Thinking of buying a Surge Suppressor? Read this...
jon s
Posts: 905
This is not a product promotion... I am in no way affiliated with SurgeX. This is just to report something I learned about surge suppressors... I figured that everyone should realize the potential dangers about misunderstood information.
I went to an interesting presentation about surge suppressors... Apparently, 98% of all surge suppressors use the same technology... Metal Oxide Varistors or commonly known as MOVs... Whether you buy a $20 WalWart special or a $1900 unit, chances are they both use MOVs.
Here is the rub, everytime a surge hits, the MOV breaks down a bit, reducing it's capacity.I always thought MOVs would absorb the excess current but it was shown that MOVs just diverts the current to another line.
A friend of mine had his $17,000 system fried when the MOVs diverted the surge to the ground line. The excess current went to the point of lowest resistance which was his equipment, not the ground. It was shown that the further away the ground line is to the actual ground, resistance increases in the line, so the excess current looks for something with less resistance (his equipment).
If the capacity of the MOV is exceeded, the MOVs self destruct. It has been known that failed MOV suppressors have caused fires.
SurgeX said that they are the ONLY surge suppressor product that does not divert the current to another line. It is rated A-1-1 by the U.S. Govt and is the only one that does. To pass this, it must be able to handle 6,000 volts @ 3,000 amps (18,000,000 watts) 1,000 times without any loss in protection. Using patented technology, they are used by the U.S. military and govt for critical equipment protection.
CEDIA, a consortium of companies in electronics certifying dealers, now recommend that any MOV based suppressor be replaced every two years. They do NOT recommend using MOV suppressors in homes, if they do, owners now must sign a waiver acknowledging that they were advised of the risks involved using MOV suppressors. You can google MOV varistor fires and you will be surprised how often fires are started by MOV suppressors.
More on SurgeX can be found here.
I went to an interesting presentation about surge suppressors... Apparently, 98% of all surge suppressors use the same technology... Metal Oxide Varistors or commonly known as MOVs... Whether you buy a $20 WalWart special or a $1900 unit, chances are they both use MOVs.
Here is the rub, everytime a surge hits, the MOV breaks down a bit, reducing it's capacity.I always thought MOVs would absorb the excess current but it was shown that MOVs just diverts the current to another line.
A friend of mine had his $17,000 system fried when the MOVs diverted the surge to the ground line. The excess current went to the point of lowest resistance which was his equipment, not the ground. It was shown that the further away the ground line is to the actual ground, resistance increases in the line, so the excess current looks for something with less resistance (his equipment).
If the capacity of the MOV is exceeded, the MOVs self destruct. It has been known that failed MOV suppressors have caused fires.
SurgeX said that they are the ONLY surge suppressor product that does not divert the current to another line. It is rated A-1-1 by the U.S. Govt and is the only one that does. To pass this, it must be able to handle 6,000 volts @ 3,000 amps (18,000,000 watts) 1,000 times without any loss in protection. Using patented technology, they are used by the U.S. military and govt for critical equipment protection.
CEDIA, a consortium of companies in electronics certifying dealers, now recommend that any MOV based suppressor be replaced every two years. They do NOT recommend using MOV suppressors in homes, if they do, owners now must sign a waiver acknowledging that they were advised of the risks involved using MOV suppressors. You can google MOV varistor fires and you will be surprised how often fires are started by MOV suppressors.
More on SurgeX can be found here.
Post edited by jon s on
Comments
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The information is very valid. I know quite a few custom integrators that have switched to SurgeX strictly to cover the installs more adequately. I haven't used any of the products at this point, but have looked at them several times.Tschüss
Zach -
MOV's that are used without thermal fusing are very real fire hazards. They can explode if their ability to absorb has been exceeded.Testing
Testing
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A little more info:
SurgeX and Torus power both license tech from Zero Surge, Inc. Their website is here:
http://www.zerosurge.com/
They claim zero surge induced failure in the past 20 years. I've demo'd some Torus gear and while I can't speak to it's surge abilities, the balanced power and filtering were top-notch.Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
Backburner:Krell KAV-300i -
This fire hazard is exactly why all the plastic power strips with MOV's built in are such a bad idea!! :eek: I looked at the strips a while back at a big box hardware store and every power strip they sold at that time, was plastic!!
Don't wait until it's too late, circle your house and count how many plastic strips you have that some marking on them of surge protection and get them out of service and replaced!! And better yet, tell other people too!!
And while your at it, replace all those bad news hazmat light bulbs too. And again, warn people against buying them in the first place!!
CoolJazzA so called science type proudly says... "I do realize that I would fool myself all the time, about listening conclusions and many other observations, if I did listen before buying. That’s why I don’t, I bought all of my current gear based on technical parameters alone, such as specs and measurements."
More amazing Internet Science Pink Panther wisdom..."My DAC has since been upgraded from Mark Levinson to Topping." -
A little more info:
SurgeX and Torus power both license tech from Zero Surge, Inc. Their website is here:
http://www.zerosurge.com/
They claim zero surge induced failure in the past 20 years. I've demo'd some Torus gear and while I can't speak to it's surge abilities, the balanced power and filtering were top-notch.
SurgeX is the original holder of the patents... Zero Surge and Torus licensed the technology from SurgeX. Zero Surge and Torus are based on the first generation of SurgeX products. From the presentation i saw, SurgeX has gone on with further technological advancements. -
Huh. SurgeX is based out of Zebulon, NC... that's about an hour from me! Wonder if they have factory sales
Anyhow, I'm positive that ZeroSurge has the 1989 original series mode patent, but I'm not sure if SurgeX has added something that ZeroSurge is now licensing back? Torus takes it more the audiophile route with balanced power, adding a massive Toroidal tranny and an equally big price tag. But they sure are pretty.
There's one other company does these and I'm drawing a blank on the name... they're basically ZeroSurge clones- they don't add anything but have a better website and do more direct sales. I though it was brickhouse, but I'm getting nothing googling that. Maybe they went under...Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
Backburner:Krell KAV-300i -
Torus is Plitron's baby so the toroids are SOTA .Btw.not all the units have the balanced AC feature.Torus takes it more the audiophile route with balanced power, adding a massive Toroidal tranny and an equally big price tag.
Richard Grey?There's one other company does these and I'm drawing a blank on the name...
Edit.Ah is it Brickwall ?Testing
Testing
Testing -
Brickwall!
Yep, they appear to be dead-on identical, but a bit more expensive. I'm glad this thread came up- I'm totally putting in a 20amp panel mount when I pull the new line for my bonus room.Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
Backburner:Krell KAV-300i -
Just remember, if you take a direct hit, you're ****. No consumer level product can offer 100% protection if a power distribution or transmission system designed to deal with lightning and excessively high voltage levels are still taken out by lightning.
Transients should be handled well by this equipment though.
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Can anyone comment on the power cords? Are they thick?MAIN: Polk Lsi9s; Polk PSW505; Lsic (in box); Onkyo SR-875; Parasound 2250; Cambridge Audio 740C; LG BD370
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The Torus ones were pretty monstrous. One of the models I played with had the funky connector that requires a special outlet.
Can't comment on any of the others, but from the website specs, they look to be "guage appropriate" 14ga for 15amp; 12ga for 20amp, etc.Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
Backburner:Krell KAV-300i -
For what it is worth, Adcom also offers an MOV free power conditioner for far less money than the Surge X.
You can read up on the Adcom model here….
http://www.wildwestelectronics.net/adcom-ace615-power-conditioner.html
