[gui-talk] serge protectors

[Baracco, Andrew W]

I am a ham radio operator, and training and experience tells me that if
you suffer a direct lightning strike, the only thing that will save your
equipment is to disconnect it from the electrical outlet, and from the
phone line, etc.  If you use a cable modem, you should unplug it from AC
and disconnect it from the cable.  Also, lightning strikes can generate
spurs that can travel as far as half a mile from the strike itself.

Andy
 

-----Original Message-----
From: gui-talk-bounces+andrew.baracco=va.gov at nfbnet.org
[mailto:gui-talk-bounces+andrew.baracco=va.gov at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
David Andrews
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 7:05 PM
To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] serge protectors

Joel:  Be careful about lecturing Lloyd (smile) he is an electrical
engineer.

I think he was talking about small surges that cumulatively take away
the surge protection, while it seems like you are talking about a
catastrophic strike.

Dave

At 01:37 PM 5/13/2008, you wrote:
>Lloyd,
>I don't think that's what they were talking about. Everybody knows that

>if a surge protector is forced to break the current during a power 
>surge, then it loses its capacity to protect and needs to be replaced, 
>even though of course it still can provide electricity to what's 
>plugged into it. and just because you can't see the pilot light, that 
>wouldn't matter if you knew you'd had a dramatic power surge, like a 
>lightning strike. If that were to happen, or the house current would go

>off and suddenly come back on, or that sort of thing, I'd certainly get

>a friend or neighbor to take a look at my power strip and, if the light
was out, install a fresh replacement.
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Lloyd Rasmussen" <lras at loc.gov>
>To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 11:26 AM
>Subject: Re: [gui-talk] serge protectors
>
>
>As far as I know, surge protectors can fail in a way that you cannot 
>detect without sight.  Failure can occur if there was a nearby 
>lightning strike or other sudden spike of voltage on your AC outlets.  
>The metal-oxide varistor or other device inside the unit is supposed to

>short much of that charge out, so your computer is not exposed to it.  
>But it can only do this a limited number of times.  An L E D on the 
>power strip may change color or go out to indicate that the surge 
>protection function is no longer working.  But the strip will still
supply unprotected power.
>
>This is not a matter of aging, but only a matter of exposure to large 
>electrical surges.
>
>Having said all this, I have never had one of my surge protectors 
>inspected to see whether it has sustained damage or not.
>
>At 02:07 PM 5/13/2008, you wrote:
> >Denise --
> >
> >If Best Buy, and every other retailer for that matter, could convince

> >us of it, they would have us replace everything we own as frequently 
> >as possible, just to keep their bottom lines as profitable as
possible.
> >
> >As for the surge protector going bad, yet still providing output 
> >power, that comes as quite a shock to me.
> >
> >It sounds to me like the technicians there simply don't know what 
> >caused the problem in the first place, so they're coming up with a 
> >bogus excuse to explain away their ineptness.  And if your computer 
> >is still under warranty, then you'd better believe that they're 
> >trying to find some way of blaming you and your equipment for being 
> >at fault, so they can charge you some real bucks to repair or replace

> >your computer.
> >
> >-- George
> >
> >
> >Denise avant recently said ...
> >
> >"i recently had to take in my computer TO BEST BUY FOR REPAIR. I WAS 
> >told that some hardware inside of the computer may be causing my 
> >problem. and the damage to the hardware in the computer may have been

> >caused by my serve protector going bad. i explained that i had the 
> >protector for about 5 or 6 years, and i was then advised that a 
> >replacement every two years was adviseable. so thus my question.
>
>Lloyd Rasmussen, Acting Head, Engineering Section National Library 
>Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
>Library of Congress    (202) 707-0535   <http://www.loc.gov/nls>
>HOME:  <http://lras.home.sprynet.com>
>The opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent

>those of NLS.
>
>_______________________________________________
>gui-talk mailing list
>gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>gui-talk:
>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/gui-talk/jdeutsch%40dslextreme.co
>m
>
>_______________________________________________
>gui-talk mailing list
>gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>gui-talk:
>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/gui-talk/dandrews%40visi.com

_______________________________________________
gui-talk mailing list
gui-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
gui-talk:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/gui-talk/andrew.baracco%40va.gov