aris@tabbs.UUCP (Aris Stathakis) (09/03/89)
From article <9645@b-tech.ann-arbor.mi.us>, by zeeff@b-tech.ann-arbor.mi.us (Jon Zeeff): !> !>There's a chance a spike-damged modem might be covered under a !>homeowner's policy, but with deductibles most 2400 bps modems would !>probably be under the limit these days. !> ! ! I had a couple of modems replaced under my homeowners policy without any ! problems. I have since put lightning protectors on the lines. What kind of lightning protections ACTUALLY WORKS? I mean, you've heard about the 10 cent fuse and the $500 picture tube. Murphy says the tube will blow first :-) Has anyone out there had any experience with lightning protection devices? Any suggestions? Thanks aris -- Aris Stathakis | Bang: ..!uunet!ddsw1!olsa99!tabbs!aris or aris@tabbs.UUCP - UNIX is like sex - if you've tried it, you can't get along without it. - - If you haven't you really have no idea what the fuss is all about! -
zeeff@b-tech.ann-arbor.mi.us (Jon Zeeff) (09/06/89)
>What kind of lightning protections ACTUALLY WORKS? I mean, you've heard One one phone line I have a fairly cheap ($15) thing from Radio Shack. On the other I have a fax protector (similar to the ones made by Isobar). I haven't had a problem on either line since installing these. -- Branch Technology | zeeff@b-tech.ann-arbor.mi.us | Ann Arbor, MI
dplatt@coherent.com (Dave Platt) (09/08/89)
> >What kind of lightning protections ACTUALLY WORKS? I mean, you've heard > > One one phone line I have a fairly cheap ($15) thing from Radio > Shack. On the other I have a fax protector (similar to the ones made > by Isobar). I haven't had a problem on either line since installing > these. Check out Jerry Pournelle's tale of woe in the August issue of Byte (page 99). A car clobbered a power-pole in his neighborhood, and apparently dropped the 16k-volt distribution wire onto one side of the 220-volt local feeder wire. "Not only did the lights go out, but they instantly came back on for a brief moment, and this time there were sparks and bright flashes all over the room. A light bulb exploded. There were more flashes outside. Then quiet, and darkness." The damage was severe. Every incandescent light that had been turned on at the time, was burned out; two bulbs exploded. The power surge "... killed every unit of electronic equipment that was turned on and not plugged into a surge suppressor." He had at least three different brands of surge-protector in use at the time. An Isobar "Power Isolator and Surge Protector" successfully protected the PC and laser-printer into which it was plugged, but died in the process... its MOVs melted and shorted, and its choke-coils were clearly overheated. A Priam hard disk connected through a Woods surge-suppressor died... its fuse filament was completely vaporized, and the power supply was toasted. "The Woods suppressor might as well not have been there." "Quite a lot of equipment was plugged into CompuGuard surge suppressors I had bought on sale from Priority One. Not one unit of any kind protected by a CompuGuard was harmed in any way." Equipment plugged into a Clary UPS "didn't even glitch." It sounds as if Isobar and CompuGuard are well-designed AC-line surge protectors; if their phone-line suppressors are of similar quality, they'd be well worth using in lightning-prone areas. -- Dave Platt FIDONET: Dave Platt on 1:204/444 VOICE: (415) 493-8805 UUCP: ...!{ames,sun,uunet}!coherent!dplatt DOMAIN: dplatt@coherent.com INTERNET: coherent!dplatt@ames.arpa, ...@uunet.uu.net USNAIL: Coherent Thought Inc. 3350 West Bayshore #205 Palo Alto CA 94303