Surge Protectors - Use Them or Not?

[yosemitesam]

Wow i musr rethink !

Interesting that N Y area still uses 110 V, rest of us have been at 120 V since last century. We have been using C band, direct, dish, approved surge suppressors for thirty five years. dish coom. needs a home comm. receptacle, which most surge suppressors now provide. We have had very few strikes get through the suppressors. you must have phone coax and A/C connected through one. voltage loss is B/S with mov protection. Maybe 1/2 dozen dammaged TV/ audio systems, surge manufacture made good on the items. fifty or so Suppressors replaced [under warranty] This is out of thousands of systems ! We must live in another world ?

 

[EatMyVolts]

Surge Protectors, Are designed to protect from serges in an electric lines. Example, if you live in an major city the chances are you do not have 110, in NYC the average is around 100 volts the protectors are designed to protect against sudden change in the line voltage, like when you have a power failure the voltage and amperage may spike above 120 which would damage some equipment. With the receiver I have found that the voltage can get into the system from any line hooked to the receiver. This includes the power cord, Ethernet, home plug, phone line ETC. and I have had receivers damaged from all the sources.

Do not have the line going to the dish run through the surge protector, most are not designed to handle voltage there is voltage going to the dish, it will fail.

ANSI C84.1 sets the standard as 120v plus/minus 5%. If you're down at 100 I would expect to see some motors starting to run hot. My Kill-A-Watt is registering 120.4 right now.

I've had my dishes (including coax and phone lines) running through surge protectors since I first got dish. That was many years ago with a 4900, a 4700, and a 1000. When I got them, the local dealer included a protector in the package. Back before homelink, dish sold surge protectors on their website. Nowadays my 722 in hooked to a ups and my 612 to a surge protector. I don't use homelink and I've never had any problems related to power. If you're concerned about voltage drop, measure the voltage after the protector. I don't expect protection against everything, but a couple of years ago the transformer sitting at the edge of my yard blew out. Although that's not as bad as a lightning strike, that can put serious transients and spikes in the line. I had neighbors with no protectors blow out electronics, I didn't. I know that's anecdotal evidence, but it's good enough for me.

 

[jimdandyvi]

In the USVI the power grid is almost third world. Surges and outages are frequent. I monitor my power using TED which allows me to see both voltage highs and lows along with KWs used minute by minute.

I have a whole house surge at the main panel. My home theater system including the Dish receiver are plugged into a UPS which in turn is plugged into an isolation transformer. Main reason for having the receiver, SlingBox and EHD plugged into a UPS is so I don't have to put up with rebooting during power outages. If I am home it also give me a chance to bring my generator (Honda inverter type) on line, hit the back button on the DVR and continue watching TV right where I was when the power went off. One of the key reasons I went to Dish was that after hurricane Omar it took the local cable company six weeks to restore service while the electric utility was back in ten days. People who had satellite dishes watched TV during the storm.

Both my Dish receivers are connected to the internet using Netgear Powerline adapters. The adapters plugged directly into an outlet. Data transmission over my home network is rock solid. SlingBox sends video to my PCs at 4 Mbs. Much more reliable than my WiFi network. Home network equipment is also plugged into a UPS to keep it running 24/7.

I have no problems with bad power, however the humidity and salt air will destroy my electronic equipment in three to five years.

Jim

 

[Hall]

While the tag on the cord "recommends" a surge protector, I have personally seen it lead to rebooting issues and power failures. I PERSONALLY recommend it be plugged straight into the wall. As a troubleshooting step, it is suggested to bypass the surge protector if possible, as that could correct issues as well.

I have had my 722 plugged directly into the wall since installation, no flaws, no glitches, and not a HINT of anything that anyone has suggested as a common problem here or on any other forum.

Here is my thoughts on surge protectors. Everyone has a different idea of a good one. Some people say they bought an expensive one (using $6 range as a cheap one). Some people base it on name, like Panamax or Monster. Honestly, I have not seen a great device less then $299. Even if I could afford the $1500 you can find power conditioners for (and yes, they go MUCH higher), I would still not run my receiver through it.

Wife called this morning and says our 722k is giving the dreaded error code "311". I get on chat, get transferred to 'advanced support' and the rep asks if the receiver is plugged into a surge suppressor. Says it should be....

I said "Wait, I've been told NOT to multiple times".

He responds, "I think plugging the receiver into a surge protector would help to stop this issue from happening again. Receivers with hard drives in them, are more sensitive to surges and stray voltage."

I repeated again that Dish support has said numerous times "plug directly into wall outlet".

He next responded, "...but a surge protector is recommended. I'm sorry if you were told that they are not and I have no idea why you were told that."

He also stated that Dish's policy on this hasn't changed, that is, receivers should or should not be plugged into surge suppressors.

What's the deal ?

 

[Lord_Vader]

Wife called this morning and says our 722k is giving the dreaded error code "311". I get on chat, get transferred to 'advanced support' and the rep asks if the receiver is plugged into a surge suppressor. Says it should be....

I said "Wait, I've been told NOT to multiple times".

He responds, "I think plugging the receiver into a surge protector would help to stop this issue from happening again. Receivers with hard drives in them, are more sensitive to surges and stray voltage."

I repeated again that Dish support has said numerous times "plug directly into wall outlet".

He next responded, "...but a surge protector is recommended. I'm sorry if you were told that they are not and I have no idea why you were told that."

He also stated that Dish's policy on this hasn't changed, that is, receivers should or should not be plugged into surge suppressors.

What's the deal ?

Last time I got into the power strip conversation, I just closed the chat and emailed CEO. It's really stupid.

 

[dan188]

You can't use most surge protectors if your connect to phone or broadband via homeplug unless you have one with a special homeplug porr for it.

 

[Teehar]

Wife called this morning and says our 722k is giving the dreaded error code "311". I get on chat, get transferred to 'advanced support' and the rep asks if the receiver is plugged into a surge suppressor. Says it should be....

I said "Wait, I've been told NOT to multiple times".

He responds, "I think plugging the receiver into a surge protector would help to stop this issue from happening again. Receivers with hard drives in them, are more sensitive to surges and stray voltage."

I repeated again that Dish support has said numerous times "plug directly into wall outlet".

He next responded, "...but a surge protector is recommended. I'm sorry if you were told that they are not and I have no idea why you were told that."

He also stated that Dish's policy on this hasn't changed, that is, receivers should or should not be plugged into surge suppressors.

What's the deal ?

Crazy! Dish needs to get this figured out and explain it to all the reps.I have had two different installers here,both said VIP receivers have issues (with) surge protectors.Anytime I have called or online chat for receiver issues the first thing they ask is if the receiver is plugged into surge protector.If it is plug directly to wall,if it isn't then lets try something else.

 

[wolfjc]

Here in Cincinnati I have a surge protector attached after my electric meter, it was installed by the electric company.
So I have protection for my whole house and I have NO problems with my Dish stuff.

 

[Anony55]

I live in the sticks. A few years ago, we took a direct lighting strike to our transformer. I lost a bunch of stuff (including the transformer). BUT, I only took damage to one (1) device that was hooked up to a surge suppressor. That was the Ku side of my 4DTV receiver.

Everything else that was connected to a surge suppressor survived. This includes a Panamax for the home theater, as well as some super-dooper cheapies. I even had one $5 surge protector that I didn't even know was a surge protector. It was one of those that plugs into a normal outlet (wall mount), and gives you 6 outlets. I was just using it for the extra outlets & had no idea it was a surge protector. But it saved the kid's TV & all the stuff hooked up to it (although the surge protector its self died).

So don't believe it when people tell you that surge protectors won't protect you from a direct lightning strike. They may not protect you 100%, but they can (and do) still save a lot of stuff. I've seen it first hand.

Cheers

 

[Hall]

I use a surge suppressor but, shhhh, don't tell Dish that I just know that when they ask, the answer is "no, it's plugged directly into the wall outlet", until the rep today said I should use a suppressor. Yes, I agree 100%, but I know the "right" answer that support wants .... or at least used to !!

wolfjc: Your scenario is certainly not typical. Try and explain a whole-house suppressor to them.

Anony55: The typical $20 surge suppressor will not protect against a lightning strike.

 

[dwarren2]

I have my 722 on a ups. That way if there is a temporary power failure, it does not reboot and if I am recording, I do not loose that recording.

 

[Lord_Vader]

I have my 722 on a ups. That way if there is a temporary power failure, it does not reboot and if I am recording, I do not loose that recording.

I prefer FedEx. </rimshot>

 

[boosted-fc3s]

I'm on a rack mount enterprise grade power conditioner, it does voltage regulation, pure sine wave, surge protection etc. I would never run myy equipment directly off a wall plug.

 

[Anony55]

...Anony55: The typical $20 surge suppressor will not protect against a lightning strike.

Well, one certainly wouldn't want to "tempt fate". That's for sure. But I had several cheapies when we took the direct hit, and they all stood up to the task. The one item that did take damage was the Ku side of the DSR922... and it was hooked up to the Panamax (both power & LNBs).

I lost a lot of other stuff in that strike that wasn't protected. But I was surprised at the performance of the cheap surge protectors. Still, that's not a recommendation to use cheap ones. I would still recommend better surge protectors where possible.

It's just not feasible (in my case anyway) to have $150 surge protectors on every appliance in the house. After seeing how well the $5 one performed, that's what I now have on all the stuff that you don't usually think about putting on surge protectors (washing machine, microwave, fridge, ect). Although, they're a little closer to $6 or $7 these days.

Cheers

 

[isaacmorseMI]

The Belkin surge protectors I have all of my stuff on works pretty darn well.

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