Hi,

The branch of a tree broke and knocked out the
neutral wire to my sister's house. As a result, some of
her expensive electronics equipment was damaged.

I know about surge protectors, but I want to buy
a device/s (perhaps in a power strip) that creates a
"short" (and blows a fuse) when the AC voltage
goes above 180V.

Does anyone know where I can order it?

Thanks in advance, Brad

Before you type your password, credit card number, etc.,
be sure there is no active key logger (spyware) in your PC.

Brad:
Buy a power strip / surge protector..... what you described is exactly what
they are designed to do.
--
Best Regards,
Daniel Sofie
Electronics Supply & Repair
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


"Brad" wrote in message
...
Hi,

The branch of a tree broke and knocked out the
neutral wire to my sister's house. As a result, some of
her expensive electronics equipment was damaged.

I know about surge protectors, but I want to buy
a device/s (perhaps in a power strip) that creates a
"short" (and blows a fuse) when the AC voltage
goes above 180V.

Does anyone know where I can order it?

Thanks in advance, Brad

Before you type your password, credit card number, etc.,
be sure there is no active key logger (spyware) in your PC.

Brad:
What you described sounds like a good description of a surge protector.
electricitym
..
..

Another told you to buy a plug-in protector. He did not say why.
Instead, he only promoted classic myth.

Meanwhile, this post will use numbers. A broken nuetral means a
voltage as much as but typically not close to 240 volts appears on your
120 volts. What will a plug-in protector do? It says right on the box
- let-throug voltage 330 volts. IOW it ignoreds voltages below 330
volts. It does nothing - remains just like an open switch - until the
rare 330+ volt transient occurs.

Numbers above demonstrate why plug-in protectors do nothing. Then we
add its joules rating that says the plug-in proetctor will save itself;
leaving the appliance to fend for itself.

One of the important reasons why your building has dedicated earthing
is so current can take another path. This particularly important
because without that earthing ground, then current may even take an
outgoing path via a gas line or other dangerous path.

How is your earth ground. Has your electric earthing been upgraded
to meet (and also exceed) post 1990 code requirements? If not, then
consider this to aleviate any future and more catastrophic failures.

And again, notice how many will not post like an engineer. Right
there on the box is the number that says a plug-in protector would have
nothing useful. Too many hear and believe myths rather than first
learn technical facts. The plug-in protector would have done nothing.
But your failure suggest you earthing mayt need inspection - and may
need enhancement. At minimum, you AC electric earthing (and all other
incoming utilities must connect to this) should meet post 1990 code
requirements.

Don't think in terms of some magic box. Think in terms of a
'system' solution. The 'system' require an earthing rod.

Brad wrote:
The branch of a tree broke and knocked out the
neutral wire to my sister's house. As a result, some of
her expensive electronics equipment was damaged.

I know about surge protectors, but I want to buy
a device/s (perhaps in a power strip) that creates a
"short" (and blows a fuse) when the AC voltage
goes above 180V.

Does anyone know where I can order it?

w_tom:
Wow, aren't you something special and quite arrogant.... you are quite
an engineer alright and we are all impressed !

Brad:
Most MOVs in consumer grade surge protectors clamp at 140 to 160
volts.... and the better surge protectors will have 3 such MOVs that
protect Hot to Neutral, Neutral to Ground, and Hot to Ground. ....
and some of the better ones have MOVs with high enough ratings and
fused in such a way that the MOVs will self destruct and/or the fuse
will blow in an effort to "protect" the circuit.
If better protection is required then a UPS with the proper rating will
offer almost fool-proof protection.
electricitym
..
..

w_tom:
Wow.... we are all so impressed with your "engineering" knowledge....
and you are arrogant and pompous too.

Brad:
Most consumer grade surge protectors have MOVs in them that clamp at
140 to 160 Volts. The better ones have 3 MOVs that protect Hot to
Ground, Hot to Neutral, and Neutral to Ground. The really good ones
have MOVs that have high enough ratings and are fused in such a way
that they really do protect the equipment from most surge modes.
If foolproof protection is required then maybe you should use a
properly rated UPS.
electricitym
..
..

In article ,
Brad wrote:
The branch of a tree broke and knocked out the
neutral wire to my sister's house. As a result, some of
her expensive electronics equipment was damaged.

I know about surge protectors, but I want to buy
a device/s (perhaps in a power strip) that creates a
"short" (and blows a fuse) when the AC voltage
goes above 180V.

Surely what's needed is an RCD device which will trip if there is any
unbalance between line and neutral?

--
*A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

First, RCDs such as used in UK, are not available in N America. In
NA, they are called GFCIs or AFGI, and are located on branch circuits.

Second, an RCD, if doing anything, could only cure symptoms - would
not solve the problem.

We know incoming electricity voltage was monitored long term and
remained within 5%. We assume appliance damage is due to over voltage.
Therefore many have accurately speculated that a loose neutral may
exist.

What would the RCD do? Nothing. Excessive voltage would not cause
currents to take a new path to earth - what is necessary to trip the
RCD (GFCI). A loose neutral only means half the house has excessive
voltage while other half has diminished voltage. Currents entering and
leaving the building remains constant.

Second, an RCD still would not fix the loose neutral. Fix the
problem; don't cure its symptoms.

But again, we are assuming loose neutral because we are assuming
damage due to excessive voltage. We have not yet established why
damage occurs which is again why we first must identify the problem
before trying to cure its symptoms (using an RCD or power strip
protector), or before trying to correcct it.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Surely what's needed is an RCD device which will trip if there is any
unbalance between line and neutral?