?
Most will light up red immediately as u plug them in then. You'll see
Liked Scott, why is he no longer on TOH?
The surge protectors they show are ok but are based on metal oxide veristor (mov). They still let in surges especially lighting strikes and their warranty do not cover that and man made surges so their useless. Only site suppressors like surge x can protect and warranty against lightning strikes