Recent content by westom

Numbers apply. A surge is done in microseconds. A fuse takes milliseconds or seconds to blow. For example, a 3 amp fuse may blow in milliseconds with a 20 amp current. Or might take minutes or an hour to blow with a 4 amp current. Meanwhile a surge of 100 amps at microseconds would not...

A few corrections. First, a fuse does not protect any hardware. A fuse blows to disconnect power AFTER damage has occurred. So that the damage does not create a fire. Fuse is for protection of humans, not transistors.Second, the protector did exactly what its manufacturer said it would do...

Destrutive surges may be hundreds of thousands of joules. What would a tiny 1000 joule protector do? Either disconnect its protector parts as fast as possible while leaving a surge connected to a TV. Or not disconnect fast enough resulting in a potential house fire. Either way, it fails...

Appreciate that a protector does not block, stop, or absorb destructive surges. It is only a connecting device to what actually does protection. More important than a 'whole house' protector is the device that actually does protection. That harmlessly absorbs hundreds of thousands of joules...

Open that Monster Cable protector to discover the same protector circuit found in a $7 grocery store protector. When so many 'recommend' without first learning the science, then Monster is quick to profit that much. Chances are your salesman spent more time selling a protector than the TV. He...

Popular myths are that lightning strikes the highest point. Lightning is seeking the most conductive path to distant earthborne charges. More often the side of a mountain rather than its top is struck. Often a low valley point because the geology provided a better connection to those distant...

A typical nearby strike is once every seven years. A number that varies greatly even in town due to conditions such as geology. To understand why requires an answer to the simple question: what does lightning seek? Well, a direct strike to earth can be via AC electric lines and to earth via...