Bud-- wrote:
This religious belief in earthing is not shared by the IEEE for plug-in
suppressors. The IEEE guide explains plug-in suppressors work by
CLAMPING the voltage on all wires to the common ground at the
suppressor. They do not work primarily by eathing. Because that violates
w_'s religious belief in earthing he can't understand the guide.

So you get a good surge from nearby lightning, and the three wires on your
computer's power plug all go to a common-mode voltage plus or minus line
voltage. But your ground is bad, so you have a common-mode voltage about
4,000 volts above earth ground.

And you're touching the computer, or you have a telephone line plugged
into it, or an Ethernet wire from another location, or somehow have
one of many other possible and even likely scenarios in which the other
end of the person/line is grounded fairly well. 4,000 volts on one end
and ground on the other... bring the weenies and marshmallows.

Not all the protection is meant for the device plugged into the strip.

--
Pork: It's the other white flag!
-- James Lileks