On Thu, 19 May 2016 08:10:46 -0700 (PDT), westom
wrote:

On Wednesday, May 18, 2016 at 10:56:06 PM UTC-4, Steve Stone wrote:
A friend with a new state of the art super high tech electronic dash
computer controlled washer claims it is best to power the beast thru a
surge suppressor.

If a washer needs protection, then so does every household item including clocks, RCD, furnace, recharging phones, and the most critical item during a surge - smoke detectors. Nothing adjacent to an appliance claims to protect from destructive surges. Protection means a surge is connected to earth BEFORE it enters a building. No way around that well proven science.

Pre-entry is definitely best (whole house mprotection) My smoke
detectors are all battery operated - so no problem there. People tend
to protect the more expensive and critical cevices.

Does not matter if AC service is overhead or underground. Risk from surges (lightning and other sources) remains. Even underground wires can carry a direct lightning strike into a building. Every wire in every incoming cable must connect to single point earth ground BEFORE entering. Otherwise a surge is inside hunting for earth destructively via appliances. Earth ground (not a protector) is the most critical component in every protection 'system'.

The chance of a "direct hit" on an underground service is a LOT less
than an overhead, and unserground does not act as much as an antenna
for a "near strike"

What does an adjacent protector do? MOVs might connect that surge from hot wire to neutral or safety ground wires. Now that surge has even more paths to find earth ground destructively via a washer or other nearby appliance. Adjacent protectors can even make damage easier if a 'whole house' solution is not implemented.

POU protectors protect against highn transients that either get
through or are caused inside the house

All appliances contain robust protection. Your concern is a rare transient that might occur once every seven years. That transient must be connected low impedance (ie less than 3 meters) to earth BEFORE entering. Otherwise it will go hunting for earth destructively via appliances. Nothing adjacent to an appliance claims to 'block' or 'absorb' that transient. If anything needs that protection, then everything needs that protection.


Your assumption that all appliances contain robust protection is open
to discussion. and dissagreement.