Honestly, I recommend you to my apprentices. You have great information that cannot always be conveyed on the job, where time constraints exist. The best ones always listen and want to learn and the worst... Well, you know... Will never read this comment.
I've seen a lot from Dustin, and its great, but i mainly do industrial and right now our main job is for Formet/Magna automation sector and its mostly installing cable tray, mounting panels and doing cable aesthetics. I've been on the same site about a year and a half and didn't learn all that much. Should I move on?
Thank you so much! You have taught me so much! I'm an apprentice, and a lot of times when I see something at work that I don't understand, I turn to you to teach me about it!
I hope to meet you one day man and shake your hand you were the one to get me into the trades and I have been busting my ass going to school and with the help of your videos got raises and more in depth knowledge there is so much a class can teach you God bless you man 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
In 2018 We had lightning strike a tree in our backyard about 25’ from the house. It traveled across the ground, blew a small trench in the dirt across the yard, arced on the metal astragal on the French door in our basement that I was standing 5’ away from, blew the ramset nails off the wood piece under the door threshold. We had WHSP on both panels. We lost all the TV’s, AV equipment, garage door openers upstairs on both garages, a fridge in the garage, a ceiling fan on the opposite side of the house on the 2nd story furthest away from the strike, the LED string lights on the back deck, a remote control switch for my dust collection in my workshop, an HDMI cable (had to cut open the ceiling and re-fish a new one because the old one got stuck on something grrr), and the main control board on our Trane Heat Pump in the basement. It was totally random the things we lost and didn’t lose.
SPDs operate by passing CURRENT to (ground, neutral, common) which reduces the VOLTAGE due to the resistance of the source. The rating is how much current they can handle. The combination of voltage, current, and time is energy (joules). Again, the rating is how much energy they can bypass or absorb.
I wanted to say the same thing, but you beat me to it. The SPD works like a switch. When the voltage is normal, the switch is off and no current flows. When the voltage is too high, the switch closes to intentionally create a short-circuit between hot and neutral. This adsorbs the energy from the transient event, converting it into heat inside the SPD. Energy = voltage * current * time, so a higher the Joule rating means the SPD can short more current for a longer time. The voltage should stay constant if the SPD is doing its job.
Hey, just a homeowner here, not electrician, looking for some clarification. Dustin mentioned certain high drain loads like a central ac that strains the system could have an effect on other devices in the home over time. If I were to install surge protected breakers on the large appliances in place of regular breakers, would this protect the other devices and breakers in the home or does that only protect surges coming in from the service line to that particular breaker? Thanks in advance.
@@db0nn3r Putting an SPD at the panel should protect your property from all types of surges, including ones caused by your own appliances. It's like the overflow drain on a sink - once the water reaches a certain level, the sink will stop filling, no matter where the water comes from. An SPD is like an overflow drain for electrons - once the voltage reaches a certain level, the SPD will "drain" it down, no matter where the extra voltage comes from.
@@db0nn3r the AC is less likely a source as the electronics are high quality..you have capacitors helping start the motor and keep it running..the swamp cooler motor I had however, it may have caused my attic fire, but of course no one actually investigated. The power surge which was evidenced in a power strip surge protector, and a fried transformer and control board on the furnace, well, who can say, chicken and egg, did the surge cause the fire, 0r did the fire cause wires to melt which caused a surge in the other stuff??..
Perfect timing for this video!! Just finished installing my first panel with surge protection, my journeyman wants to test me on how the surge protection works tomorrow aha
Just want to thank you for sharing your knowledge in a clear and concise manner. Your explanations always clear things up and allow my understanding to get to the next level.
Hi Dustin - Electrician U! I liked this video and wanted to say that you are right on! I get a lot of emails from people and everyone contacts me all the time asking me about portable surge protector power strips and what ones are best for lightning protection and what people do not seem to fully understand just like you as well were saying in this video is that a surge protector is not lightning protection. A surge protector can sometimes help from light surges from far away from lightning that might come through the lines but not direct strikes as you and i know. I also get a lot of people contacting me asking me by one of my videos on my youtube channel videos why i was saying its so important for people to replace there surge protector power strips every 3 to 4 years and people do not seem to understand that either how even if the Green LED lights that say Grounded & Protected are still lit that it does not mean that people are still getting full surge protection anymore and surge protection power strips are only good for so long and after 3 to 4 years if people do not replace them then they might not be getting the full protection anymore regardless if the LED lights are on or not. Do you ever get people contacting you about that to? Another thing i get from other people is people who think that surge protectors last forever and and are a one time deal however that is not the case and all surge protectors all have there lifetime to. I have told people before how i know that some surge protectors are expensive or sometimes even surge protector power strips to but they are a lot cheaper than all the electronics and appliances Owners have bought and rather than risking destroying all there things to just keep there surge protectors up to date and replace surge protector power strips every 3 to 4 years and avoid damaging there stuff. I also have told people before during severe weather that the best solution for sure is to just unplug any expensive things they cannot afford to lose until any severe storms are over. I was going to see if you want to join in with me and make a video about these topics as well?
There are 3 types of non desirable voltage fluctuations as follows. To start with we normally get a 120 VAC (RMS) 60 Hz sine wave. A surge is when we have condition where the RMS voltage of the mains increase past the nominal 120V. An overvoltage surge typically lasts for several cycles or even minutes. The second type is spikes. These are short term (ms range) high voltage transients that are only present for small fraction of a cycle. The last type is EMI/RFI interference. These are typically low voltage high frequency waveforms that appear in addition to the 120 VAC waveform. These can extend right up into radio frequencies. All electronic devices should contain circuitry to filter EMI/RFI interference and it has very little impact on power equipment. The types of protection that are needed against Surges and Spikes are completely different. Obviously you cant have a piece of equipment that cuts power every time the waveform slightly rises otherwise stuff would continually be turned on and off. Instead surge protection will kick in after a few wave cycles. A spike by its definition is very short term. If one was hit by a very high spike say 10,000V the event will be over before a surge protector can act. Spikes must be acted on and very quickly (typically in mS or uS). Some electronic equipment contain basic spike protection. What they do is run the AC lines on the PCB near a ground line. When the voltage rises on the AC traces it will arc over to the ground line dissipating the energy. For those of you who think that power bars provide adequate spike protection think again as most are useless against a high voltage transient. ALso dont fall for snake oil salesmen trying to sell you power conditioning equipment for your home audio, a complete waste of money. Most spike protectors work by dissipating energy in a spike. This is why they are rated in Joules. I live in Canada and my experience is that power surges that damage equipment are pretty rare. The only one I can think of is when a utility installed the wrong transformer and people got a much higher voltage deliver to their homes. The utility paid damages in that case. Spike damage I have seen and usually it is because the dissipating/switching device has failed. EMI/RFI are annoying but not damaging.
exponent mantissa, you are absolutely 100% correct, unlike electrician U in this video. It is essentially important to know the DIFFERENCE between surges and spikes, as you have described above, as well as the Joule rating of the protective device, to get the protection you actually need for sensitive devices. If your device needs SPIKE protection there is no reason to purchase any but the (misnamed) "Surge Protector" with the HIGHEST Joule rating. Another source of over-voltages, or surges, is an open neutral wire in a residential 120/240V system (common in the USA). The 240V remains the same but the two 120V "legs" fluctuate up and down as loads are turned on and off, often resulting in burned out equipment and house fires. Open neutrals do not threaten the building's wiring unless the building burns. The Utility is usually responsible for "open-neutral" damage and may try to duck that responsibility by claiming the neutral - ground connection was faulty or the devices were not "surge protected" which is actually "spike protected." Neither of these are actually relevant to the over and under voltage "surges" caused by open neutrals. As an expert witness forensic engineer in many disputed cases, by understanding the difference between surges and spikes, I have caused the Utility company to pay for their open-neutral damages,
Best info I've seen on surges. I would add the importance of a bonafide outlet ground for type 3 SPD's, otherwise no protection. And equally important, the system ground rod minimum of 2 rods when upgrading with SPD's, though some would say even more, in order to adequately dissipate surges.
I've made service calls to residential customers. Many had no surge protection. One customer used surge protection with a cheap $5-10 protector. After a car crash sent a major spike down the line and into her house, her $10/15 k printer survived. Not the same could be said for her other electronic devices. Never thought a low joule rated surge protector would ever work that well. Now I recommend these for all your electronic devices.
Type 1 vs Type 2 is particularly relevant if you have an old panel without a main breaker. Our house has a split-bus panel, so we'd need to use a Type 1 device if we wanted to add surge protection to the top half of the panel.
I greatly appreciate your videos. Really quite good . As you say it is a very complex subject and some percentage of what your are saying is going over my head, yet it still has a lot of value for me . I am 72 and still working part time as a handyman. In my career I have worked in the AirForce , residential homeowner properties and rental plus commercial restaurant and hotel chief of maintenance and high rise certified safety. so I have had a fair amount of exposure . But you are broadening my knowledge base . I find it very scary that there is so much unsafe grandfathered or stuff done unsafely by people who didnt know what they were doing type electrical situations out there . And finally you are reinforcing in me that I should not take on projects that are beyond my knowledge and experience .
I would say to anyone studying out there to keep trying and learning you will eventually get it. Sometimes other lessons will turn a light on so to speak. Never stop learning.
Man! That was an awesome explanation, nice way to convey in a few minutes a subject you obviously have devoted a lot of time to, I was planning to hit the suscribe button as soon as you mention the NEC update 👨🏫 Thank you!
This was a great video. I thought I have a good understanding but you're a Master for a reason! Reevaluating my priorities and saving up for those practice exams
As an engineer they are not that confusing. Simply search metal oxide varistor's. It simply changes resistance in the presence of voltage. For SPD's they are chosen so that resistance is about zero below a threshold voltage say 300V past that it becomes more resistive, This causes the excess voltage to be converted into heat. Over time these heating cycles will break the device down or if a spike it too large melt it. This is where the joule rating comes in. The joules of heat the device can soak up because there is a time component to it and how long the spikes are.
The mention on monitoring made me check my UPS and it records why it went to battery and so far thankfully only a few flutters from storms but it does switch off grid for under and over voltage as well.
Many thanks, you cleared up much of my confusion. For that upcoming video you might get into dedicated surge protectors for particularly surge-prone devices such as HVACs. The exist as much to stop a surge from leaving the device as to protect it from them. My sister was regularly having control boards blow out in her A/Cs. The two were installed alongside one another, so a surge from one would hit the other. I suggested she get HVAC protection on both and that seems to have helped.
Dude, my forte is mostly in avionics, so I've had some technical classes and getting to know construction electrical in my retirement years can be so interesting and yet confusing. I'm sure you have your own business going, but because of your uncanny ability to instruct and in an understandably effective way, you should always keep training/consulting as future aspirations. If the money is there, you should go for it. Be the next Mike Holt and beyond. Thanks once again for sharing your knowledge, it's what makes the world a better place to live. God bless you and all of your endevours!
Great info, a lot to take in, but you did a great job explaining it. I understand what and how you describe the 4 different types. I also left understanding that you barely scratch the topic. Keep the content coming. Idk if I’m nerdy enough, but I do enjoy it!
Wow, so much good info! I’m a real estate inspector in Texas and these videos are helping me have a better understanding of these systems. Thank you sir!
Hi. I have a Siemens CB Panel. My interlock and 30 amp CB for my generator is on the top right. If I put a type 1 SPD and wire it below that breaker. Will all my loads below be protected? Will the whole left side be protected as well? Or do I have to put another SPD on the Left side top of the panel on the load side? I hope I’m clear. Thank you. All the best to you and family. Mike i.
Question: I just purchased and connect a whole home generator, and after its first test run…both of my refrigerators are now having issues. It’s obviously from the generator, but Not sure what the issue is. When the air conditioners kick on while on the generator the lights to the house dim pretty aggressively for 1 second and then go back to normal. Could this be because of a voltage dip, which then causes the refrigerators to have an issue? And if so is there a surge protector that protects against dips? Thanks so much!
Hi Dustin, Love your video. First of all I am not an Electrician. I just know the basic and that is why I watch video like yours to learn more. I have a question regarding Surge Protector and how some surge protector work. I'm talking about the one you install next to the unit like the AC compressor unit. I saw a video in installing a ICM493 and the connection to this connected is like a series connection. I can understand how it work. The surge will get detected by the ICM493 first before the AC compressor so it can cut off the power to the compressor. But the one that connect like a parallel connection like the ICM518 or the RSH50. Its connected or pigtailed to the L1 and L2 of the wires that goes into the AC compressor unit. Since it shares the same wire, when the line get a surge, it will send that surge to the AC compressor and the surge protector. Can you shed a little more light in how protector like the ICM518 or RSH50 protect my AC compressor. Thanks, Phil
I was in computer sale for a time. One of our customers was a bookkeeping service and as a result had numerous computers. There was a lot of sensitive data on these devices. We put in a surge proctor in the circuit that powered their computers. One day a large truck hit a power pole right outside their offices. it brought down a transmission line (the one that feeds the transformer) across the line from the transformer to the building. I'm told it was 35K volts. It indeed blew up the surge protector. The result was the computers were fine, but the surge protector was toast.
5 year electrical here, Very informative thank you, I am going to buy that book you mention at first, I study the 2017 nec with my electrical courses, I am going to get the 2020 edition, So on that bathroom you could have designed a placement of a two gang gfci on the wall between the two sinks that's my observation on that...again thank you...!
Type 1 SPD's are on the line side of the service disconnect, like you said. Typical "type 1" devices are installed between your meter and the meter socket. They need to be approved by the Poco, and installed by the Poco.
Highly appreciate it bro just a lot to learn in the tray with this new technology I do commercial and residential currently in California and there’s a lot to learn take care Happy new year!!
I appreciate you a lot man 🙏 its refreshing to find someone genuinely and passionately trying to help spread knowledge (especially without acting like a 12 year old on/for YT) Keep up the good work!
I wish you had also mentioned more technical specs related to selecting devices. technical things like L-L, L-N clamping voltage, response time, and joule ratings. Perhaps this would be an idea for a future video.
I actually had to explain to an electrician why my sub panel needed a surge protector in addition to the main panel..the sub panel has a circuit which goes back outside via aerial to a chicken coop, rendering it vulnerable to any outside variables..
In addition to the main panel that the overhead neighborhood supply line comes into the house where the “main” surge protector is, I have two breakers panels inside, one upstairs and one down, the downstairs panel I had a line w two breakers run outside to the chicken coop, so if a lightning strike happened to hit near the coop line, it would go to that downstairs panel (and fry everything that panel provides power to) and bypass the surge protector in the main incoming panel..so, I had an additional surge protector placed into that downstairs panel. The electrician was saying the other protector would still provide protection, (which is dubious) but agreed that it was proper to go ahead with the caution.@@MrsBuddevil
I had lightning hit my transformer, blew my LED light fixtures in my home 2 days ago. last night lightning hit my neighbors transformer, blew mine again. Now my garage door motor is broken, more LED lights broke, and blew my modem, and EGO charging station. Living in FL, in a strong lightning strike area I think I need to do some protection upgrades like this and other devices
I have a home built in 2003 which has a square D breaker panel with a QO Surge breaker installed. It says that it is a whole house surge protector. When I had a Generac 22 kw generator installed a couple of years ago, the company installed another whole house SPD in the automatic transfer switch under the lugs of the customer load terminals. One of the LED's for the L1 is out meaning that the MOV's for this leg are no longer capable of doing their job. The whole house SPD QO2175SB green LED still is burning brightly and therefore this device is supposedly still functioning normally. My question is, do I really need to worry about replacing the SPD with one leg LED being out? I am thinking that I don't need the one which was installed in the Generac automatic transfer switch. By the way, you produce awesome and informative content.
@ElectricianU i just noticed the first book on the left you have on your shelf introduction to electrical theory I have the same one! wasn't ever able to get through any of the math. instead I read mike holts electrical theory. book a few times
I install these on Fire life Safety Equipment all the time, they work however they must be installed at least 36 inches from load to work lots of installers put them directly on the equipment.
I think a better example with surge protectors and lightning, is packing a vase in bubble wrap. The surge protector is the bubble wrap, it won't protect electrical equipment, or the vase as an example, from the epicenter of an earthquake, but it will from the tremors felt far away from the epicenter.
Great information thankyou. Question.. my computer backup device has been jumping up and down to 245 volts the appliances say 220 to 240 volts is 245 dangerous for my house and device's. Thankyou so much!
For surge protector like Siemens QSPD, from their instruction video looks like it doesn't have to be on the first slot that's closest to the breaker main switch. If there's a surge, say it's installed on far away from the breaker main switch, does it mean those before the surge protector will fry? Or it will go to the surge protector as a least resistant path? How does it work really?
Excellent info. I am currently upgrading systems in the house I just got. Still has knob and tube in it if that says anything. One of the things I thought I splurged on was a Type 1 SPD. I put in a 200A shutoff outside with a 200A panel inside and ran 3/0 copper between the two. Small town so who knows how many surges happen but with my computer equipment I have always tried to keep them on a surge protector and often with battery backup abilities. Anyway I have to wonder something. If there is a surge does the meter recognize that and if that is shunted to ground are you charged for it? If you are then wouldn't it be feasible assumption that we need to change something in the system so that the SPD sits before the meter or in the meter box?
Question on power strip/surge protectors. I realize that’s not quite what this video is about, but are the outlets on a power strip typically wired in series or parallel? Asking because I’m designing an automated dust collection system and part of it will include building a hardwired power strip using emt and 4 square boxes to tie all the tools into the automated dust collector switch. Just wondering if each outlet should be wired in parallel or just use the pass through terminals on each outlet and wire them in series
Do all surge protector strips have a built in circuit breaker? is it necessary to have the outlets have that sliding cover to all access or close off access when no in use? What watts, amps and joules are important when getting a good surge protector that will be used by a lot of electrical equipment? is it ok to use the same wall electrical outlet to plug in a surge protector that you plug in a window ac unit?
Lightning at a distance can induce a current on the big antenna called wiring. When that current meets an impedance a voltage presents until the current can continue to flow or it peaks/arcs, if it hits near-infinite resistance of an open. Similar happens if the current is flowing opposite the system current on ac circuits. The current is a pulse so has a finite amount of energy of short duration. Similar happens when an inductor/motor is switched off and the magnetic field collapses. The ground rod provides a voltage limiting resistance path on the neutral side, but the currents on the hot side interact with the loads before getting on the neutral. SPDs provide a voltage limiting parallel path across the load for when the voltages spike above the design threshold to the neutral/system ground. We see all this as voltage spikes.
Do SPD's still protect when power comes back into main panel or does the surge protector always need to have power to be able to protect and dampen surges?
I was thinking of making an electrician youtube channel for a long time. But I always though, who the hell would watch this stuff? Great job dude. You've proved me wrong. Are you IBEW too?
For the average person, I can tell the story of losing a full computer setup on a surge protection system to a lighting strike which came in on my telephone line. A surge protection power strip (type 3) can be a help, but they aren't a guarantied protection against lighting. I would suggest always unplugging at home electronics when there is a lighting storm in the area.
I have an old home, and there are quite a few outlets that are only 2 wire (no ground), which makes plug-in surge protectors useless. If I were to buy one of these SPDs to install in my breaker box, would this protect the devices using the 2 wire outlets from power surges?
As service electrician I quite regularly find the DP breaker feeding the in panel surge protector tripped. The service calls are unrelated to surges. Because the status leds are never monitored by the consumer it is hard ascertain as to when the trip may have occurred. I have only had to replace one Siemens unit. All others showed status ok after the breaker was reset. Any ideas?
Very informative video, though it did bring up a few questions. My house has a surge protector located in my meter box. It was installed by my electric service company. I am charged for this service. On my electric company bill, the extra fee is listed as SURGE. Does this protect me from surges, except for direct lighting hits? Should I replace my regular breakers with SPD breakers? Do I only need to use them to protect my high AMP breakers such as AC, electric stove, water heater, cloths dryer, etc.?
To quote a friend of mine from Florida (half a century ago), "When you see lightning arc out of a receptacle, you stop wasting money on surge suppressors and just unplug your shit." NOTHING will protect against the power of a direct strike. Yes, they're rated in VA / J as that's a measure of the _energy_ they can absorb. [ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varistor ]
Haha.. Yeah I've done a lot off grid power systems which often has solar. Invariably a customer asks "what if lightning hits the solar". Without hesitation and perhaps a little too eagerly I tell them "it destroys it" .... then after a pregnant pause... I explain that I've installed a lot of these and have never lost an off grid system to lightning, mostly due to not being connected to the grid but that we also take great care to ground everything and use top quality SPD's.
Surge protectors are rated in by their Voltage Protection Rating (VPR). That is the minimum voltage that the device will engage. The minimum rating by definition is a VPR of 330 volts. They are also rated for Maximum Continuous Operating Voltage (MCOV) which is the max voltage that the device can be exposed. Joule and short circuit current ratings have no meaning for protection. The problem is they are all the same device so they have to try to differentiate from each other. A $10 protector can work as well as a $100 one.
VPR does not represent when the device engages. VPR represents voltage (MLV) that gets passed the SPD after a surge has been applied (6000V/3000Amps) after SPD engaged it (UL 1449). VPR also is not the actual voltage it let through - but result is placed into a pre-set range which begins at 330 (generally increases between 100-1000 volts per stage). It provides an idea of how SPD can perform when installed correctly. A $10 SPD works as well as a $100 SPD? How and for what? What SPDs are used for may be the same but SPDs are not the same. MCOV - every electrical piece of equipment has an operating range (MCOV for SPDs). That's why you have 120/240, 480, 240, 120/208, 24VDC, 48VDC etc and equipment that require those voltages to operate. Short circuit ratings are represented for safety and application but certainly can affect overall surge protection capability.
Since electricians already know about this problem it’s something they should automatically be installing. They really shouldn’t need a code to force it. In my industry there are things I include in my price, it does make me higher but the customer needs it. It’s not optional with me. In my home I use battery backups for critical systems. I have surge protection directly on my AC units. Here, Only the utility company will install a type 1 and they charge monthly. I also have protection in my breaker panel.
Decent voltage surge can take a lot of electronics with it. It happened to a friend of mine after sub station failed during the storm and Hydro reconnected power a few times.
Finally in the US SPD is required) But, what can you say about how should we design surge protection systems for different facilities?? I didn't find near to nothing about it in the US. In Europe, where I'm from, we used pretty clear IEC 62305. And it was pretty useful and easy to use. What would you recommend in the United States?
I'm using an ebike and trailer to haul around electric lawn equipment. Is there a surge suppressor that will protect a charging li-ion battery and charger while operating high amp equipment from it? I'm looking at the TrippLite Isobar line currently.
Do you have a video on the new 2020 NEC emergency disconnect service disconnect? Now every ourside Meter needs a disconnect outside for the First Responders. Thank you in advance
I need to put in surge protection. However there is not enough room in the 100 amp main meter panel. It is small with no room. So the sub panel I installed (replacing a Pushmatic by the way) has plenty of room. My question is will the surge protector protect the whole system or only the sub panel I install it in? Update: So I just got my answer by watching your SPD install video. Protection is reduced, the "let in voltage" increases by the distance coming in from the main panel to the device location. Thanks.
So question, we have installed an external surge protector on a panel feeding an IT room. It’s just tied to a 40A breaker. I’m wondering how does it work when it’s only tied to the bussing instead of having feeders coming in and loading the rest of the panel off the surge protector.
Do the amp ratings represent how much current the device can shunt away without burning up? For these devices to limit the voltage they need to provide a very low resistance path to ground and therefore will draw a large current.
@6:33 But if the surge protector blows up because of a lightning strike it will no longer allow electricity to flow to your electronic device. Thus protecting it. Isn't that "protection"?
Surge protection: Best wiring practice? If an appliance (Dishwasher) requires 13.5 Amps or less. Is it best to use the minimum code: 15A, 14Awg circuit and wire, or to upgrade (Future Proof) to 20A,12Awg circuit and wire. If a surge should occur does the 15A or 20A circuit provide more protection to the Dishwasher? Does the smaller 15A provide more protection for the appliance by limiting the Amount of current/Amperage surge allowed past the breaker?
Honestly, I recommend you to my apprentices. You have great information that cannot always be conveyed on the job, where time constraints exist. The best ones always listen and want to learn and the worst... Well, you know... Will never read this comment.
) I’m gcg, thanks here going home high C gcgcc
The worst are usually the ones that claim they already know.
@@wildbill23c When they show up their first day with all brand new tools, somethings up
I've seen a lot from Dustin, and its great, but i mainly do industrial and right now our main job is for Formet/Magna automation sector and its mostly installing cable tray, mounting panels and doing cable aesthetics. I've been on the same site about a year and a half and didn't learn all that much. Should I move on?
Thank you so much! You have taught me so much! I'm an apprentice, and a lot of times when I see something at work that I don't understand, I turn to you to teach me about it!
I hope to meet you one day man and shake your hand you were the one to get me into the trades and I have been busting my ass going to school and with the help of your videos got raises and more in depth knowledge there is so much a class can teach you
God bless you man 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I’m glad you said it’s confusing. I’ve fallen down so many rabbit holes trying to understand SPDs. Thank you for this explanation!
In 2018 We had lightning strike a tree in our backyard about 25’ from the house. It traveled across the ground, blew a small trench in the dirt across the yard, arced on the metal astragal on the French door in our basement that I was standing 5’ away from, blew the ramset nails off the wood piece under the door threshold. We had WHSP on both panels. We lost all the TV’s, AV equipment, garage door openers upstairs on both garages, a fridge in the garage, a ceiling fan on the opposite side of the house on the 2nd story furthest away from the strike, the LED string lights on the back deck, a remote control switch for my dust collection in my workshop, an HDMI cable (had to cut open the ceiling and re-fish a new one because the old one got stuck on something grrr), and the main control board on our Trane Heat Pump in the basement. It was totally random the things we lost and didn’t lose.
SPDs operate by passing CURRENT to (ground, neutral, common) which reduces the VOLTAGE due to the resistance of the source. The rating is how much current they can handle. The combination of voltage, current, and time is energy (joules). Again, the rating is how much energy they can bypass or absorb.
I wanted to say the same thing, but you beat me to it. The SPD works like a switch. When the voltage is normal, the switch is off and no current flows. When the voltage is too high, the switch closes to intentionally create a short-circuit between hot and neutral. This adsorbs the energy from the transient event, converting it into heat inside the SPD. Energy = voltage * current * time, so a higher the Joule rating means the SPD can short more current for a longer time. The voltage should stay constant if the SPD is doing its job.
Ive lost so many electronics and LED light bulbs from transients that im glad its finally a code.
Hey, just a homeowner here, not electrician, looking for some clarification. Dustin mentioned certain high drain loads like a central ac that strains the system could have an effect on other devices in the home over time. If I were to install surge protected breakers on the large appliances in place of regular breakers, would this protect the other devices and breakers in the home or does that only protect surges coming in from the service line to that particular breaker? Thanks in advance.
@@db0nn3r Putting an SPD at the panel should protect your property from all types of surges, including ones caused by your own appliances. It's like the overflow drain on a sink - once the water reaches a certain level, the sink will stop filling, no matter where the water comes from. An SPD is like an overflow drain for electrons - once the voltage reaches a certain level, the SPD will "drain" it down, no matter where the extra voltage comes from.
@@db0nn3r the AC is less likely a source as the electronics are high quality..you have capacitors helping start the motor and keep it running..the swamp cooler motor I had however, it may have caused my attic fire, but of course no one actually investigated. The power surge which was evidenced in a power strip surge protector, and a fried transformer and control board on the furnace, well, who can say, chicken and egg, did the surge cause the fire, 0r did the fire cause wires to melt which caused a surge in the other stuff??..
You have one of the best explanations I've heard so far, an yet it's still as clear as Mud lol...
Im not an electrician but this information needs to be liberated to the public, thank you for putting this out there 🙏
Perfect timing for this video!! Just finished installing my first panel with surge protection, my journeyman wants to test me on how the surge protection works tomorrow aha
I greatly enjoy learning from you Dustin. You have tapped into one of your gifts- teaching.
Just want to thank you for sharing your knowledge in a clear and concise manner. Your explanations always clear things up and allow my understanding to get to the next level.
Hmm, I wonder if Dustin could explain this if we tied his hands down 😂🤣
Restless arm syndrome!
😁
You just reminded me of Scott Gilmer the car review guy 😅
No
He's just making imaginary pizza dough. That's all
Hi Dustin - Electrician U! I liked this video and wanted to say that you are right on! I get a lot of emails from people and everyone contacts me all the time asking me about portable surge protector power strips and what ones are best for lightning protection and what people do not seem to fully understand just like you as well were saying in this video is that a surge protector is not lightning protection. A surge protector can sometimes help from light surges from far away from lightning that might come through the lines but not direct strikes as you and i know. I also get a lot of people contacting me asking me by one of my videos on my youtube channel videos why i was saying its so important for people to replace there surge protector power strips every 3 to 4 years and people do not seem to understand that either how even if the Green LED lights that say Grounded & Protected are still lit that it does not mean that people are still getting full surge protection anymore and surge protection power strips are only good for so long and after 3 to 4 years if people do not replace them then they might not be getting the full protection anymore regardless if the LED lights are on or not. Do you ever get people contacting you about that to? Another thing i get from other people is people who think that surge protectors last forever and and are a one time deal however that is not the case and all surge protectors all have there lifetime to. I have told people before how i know that some surge protectors are expensive or sometimes even surge protector power strips to but they are a lot cheaper than all the electronics and appliances Owners have bought and rather than risking destroying all there things to just keep there surge protectors up to date and replace surge protector power strips every 3 to 4 years and avoid damaging there stuff. I also have told people before during severe weather that the best solution for sure is to just unplug any expensive things they cannot afford to lose until any severe storms are over. I was going to see if you want to join in with me and make a video about these topics as well?
There are 3 types of non desirable voltage fluctuations as follows. To start with we normally get a 120 VAC (RMS) 60 Hz sine wave. A surge is when we have condition where the RMS voltage of the mains increase past the nominal 120V. An overvoltage surge typically lasts for several cycles or even minutes. The second type is spikes. These are short term (ms range) high voltage transients that are only present for small fraction of a cycle. The last type is EMI/RFI interference. These are typically low voltage high frequency waveforms that appear in addition to the 120 VAC waveform. These can extend right up into radio frequencies. All electronic devices should contain circuitry to filter EMI/RFI interference and it has very little impact on power equipment. The types of protection that are needed against Surges and Spikes are completely different. Obviously you cant have a piece of equipment that cuts power every time the waveform slightly rises otherwise stuff would continually be turned on and off. Instead surge protection will kick in after a few wave cycles. A spike by its definition is very short term. If one was hit by a very high spike say 10,000V the event will be over before a surge protector can act. Spikes must be acted on and very quickly (typically in mS or uS). Some electronic equipment contain basic spike protection. What they do is run the AC lines on the PCB near a ground line. When the voltage rises on the AC traces it will arc over to the ground line dissipating the energy. For those of you who think that power bars provide adequate spike protection think again as most are useless against a high voltage transient. ALso dont fall for snake oil salesmen trying to sell you power conditioning equipment for your home audio, a complete waste of money. Most spike protectors work by dissipating energy in a spike. This is why they are rated in Joules. I live in Canada and my experience is that power surges that damage equipment are pretty rare. The only one I can think of is when a utility installed the wrong transformer and people got a much higher voltage deliver to their homes. The utility paid damages in that case. Spike damage I have seen and usually it is because the dissipating/switching device has failed. EMI/RFI are annoying but not damaging.
exponent mantissa, you are absolutely 100% correct, unlike electrician U in this video. It is essentially important to know the DIFFERENCE between surges and spikes, as you have described above, as well as the Joule rating of the protective device, to get the protection you actually need for sensitive devices. If your device needs SPIKE protection there is no reason to purchase any but the (misnamed) "Surge Protector" with the HIGHEST Joule rating.
Another source of over-voltages, or surges, is an open neutral wire in a residential 120/240V system (common in the USA). The 240V remains the same but the two 120V "legs" fluctuate up and down as loads are turned on and off, often resulting in burned out equipment and house fires. Open neutrals do not threaten the building's wiring unless the building burns. The Utility is usually responsible for "open-neutral" damage and may try to duck that responsibility by claiming the neutral - ground connection was faulty or the devices were not "surge protected" which is actually "spike protected." Neither of these are actually relevant to the over and under voltage "surges" caused by open neutrals.
As an expert witness forensic engineer in many disputed cases, by understanding the difference between surges and spikes, I have caused the Utility company to pay for their open-neutral damages,
I was confused how abriviations stands gor
Love your passion for the technical accuracy on the topic. Reminds me of using a capacitor to filter AC current.
Thank you for using the terminologies correctly! I just found your channel and I’m into it, keep up the good work bro
Best info I've seen on surges. I would add the importance of a bonafide outlet ground for type 3 SPD's, otherwise no protection. And equally important, the system ground rod minimum of 2 rods when upgrading with SPD's, though some would say even more, in order to adequately dissipate surges.
I don’t think the ground rods have anything to do with this
Surges go to ground.
The less resistance to ground, which is where ground rods enter the equation, the better the surge protection.
I've made service calls to residential customers. Many had no surge protection. One customer used surge protection with a cheap $5-10 protector. After a car crash sent a major spike down the line and into her house, her $10/15 k printer survived. Not the same could be said for her other electronic devices. Never thought a low joule rated surge protector would ever work that well. Now I recommend these for all your electronic devices.
Any brand recommendations?
@@MrsBuddevil Phoenixcontact, but I don't know, if they produce for the american market.
Type 1 vs Type 2 is particularly relevant if you have an old panel without a main breaker. Our house has a split-bus panel, so we'd need to use a Type 1 device if we wanted to add surge protection to the top half of the panel.
I greatly appreciate your videos. Really quite good . As you say it is a very complex subject and some percentage of what your are saying is going over my head, yet it still has a lot of value for me . I am 72 and still working part time as a handyman. In my career I have worked in the AirForce , residential homeowner properties and rental plus commercial restaurant and hotel chief of maintenance and high rise certified safety. so I have had a fair amount of exposure . But you are broadening my knowledge base . I find it very scary that there is so much unsafe grandfathered or stuff done unsafely by people who didnt know what they were doing type electrical situations out there . And finally you are reinforcing in me that I should not take on projects that are beyond my knowledge and experience .
I would say to anyone studying out there to keep trying and learning you will eventually get it. Sometimes other lessons will turn a light on so to speak. Never stop learning.
Man! That was an awesome explanation, nice way to convey in a few minutes a subject you obviously have devoted a lot of time to, I was planning to hit the suscribe button as soon as you mention the NEC update 👨🏫 Thank you!
This was a great video. I thought I have a good understanding but you're a Master for a reason!
Reevaluating my priorities and saving up for those practice exams
As an engineer they are not that confusing. Simply search metal oxide varistor's. It simply changes resistance in the presence of voltage. For SPD's they are chosen so that resistance is about zero below a threshold voltage say 300V past that it becomes more resistive, This causes the excess voltage to be converted into heat. Over time these heating cycles will break the device down or if a spike it too large melt it. This is where the joule rating comes in. The joules of heat the device can soak up because there is a time component to it and how long the spikes are.
The mention on monitoring made me check my UPS and it records why it went to battery and so far thankfully only a few flutters from storms but it does switch off grid for under and over voltage as well.
Many thanks, you cleared up much of my confusion. For that upcoming video you might get into dedicated surge protectors for particularly surge-prone devices such as HVACs. The exist as much to stop a surge from leaving the device as to protect it from them.
My sister was regularly having control boards blow out in her A/Cs. The two were installed alongside one another, so a surge from one would hit the other. I suggested she get HVAC protection on both and that seems to have helped.
hey man, really appreciate your videos. i work for a municipal utility and its good to know more about how electricians operate.
You’re an awesome teacher! Thank you for the thorough explanation!
Dude, my forte is mostly in avionics, so I've had some technical classes and getting to know construction electrical in my retirement years can be so interesting and yet confusing. I'm sure you have your own business going, but because of your uncanny ability to instruct and in an understandably effective way, you should always keep training/consulting as future aspirations. If the money is there, you should go for it. Be the next Mike Holt and beyond. Thanks once again for sharing your knowledge, it's what makes the world a better place to live. God bless you and all of your endevours!
Great info, a lot to take in, but you did a great job explaining it. I understand what and how you describe the 4 different types. I also left understanding that you barely scratch the topic. Keep the content coming. Idk if I’m nerdy enough, but I do enjoy it!
An excellent overview of Type 1 to 4 and one of the better explanations of what an SPD can and can't with respect to spikes and lightning strikes.
Wow, so much good info! I’m a real estate inspector in Texas and these videos are helping me have a better understanding of these systems. Thank you sir!
Hi. I have a Siemens CB Panel. My interlock and 30 amp CB for my generator is on the top right. If I put a type 1 SPD and wire it below that breaker. Will all my loads below be protected?
Will the whole left side be protected as well? Or do I have to put another SPD on the Left side top of the panel on the load side?
I hope I’m clear. Thank you. All the best to you and family. Mike i.
Very good presentation. I now have a better understanding of the SPD, thank you
This was exactly the explanation I was hoping for
Question: I just purchased and connect a whole home generator, and after its first test run…both of my refrigerators are now having issues. It’s obviously from the generator, but Not sure what the issue is. When the air conditioners kick on while on the generator the lights to the house dim pretty aggressively for 1 second and then go back to normal. Could this be because of a voltage dip, which then causes the refrigerators to have an issue? And if so is there a surge protector that protects against dips? Thanks so much!
Hi Dustin, Love your video. First of all I am not an Electrician. I just know the basic and that is why I watch video like yours to learn more. I have a question regarding Surge Protector and how some surge protector work. I'm talking about the one you install next to the unit like the AC compressor unit. I saw a video in installing a ICM493 and the connection to this connected is like a series connection. I can understand how it work. The surge will get detected by the ICM493 first before the AC compressor so it can cut off the power to the compressor. But the one that connect like a parallel connection like the ICM518 or the RSH50. Its connected or pigtailed to the L1 and L2 of the wires that goes into the AC compressor unit. Since it shares the same wire, when the line get a surge, it will send that surge to the AC compressor and the surge protector. Can you shed a little more light in how protector like the ICM518 or RSH50 protect my AC compressor. Thanks, Phil
I was in computer sale for a time. One of our customers was a bookkeeping service and as a result had numerous computers. There was a lot of sensitive data on these devices. We put in a surge proctor in the circuit that powered their computers. One day a large truck hit a power pole right outside their offices. it brought down a transmission line (the one that feeds the transformer) across the line from the transformer to the building. I'm told it was 35K volts. It indeed blew up the surge protector. The result was the computers were fine, but the surge protector was toast.
Thank you! Your presentation is clear and concise.
Thanks for sharing the coolest
This guys good, I've already learned a lot from a couple of his videos. Keep them coming thanks. A+++
Just like to say you did a nice job on the video
Thank you for your valuable knowledge! And up to date too!
Love you too! that was awesome, can't wait for the future video ,were you cover the RMS and non-RMS voltage gradients, Peace
5 year electrical here, Very informative thank you, I am going to buy that book you mention at first, I study the 2017 nec with my electrical courses, I am going to get the 2020 edition, So on that bathroom you could have designed a placement of a two gang gfci on the wall between the two sinks that's my observation on that...again thank you...!
Type 1 SPD's are on the line side of the service disconnect, like you said. Typical "type 1" devices are installed between your meter and the meter socket. They need to be approved by the Poco, and installed by the Poco.
Do you happen to know what companies make such Type-1 SPDs? I would love to look up the specs on some of these. About how much does one of them cost?
Highly appreciate it bro just a lot to learn in the tray with this new technology I do commercial and residential currently in California and there’s a lot to learn take care Happy new year!!
I appreciate you a lot man 🙏 its refreshing to find someone genuinely and passionately trying to help spread knowledge (especially without acting like a 12 year old on/for YT)
Keep up the good work!
I wish you had also mentioned more technical specs related to selecting devices. technical things like L-L, L-N clamping voltage, response time, and joule ratings. Perhaps this would be an idea for a future video.
I actually had to explain to an electrician why my sub panel needed a surge protector in addition to the main panel..the sub panel has a circuit which goes back outside via aerial to a chicken coop, rendering it vulnerable to any outside variables..
Please explain more
In addition to the main panel that the overhead neighborhood supply line comes into the house where the “main” surge protector is, I have two breakers panels inside, one upstairs and one down, the downstairs panel I had a line w two breakers run outside to the chicken coop, so if a lightning strike happened to hit near the coop line, it would go to that downstairs panel (and fry everything that panel provides power to) and bypass the surge protector in the main incoming panel..so, I had an additional surge protector placed into that downstairs panel. The electrician was saying the other protector would still provide protection, (which is dubious) but agreed that it was proper to go ahead with the caution.@@MrsBuddevil
Love your channel man, I've learned a ton .
Great video, thanks for the information! Keep up the good work.
Wow, who would of thunk! Great video very informative. Thank you
Outstanding video. Sincerely , HVAC tech
I had lightning hit my transformer, blew my LED light fixtures in my home 2 days ago. last night lightning hit my neighbors transformer, blew mine again. Now my garage door motor is broken, more LED lights broke, and blew my modem, and EGO charging station.
Living in FL, in a strong lightning strike area I think I need to do some protection upgrades like this and other devices
ElectricianU can you please do a video on ground vs neutral, bonding, etc.
I'm an audio guy learning more about electrician stuff, these voltage surge protectors remind me of what we call "limiters".
I have a home built in 2003 which has a square D breaker panel with a QO Surge breaker installed. It says that it is a whole house surge protector. When I had a Generac 22 kw generator installed a couple of years ago, the company installed another whole house SPD in the automatic transfer switch under the lugs of the customer load terminals. One of the LED's for the L1 is out meaning that the MOV's for this leg are no longer capable of doing their job. The whole house SPD QO2175SB green LED still is burning brightly and therefore this device is supposedly still functioning normally. My question is, do I really need to worry about replacing the SPD with one leg LED being out? I am thinking that I don't need the one which was installed in the Generac automatic transfer switch. By the way, you produce awesome and informative content.
@ElectricianU i just noticed the first book on the left you have on your shelf introduction to electrical theory I have the same one! wasn't ever able to get through any of the math. instead I read mike holts electrical theory. book a few times
Awesome coverage on thos topic. A new topic for future, dual function breakers and where they belong.
👍clear as mud, most concepts and terms are new to me, I'll have to review a few times. Thank you so much
GREAT TOPIC
I install these on Fire life Safety Equipment all the time, they work however they must be installed at least 36 inches from load to work lots of installers put them directly on the equipment.
Wow 😯 well done and well explained. Feeling smarter 🤓after watching this lol . Ty 😎👍👍
Good overview, will be looking forward to the deep dive on this topic
I think a better example with surge protectors and lightning, is packing a vase in bubble wrap. The surge protector is the bubble wrap, it won't protect electrical equipment, or the vase as an example, from the epicenter of an earthquake, but it will from the tremors felt far away from the epicenter.
Great information thankyou. Question.. my computer backup device has been jumping up and down to 245 volts the appliances say 220 to 240 volts is 245 dangerous for my house and device's. Thankyou so much!
For surge protector like Siemens QSPD, from their instruction video looks like it doesn't have to be on the first slot that's closest to the breaker main switch. If there's a surge, say it's installed on far away from the breaker main switch, does it mean those before the surge protector will fry? Or it will go to the surge protector as a least resistant path? How does it work really?
Another great video explanation, thank you .
Your a great teacher
Excellent info. I am currently upgrading systems in the house I just got. Still has knob and tube in it if that says anything. One of the things I thought I splurged on was a Type 1 SPD. I put in a 200A shutoff outside with a 200A panel inside and ran 3/0 copper between the two. Small town so who knows how many surges happen but with my computer equipment I have always tried to keep them on a surge protector and often with battery backup abilities.
Anyway I have to wonder something. If there is a surge does the meter recognize that and if that is shunted to ground are you charged for it? If you are then wouldn't it be feasible assumption that we need to change something in the system so that the SPD sits before the meter or in the meter box?
Question on power strip/surge protectors. I realize that’s not quite what this video is about, but are the outlets on a power strip typically wired in series or parallel? Asking because I’m designing an automated dust collection system and part of it will include building a hardwired power strip using emt and 4 square boxes to tie all the tools into the automated dust collector switch. Just wondering if each outlet should be wired in parallel or just use the pass through terminals on each outlet and wire them in series
Do all surge protector strips have a built in circuit breaker? is it necessary to have the outlets have that sliding cover to all access or close off access when no in use? What watts, amps and joules are important when getting a good surge protector that will be used by a lot of electrical equipment? is it ok to use the same wall electrical outlet to plug in a surge protector that you plug in a window ac unit?
Lightning at a distance can induce a current on the big antenna called wiring. When that current meets an impedance a voltage presents until the current can continue to flow or it peaks/arcs, if it hits near-infinite resistance of an open. Similar happens if the current is flowing opposite the system current on ac circuits. The current is a pulse so has a finite amount of energy of short duration. Similar happens when an inductor/motor is switched off and the magnetic field collapses. The ground rod provides a voltage limiting resistance path on the neutral side, but the currents on the hot side interact with the loads before getting on the neutral. SPDs provide a voltage limiting parallel path across the load for when the voltages spike above the design threshold to the neutral/system ground. We see all this as voltage spikes.
Great video, Dustin. I used to just pay a guy named Serge to guard my stuff. 😂😎
Great great teaching as always! Thank you for teaching us.
Do SPD's still protect when power comes back into main panel or does the surge protector always need to have power to be able to protect and dampen surges?
I was thinking of making an electrician youtube channel for a long time. But I always though, who the hell would watch this stuff? Great job dude. You've proved me wrong. Are you IBEW too?
For the average person, I can tell the story of losing a full computer setup on a surge protection system to a lighting strike which came in on my telephone line. A surge protection power strip (type 3) can be a help, but they aren't a guarantied protection against lighting. I would suggest always unplugging at home electronics when there is a lighting storm in the area.
I have an old home, and there are quite a few outlets that are only 2 wire (no ground), which makes plug-in surge protectors useless. If I were to buy one of these SPDs to install in my breaker box, would this protect the devices using the 2 wire outlets from power surges?
As service electrician I quite regularly find the DP breaker feeding the in panel surge protector tripped. The service calls are unrelated to surges. Because the status leds are never monitored by the consumer it is hard ascertain as to when the trip may have occurred. I have only had to replace one Siemens unit. All others showed status ok after the breaker was reset. Any ideas?
Does it has to be mounted at the Main panel or can it be mounted in a sub panel like example in a garage and still still give a whole house protection
Very informative video, though it did bring up a few questions. My house has a surge protector located in my meter box. It was installed by my electric service company. I am charged for this service. On my electric company bill, the extra fee is listed as SURGE. Does this protect me from surges, except for direct lighting hits? Should I replace my regular breakers with SPD breakers? Do I only need to use them to protect my high AMP breakers such as AC, electric stove, water heater, cloths dryer, etc.?
How do you do surge protection on 3 or 4 family apartment buildings?.
Would you put one in each load center in each apartment?
In Florida I believe lightening roads are requirements in the building codes.
To quote a friend of mine from Florida (half a century ago), "When you see lightning arc out of a receptacle, you stop wasting money on surge suppressors and just unplug your shit." NOTHING will protect against the power of a direct strike. Yes, they're rated in VA / J as that's a measure of the _energy_ they can absorb. [ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varistor ]
Haha.. Yeah I've done a lot off grid power systems which often has solar. Invariably a customer asks "what if lightning hits the solar". Without hesitation and perhaps a little too eagerly I tell them "it destroys it" .... then after a pregnant pause... I explain that I've installed a lot of these and have never lost an off grid system to lightning, mostly due to not being connected to the grid but that we also take great care to ground everything and use top quality SPD's.
Surge protectors are rated in by their Voltage Protection Rating (VPR). That is the minimum voltage that the device will engage. The minimum rating by definition is a VPR of 330 volts. They are also rated for Maximum Continuous Operating Voltage (MCOV) which is the max voltage that the device can be exposed. Joule and short circuit current ratings have no meaning for protection. The problem is they are all the same device so they have to try to differentiate from each other. A $10 protector can work as well as a $100 one.
VPR does not represent when the device engages. VPR represents voltage (MLV) that gets passed the SPD after a surge has been applied (6000V/3000Amps) after SPD engaged it (UL 1449). VPR also is not the actual voltage it let through - but result is placed into a pre-set range which begins at 330 (generally increases between 100-1000 volts per stage). It provides an idea of how SPD can perform when installed correctly. A $10 SPD works as well as a $100 SPD? How and for what? What SPDs are used for may be the same but SPDs are not the same. MCOV - every electrical piece of equipment has an operating range (MCOV for SPDs). That's why you have 120/240, 480, 240, 120/208, 24VDC, 48VDC etc and equipment that require those voltages to operate. Short circuit ratings are represented for safety and application but certainly can affect overall surge protection capability.
Since electricians already know about this problem it’s something they should automatically be installing. They really shouldn’t need a code to force it. In my industry there are things I include in my price, it does make me higher but the customer needs it. It’s not optional with me. In my home I use battery backups for critical systems. I have surge protection directly on my AC units. Here, Only the utility company will install a type 1 and they charge monthly. I also have protection in my breaker panel.
Good job. not too complicated for most to understand.
Great presentation.
Decent voltage surge can take a lot of electronics with it. It happened to a friend of mine after sub station failed during the storm and Hydro reconnected power a few times.
Finally in the US SPD is required)
But, what can you say about how should we design surge protection systems for different facilities??
I didn't find near to nothing about it in the US.
In Europe, where I'm from, we used pretty clear IEC 62305. And it was pretty useful and easy to use. What would you recommend in the United States?
I'm using an ebike and trailer to haul around electric lawn equipment. Is there a surge suppressor that will protect a charging li-ion battery and charger while operating high amp equipment from it? I'm looking at the TrippLite Isobar line currently.
Do you have a video on the new 2020 NEC emergency disconnect service disconnect?
Now every ourside Meter needs a disconnect outside for the First Responders. Thank you in advance
I need to put in surge protection. However there is not enough room in the 100 amp main meter panel. It is small with no room. So the sub panel I installed (replacing a Pushmatic by the way) has plenty of room. My question is will the surge protector protect the whole system or only the sub panel I install it in? Update: So I just got my answer by watching your SPD install video. Protection is reduced, the "let in voltage" increases by the distance coming in from the main panel to the device location. Thanks.
So question, we have installed an external surge protector on a panel feeding an IT room. It’s just tied to a 40A breaker. I’m wondering how does it work when it’s only tied to the bussing instead of having feeders coming in and loading the rest of the panel off the surge protector.
Will a battery backup like an APC device prevent surges to electronic equipment?
Do the amp ratings represent how much current the device can shunt away without burning up? For these devices to limit the voltage they need to provide a very low resistance path to ground and therefore will draw a large current.
@6:33 But if the surge protector blows up because of a lightning strike it will no longer allow electricity to flow to your electronic device. Thus protecting it. Isn't that "protection"?
@@eloquent-nuance Thank you.
Surge protection: Best wiring practice?
If an appliance (Dishwasher) requires 13.5 Amps or less. Is it best to use the minimum code: 15A, 14Awg circuit and wire, or to upgrade (Future Proof) to 20A,12Awg circuit and wire. If a surge should occur does the 15A or 20A circuit provide more protection to the Dishwasher? Does the smaller 15A provide more protection for the appliance by limiting the Amount of current/Amperage surge allowed past the breaker?
Greate buddy.the best explanation!!!