Lightning strikes ... interesting letter

[Klondike Mike]

Score!! I visited a RONA today (Canada wide home-improvement chain) and found a "Square D Surgebreaker Plus Whole House Surge Protector" in the clearance section! Brand new, unopened box. I took the box and met with the store manager. I asked for a better price than what was on the box. I got it for $75CAN!! That's like $40US. Check Type 2 SPD off the list. Whoo-hoo!

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

And you didn't get one for me at that price? That is a steal. BTW that module that is intended to protect four separate telephone lines can be used to protect a rotator control line of up to eight wires instead. Hopefully the unit has not been discontinued due to the MOV devices becoming obsolete.

 

[Klondike Mike]

And you didn't get one for me at that price? That is a steal. BTW that module that is intended to protect four separate telephone lines can be used to protect a rotator control line of up to eight wires instead. Hopefully the unit has not been discontinued due to the MOV devices becoming obsolete.

Sorry, the store only had 1. Believe me ... I thought briefly about buying it for someone else because it is a rather large unit compared to the Eaton modules and my breaker box is in confined quarters. I thought longer on it and will find a way to make it fit.

Regarding the rotator hookup, good thinking, the thought never crossed my mind. Another bonus. Looking at the internals of the box, one can see there is extra space in the bottom left hand corner for another module.

Obsolete MOV's? Where did that come from? Did you come across something somewhere. Square D is owned by the people who make APC products who have been around awhile and have been providing parts for that line for many a year. Hoping the same for this line. If not, I'm sure I could fab up some new type of box with my own cherry-picked MOV's or scour eBay for extra modules to keep on hand.

Looking at the construction of this assembly, one can see the benefit of using a Nema type 1 box. Explosion protection. Seeing other photo's of SPD's in action and the resultant destruction I can see the need for containing the left-overs.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Obsolete MOV's? Where did that come from? Did you come across something somewhere. Square D is owned by the people who make APC products who have been around awhile and have been providing parts for that line for many a year. Hoping the same for this line. If not, I'm sure I could fab up some new type of box with my own cherry-picked MOV's or scour eBay for extra modules to keep on hand.

I did say MOV didn't I? I meant the individual units that contain the MOV's since they look all self contained.I was just hoping that the MOV's were replaceable and that you didn't have to replace the entire unit. Considering the discounted price I was wondering if there was a reason you were not being made aware of that's all.The Nautel unit Ihave has MOV's that just mount in the case. If that particular model of MOV were to be discontinued it would not be impossible to repair but it could become a bit harder to find exact replacements. I could always drill new mounting holes or make a bracket however.

 

[Klondike Mike]

... I meant the individual units that contain the MOV's since they look all self contained.I was just hoping that the MOV's were replaceable and that you didn't have to replace the entire unit. Considering the discounted price I was wondering if there was a reason you were not being made aware of that's all.

Whew! Speculation. I thought you had something concrete and I would have buyers remorse. In a brief search, I did find a Amazon vendor selling individual modules (no price). I did not find anything on eBay. I have not looked deep enough to see if I can easily crack open the modules to get to the juicy innards.

You may have something on the discounted price, I just haven't found it yet. It may be just like buying an inkjet printer, they get you on the consumables. Although, I won't be consuming these modules on a regular basis.

I may put together a YouTube video, depending on (or not) what has already been done.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=square+d+surge+protector

 

[Atlasta]

Good thread- just wish I had seen it before lightning hit the transformer on the pole across the street. It took out the satellite receiver, the TV and a small power transformer inside the attic-mounted forced air unit.

Fortunately it did not affect any of my radio gear.

What struck me (no pun intended!) was that my antenna is at least 30 feet higher than the transformer on the pole and it didn't get touched. Not that I'm complaining as I had just put up a new 11m vertical the week before.

Lightning is a strange beast. I hope to never experience this again.