- Ground It
Make certain there is an adequate ground rod located at the base of your
foundation, preferably as near the utility junction box as possible. An 8-10 foot, 2" diameter copper rod should be driven as deep as possible. Use at least #8 solid
copper conductor to connect the grounding rod to the ground leg on the utility box. It is imperative that the antenna system, as well as the phone, be connected to this ground.
- Absolute Protection
The absolute best protection, ensuring no
damage, would be to disconnect power cords, antenna or cable
connections, and phone lines from your equipment. I realize this
seems like quite a hassle, but for the ultimate peace of mind,
it's the only solution. With a little ingenuity you can make
this task a lot simpler. Using quick connect type antenna/cable
connectors wherever possible, speeds up connecting and
disconnecting. Disconnecting the main cable or antenna lead
unhooks all TVs' and VCRs' in the house. Plugging centrally
located items into a utility power strip, allows you to simply
unplug the power strip from the wall.
- Pay Your Money and Take Your Chances
Surge/Spike
protectors range from $2.00 for a simple spike protection
outlet, to tens of thousands for battery back-up power supplies
for equipment that is rarely powered down. For residential
purposes we'll say the options range from $2.00 to $300-400. At
the low end of the spectrum, we have the single outlet spike
protectors and multi-outlet utility strips. These types of
products fall short in their ability to provide any type of
fail-safe protection from a spike or surge. Most of these items
incorporate a circuit breaker, which can limit damage to a
degree. Typically, the breaker is blown by the amount of current
drawn by the device that has just been damaged by lightning.
Some power strips in the $30.00 to $40.00 range, provide power
and phone line jacks for your equipment to plug into. These
units have circuit breakers, and often use a spark gap or MOV
(metal oxide varistor) device to help absorb the spike to
ground. While redirecting some of the spike, most often, damage
still occurs due to the ability of the high voltage to jump or
arc past these protection devices.
- Pay Your Money and Rest Assured
If you plan on purchasing a surge
suppression device, your best bet is to spend enough money to
get some piece of mind. Once you cross the $50.00 barrier, the
effectiveness does seem to be improved. Manufacturers often
offer a 100% connected equipment guarantee, with the most common
limit to damages being $10,000. While these manufacturers don't
provide compensation for lost data or losses due to downtime,
they will pay for repairing or replacing damaged items. Units
that provide battery back-up are available in the
$150.00-$300.00 price range. In the event of power loss or
interruption, these products provide power for a number of
minutes, allowing the system to remain stable. You can save your
work and power the unit down, or unattended units may be powered
down automatically. These battery back-up units typically
provide 5-10 minutes of power. Some additional features worth
mentioning, are network data line protection and a higher
damages limit. Typically, they offer up to $25,000.00 in
protection.
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