Topic: Lightning and Surge Protectors

[Jason_10]

Just want to rant. At 6am this morning, lightning struck and power went out. I have a Samwon generic AVR (voltage regulator) connected to 2 Panther power strips with surge protectors. I thought all was well but when I powered up my ixtreamer and Onkyo 606 amp, there was no HDMI signal. I isolated the problem by connecting the PS3 and DVD player directly to the TV and they worked. Tried connecting the Xtreamer but this one has no HDMI signal. The a/v cable works though. Also tried to reset the Onkyo AVR, still the same.

My computer setup seems ok. Its connected via UPS and Belkin Surge Protector. Only my cable modem is damaged. The rest is ok.

Lesson learned: better invest on quality AVR's and Surge Protectors.

[vgsison]

I feel for you bro. Sorry to read about your experience. Samwon did not protect your gear? I am about to buy one pa naman sana.

Curious to know if your AVR was up and running when the lightning struck? Give us more details so we can learn from you.

[SiCkBoY]

I think yun Panther power strips ang culprit. Itsura pa lang nila, kaduda duda na eh.

Puro Omni power strips gamit ko.

[Jason_10]

@vgsison,

All of them are on standby mode. What's worse is that its the 2nd time it happened and my xtreamer and onkyo are out of warranty unlike before my AVR was repaired under warranty and the xtreamer was replaced with a new one.

@sickboy,

Yes. I called up Panther awhile ago. And they do not have protection against lightning. Unike the Belkin, where they have a guarantee.

[jepps137]

there are small cubes that can be attached between wiring and main unit. these are guaranteed to protect units from HighVoltage transients. saw this being demoed. A stunner was being used to try to fry a protected circuit.
an unprotected circuit was fried the moment the stunner was brought near to the unprotected unit.

[ATJr.]

unplugging during thunderstorms saves you a lot of moolah.......

[vgsison]

there are small cubes that can be attached between wiring and main unit. these are guaranteed to protect units from HighVoltage transients. saw this being demoed. A stunner was being used to try to fry a protected circuit.
an unprotected circuit was fried the moment the stunner was brought near to the unprotected unit.

Where can we find these cubes?

[ATJr.]

there are small cubes that can be attached between wiring and main unit. these are guaranteed to protect units from HighVoltage transients. saw this being demoed. A stunner was being used to try to fry a protected circuit.
an unprotected circuit was fried the moment the stunner was brought near to the unprotected unit.

MOV's lang ang laman ng mga yan....

[jepps137]

MOV's lang ang laman ng mga yan....

Tony, Hindi, MOV ang, laman eh. nakita ko yung demo at yung spec sheet. Pag, MOV, cllipped yung waveform. May 2 units ako dito , and yun lang mahirap isabak sa actual kasi wala naman akong testing eqpt. So asa lang sa data sheet ng manufacturer. Di naman mabuksan kasi covered ng epoxy. Sure lang na di MOV. pero maganda sana kung mabuksan ko ito or ma paxray

I checked the waveforms again, what happens is the transient voltage is absorbed by the device then slowly released to the output. so sa output wave, tumaas ng 6% yung voltage niya after the transient voltage came in. Unlike sa MOV, unti unting nasusunog yung MOV dahil sa pumapasok na surge. Though MOVs are the cheapes way to protect against surges talaga.

[ATJr.]

jepps can you forward to me the spec sheets? or can you post here so we can analyze? it looks to me  like a viariable impedance in series with the line to limit current, that is also another way to do it...yes, MOV's are abrupt so that fuses are blown in the process....

[jepps137]

jepps can you forward to me the spec sheets? or can you post here so we can analyze? it looks to me  like a viariable impedance in series with the line to limit current, that is also another way to do it...yes, MOV's are abrupt so that fuses are blown in the process....

Padala ko sa iyo Tony. Scan ko muna ito. baka early next week ko na maipadala. or ipopost ko na lang dito yung datasheet.

[ATJr.]

thanks, most likely a triac in series with the load that changes its conduction angle in reaction to the line abnormality....

[reynold]

unplugging during thunderstorms saves you a lot of moolah.......

+1

better safe than sorry

[merdenoms]

sorry to hear that sir jason.... kaya ako pag may kidlat, automatic hindi na ako manonood kasi afaik, hindi naman talaga 100 percent mapoprotektahan ang mga gamit natin sa kidlat.

[jepps137]

thanks, most likely a triac in series with the load that changes its conduction angle in reaction to the line abnormality....

Tony,

paPM naman ng email mo sa akin. i send ko sa iyo sa email yung spec sheet. Di ko mapost sa flickr account ko eh, nag eerror. Thanks.
At kung sino pa gusto ng kopya, pa PM na lang emails niyo.
Thanks

Jeff

[Jason_10]

update:

The Onkyo 606 and iXtreamer is being repaired na. The cost is 6k and 1.7k respectively as quoted by Tronix Master. It is unusually high but I have no choice.

My iMac's LAN module was damaged as well. the lightning must have passed through the cable modem and fried the said module. Currently using wifi for internet. 

[beringin]

Eto yung currently ginagamit kong surge protector for my audio set up. Aside from power line, meron din siya for internet and telephone line protection. Although requirement  ay dapat earthed yung main line, nadedetect naman niya kung earthed yung main line mo. As per manual pwede na din daw siya for hifi components, I hope enough na nga siya. I bought the unit from a computer shop sa Malaysia.

http://www.karldon.com/html/seriesm8vsat.html

[Jason_10]

^Nice product. I will definitely look for a similar product.

Update:

Tronix Master wasn't able to fix my Onkyo and i-Xtreamer. I was forced to buy an Onkyo HT360 and a Mede8r 1000X3D.

Brought my 606 and media player to Empire electronics repair in San Juan. Once its fixed, I'll use it as a 2nd setup.