eggzlot Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 So a few questions mixed in here: Situations: I fry an IT-100 just about every year, maybe x2 a year with a lighting storm. I've swapped out the surge bar that the alarm itself is plugged into (A standard Belkin one) and the EA5 on the other end is plugged into a Panamax power conditioner/surge protector thing. They were frying way more often until I put that new Belkin surge bar in and I think this is my first one lost in maybe a year Yesterday there was certainly a very close lighting strike to my house - literally almost fell off my office chair IT-100 fried a Nvidia Shield seems to have fried too - though it powers on, it cannot detect ethernet so I put it on wifi and 2 streams stalled then failed after less than 10 minutes each. I've replaced the Shield with a Fire TV and with early testing the Fire TV seems to work fine on Ethernet in the same port so thinking the Shield got messed up 1 IP camera was powered a 16 port Texas Wifi Midspan - everything else on that midspan and subsequent Cisco switch seem fine but 1 camera I had to move to another PoE source to get it to work Questions: Is it possible to fry a Shield - I read 1 thing on another forum where someone said they heard lighting can go through an HDMI cable and fry a streaming box? Can 1 port of 16 on a midspan go out? Is a whole home surge protector worth it? Quick search on Amazon shows devices ranging from $150-$300 but I assume I need an electrician so basically double the cost given the $150/hr cost to get anyone to my house these days... Do Panamax or Belkin (or other) surge bars/power conditioners, etc go bad? Like after ~8 years for some of the Panamax stuff (Which is how old it is) should I be looking to replace them? End of day - the Shield was just plugged straight into the wall so I can always put something small just on that outlet. It is the constant frying of the IT-100 + now 1 potential port on my Midspan that has me wondering if I need to update anything, rethink my strategy, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malelan Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 1 hour ago, eggzlot said: So a few questions mixed in here: Situations: I fry an IT-100 just about every year, maybe x2 a year with a lighting storm. I've swapped out the surge bar that the alarm itself is plugged into (A standard Belkin one) and the EA5 on the other end is plugged into a Panamax power conditioner/surge protector thing. They were frying way more often until I put that new Belkin surge bar in and I think this is my first one lost in maybe a year Yesterday there was certainly a very close lighting strike to my house - literally almost fell off my office chair IT-100 fried a Nvidia Shield seems to have fried too - though it powers on, it cannot detect ethernet so I put it on wifi and 2 streams stalled then failed after less than 10 minutes each. I've replaced the Shield with a Fire TV and with early testing the Fire TV seems to work fine on Ethernet in the same port so thinking the Shield got messed up 1 IP camera was powered a 16 port Texas Wifi Midspan - everything else on that midspan and subsequent Cisco switch seem fine but 1 camera I had to move to another PoE source to get it to work Questions: Is it possible to fry a Shield - I read 1 thing on another forum where someone said they heard lighting can go through an HDMI cable and fry a streaming box? Can 1 port of 16 on a midspan go out? Is a whole home surge protector worth it? Quick search on Amazon shows devices ranging from $150-$300 but I assume I need an electrician so basically double the cost given the $150/hr cost to get anyone to my house these days... Do Panamax or Belkin (or other) surge bars/power conditioners, etc go bad? Like after ~8 years for some of the Panamax stuff (Which is how old it is) should I be looking to replace them? End of day - the Shield was just plugged straight into the wall so I can always put something small just on that outlet. It is the constant frying of the IT-100 + now 1 potential port on my Midspan that has me wondering if I need to update anything, rethink my strategy, etc. Your issue here is not on the surge suppression on the high voltage (power lines) its on the low voltage. Once the surge is in your house, it can run up cat5/network/hdmi and any other low voltage you have. You need to find a way to keep the surge outside of your house, or protect any low voltage lines that leave your house or run near/parallel to high voltage lines that leave the house. There are whole home surge solutions, as well as methods to properly ground and protect low voltage applications. this is a pretty big problem that doesn't get talked about a lot. I've lost a lot of equipment like this too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo1738 Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 get whole home surge protection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted July 19, 2022 Author Share Posted July 19, 2022 1 hour ago, malelan said: Your issue here is not on the surge suppression on the high voltage (power lines) its on the low voltage. Once the surge is in your house, it can run up cat5/network/hdmi and any other low voltage you have. You need to find a way to keep the surge outside of your house, or protect any low voltage lines that leave your house or run near/parallel to high voltage lines that leave the house. There are whole home surge solutions, as well as methods to properly ground and protect low voltage applications. this is a pretty big problem that doesn't get talked about a lot. I've lost a lot of equipment like this too. How does one protect the low voltage equipment? For the most part, 90% or so of my devices are plugged into some sort of surge protector, my mid spans/injectors/PoE Switch that handle my LV power, etc. 32 minutes ago, Neo1738 said: get whole home surge protection Do you have one? And its the kind you put above the panel and have the electrician install? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo1738 Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 1 hour ago, eggzlot said: How does one protect the low voltage equipment? For the most part, 90% or so of my devices are plugged into some sort of surge protector, my mid spans/injectors/PoE Switch that handle my LV power, etc. Do you have one? And its the kind you put above the panel and have the electrician install? I do have 1 for each service I have (2 total). Do need electrician to install. Units themselves are pretty cheap. C4 User and eggzlot 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdcllc Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 I live in southwest Florida which has a great deal of lightning during our 6 month rainy season plus assorted brown-outs throughout the year. To manage power for the house, we put whole house surge protection in the electrical service panels, a dedicated circuit to the main network, AV and HA equipment rack, plus surge/UPS/power conditioning in the rack (Wattbox). WAPs are POE from the rack. We don’t do surge protection at our TV outlets. Knock on wood! - we haven’t had an equipment failure due to power in our 5 years in the house. We also installed whole house surge protection at our previous home in GA and had 5 years without problems. So I’m a believer in whole house surge protection. But it is not the full solution. You need to look at the circuits you use to power your critical/most expensive equipment and determine what else may be on those circuits. HVAC and appliances should not be on those circuits or any other high amp devices. And local surge, etc. is recommended. The goal is to keep externally generated surges out of the house as much as possible and also protect key equipment against internally generated surges. A good electrician can do wonders for you and I believe there is an ROI in reliability and up-time for their fee. eggzlot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted July 19, 2022 Author Share Posted July 19, 2022 Thanks all - I have a good electrician but he is the husband of my wife's good friend so its kinda complicated, he gets to us "when he gets to us" so I may have to start looking for someone new. I have like 5-6 things I need him to do but cannot get him to come over and it has been a few months since I've been asking. And I do have my AV Rack on its own circuit. The alarm system isn't but its not on a circuit that is over taxed and when the DSC IT100 burns out, the C4 controller and the alarm itself do not miss a beat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo1738 Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Def agree with above get a decent ups for all that stuff and double protect it. Cheaper in the long run. Also might want electroshock to double check house ground wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted July 20, 2022 Author Share Posted July 20, 2022 14 hours ago, Neo1738 said: Def agree with above get a decent ups for all that stuff and double protect it. Cheaper in the long run. Also might want electroshock to double check house ground wire. Thanks All switches, computers, C4 hardware (Controllers, amps, core units for video distribution, etc) are on a UPS should, should have included that. they are old and I am sure the batteries arent what they once were but I have a whole home generator so they just need to last like 5 seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 Yes surge protectors wear without visible indication. Start with whole house, and then protect each inside system as well locally. Lighting is huge, and powerful, and don't discount EMI. Microwaves, garage openers, and dog faces are common fatalities. Our hard fast rule is outbuildings are linked on Fiber. Had a client system severely damaged from a cat cable to the pool house. Just takes once to say never again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 Siemens FS140 installed at the main panel. eggzlot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
istreich Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 Can someone expand on how to protect low voltage circuits. and do LV surge protections slow down network speeds? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwilmo Posted October 12, 2022 Share Posted October 12, 2022 Florida here as well, I believe a tiered approach is best. With this approach I haven't lost a single thing. 1. Whole home - put one surge protector in each panel - I use the Eaton (CHSPT2SURGE SPD Type 2 Chsp Whole Home Surge Protector) - a little more budget friendly than the Siemens FS140 (which Bob Vila rated best overall) 2. Point of use - I like SurgeX and other non sacrificial protectors; but also have done well with Tripp Lite, Belkin, Furman and WattBox. 3. Network protection: a) outside Cat lines (cameras, gates, callboxes, etc) go through individual network surge protectors before entering switch; additional high risk items go through a fiber bridge to isolate the network further b) The main rack runs off ON LINE UPS with is fed by a power conditioner/voltage regulator; The audio gear runs from the voltage regulator alone. c) Small essential items use a Lithium Ion UPS @istreich - my speed does not seem to be affected - I use the Tupavco TP303 Ethernet Surge Protector including with POE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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