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Surge protection liability

aligarjon

A few years ago my mum and dads house and part of their estate lost their neutral due to an underground fault. Lots of their electronics got fried. The electricity company paid for all of the repairs so alls good.  However shortly after she realised that she had a plug in surge protector protecting her PC etc yet still everything was damaged.  She contacted the supplier and they said , oh very sorry you must have a faulty one and could she send it back and they would replace it.   So was she unlucky or are they useless. We actually never know if they work or not unless they are triggered which is rare i would think or fail.

So they same thought ( it happens occasionally) has occurred to me re the surge protection we are charging people to install in their new consumer units.  Who is liable if they fail? How long are they guaranteed for? Should they be replaced every few years?  how do we know if they actually do anything?  I am not aware of a way of actually testing them . 

Gary 

  • 0

    They are intended to dissipate short duration spikes on the supply. They are not intended (or rated) for a sustained over-voltage such as that produced by a broken neutral. 

  • 0

    Agreed - SPDs are only for “switching surges” and similar (which can be a few kV, but very short duration - less than a few milliseconds.

    What is experienced in a broken neutral is termed a power frequency overvoltage. There are devices known as power frequency overvoltage protection (POP) devices, but I think the general consensus is they are more trouble than they are worth in the UK. In some countries (e.g. Spain), they are more useful than not because of the nature of their power outages.

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    I personally believe that consumer unit-fitted anti surge devices are snake oil devices contrived to make money for their manufacturers, but serve little use other than that.

  • 0

    I see them as an additional part of our armoury that gives us a bit of extra protection under a limited set of circumstances, nothing more, but might save a few quid on a good day.

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