I doubt that it'll do much good for an open neutral problem. It will just
burn up and then let the over voltages into the house to burn up everything
else. The best protection you can have for that is a very good connection to
ground (one or more ground rods 8' long) at the main electric panel. Surge
protectors are intended more to remove over voltage spikes caused by
lightning, and heavy industrial machinery turning on and off. A continuous
or long term over voltage like is produced by a neutral problem will be a
longer duration than it can handle. It'll help, but not for long.
Power flickers are under voltage spikes and it won't do anything to protect
for that condition either. With your neutral problem, do you remember that
some of the lights in your house got dimmer, but some got much brighter? The
much brighter condition is an over voltage and this is what a surge
protector tries to eliminate, but it isn't designed to survive a long
duration (more than a few seconds) condition. A good ground rod system with
the TV cable and the telephone cables also grounded to it, plus a whole
house surge protector are your best protection from lightning. Under voltage
spikes can only be reduced if the power company provides a transformer to
supply your house only and not shared with the neighbors plus a good primary
(high voltage) line feeding it. Being way out in the woods, you are likely
one of the last getting power from a long feeder line. Any sudden loads
created by your family or others between your home and the power source can
cause power dips at your house. If all else fails, moving closer to town may
be the only way to solve it.

--
Charley


"Dave W" wrote in message
...
A little off topic, but we do seem to have a lot of electricians here. We
had a loss of neutral problem a few years ago (it was on the service pole,
CMP paid for all the damage). Recently we installed a whole house surge
protector to prevent loss in the event of losing the neutral again, to
protect against surges as the power flickers; happens a lot here in the
woods and to not have to buy surge protectors for all the electronic stuff
we seem to be collecting. Question is are these things any good? We had
an
Intermatic installed by a licensed electrician; it came with a replace
equipment damaged warranty but only for five years. All thoughts are
welcome.
Dave