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Surge protection - monitoring effectiveness.

whjohnson
Ok, so folk are all going mad and fitting SPD consumer units et al.

BUT - How effective will they actually be?

In other words, what steps are in place to monitor and record the effectiveness of these devices?

So the flag turns from green to red over time, yet the consumer unit continues to deliver regardless, and the customer notices nothing changing, in the same way that they never test RCDs by using the test button.

How will we ever know whether or not these devices are actually worth the money? Or is it a case of another successful snake oil sale?

How long will it be before a future EICR flags up the fact that the SPD has 'died'.?
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    The sort of energy required to burn out one lamp ballast, let alone all the rest you describe, is not going to be stopped by a surge arrestor in a DIN rail RCD size enclosure, and if folk think it will, they are in for some serious disappointment.


    To sidestep damage of that magnitude, you need something that puts a dead short on the lines and provides prompt disconnection before self destruction by blowing the supply or even the substation fuses. An enclosed spark gap with noble gas filling at the right pressure can be arranged to do that, but it  is not a small or delicate thing. (we put things like that on the lines to transmitter towers on hilltops)


    However,  that sort of damage sounds much more like a lost neutral that no-one wanted to own up to - which again is not something a small SPD capable of dumping perhaps a couple of hundred joules will do much about - it probably will not conduct much even at 415 volts, and if it does start to it wont pull enough current to alter the out of balance situation, perhaps drawing an amp or two and then it will exit stage left never to be seen again after a tenth of a second or so once the transorb element has got hot enough.
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  • 0
    The sort of energy required to burn out one lamp ballast, let alone all the rest you describe, is not going to be stopped by a surge arrestor in a DIN rail RCD size enclosure, and if folk think it will, they are in for some serious disappointment.


    To sidestep damage of that magnitude, you need something that puts a dead short on the lines and provides prompt disconnection before self destruction by blowing the supply or even the substation fuses. An enclosed spark gap with noble gas filling at the right pressure can be arranged to do that, but it  is not a small or delicate thing. (we put things like that on the lines to transmitter towers on hilltops)


    However,  that sort of damage sounds much more like a lost neutral that no-one wanted to own up to - which again is not something a small SPD capable of dumping perhaps a couple of hundred joules will do much about - it probably will not conduct much even at 415 volts, and if it does start to it wont pull enough current to alter the out of balance situation, perhaps drawing an amp or two and then it will exit stage left never to be seen again after a tenth of a second or so once the transorb element has got hot enough.
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