I live in a mountainous area that has very dramatic thunderstorms at this time of year. Within the past 10 days, on 3 separate occasions, I have had the following items fried when there were lightning strikes nearby: 1 x Netgear Router and 2 x 12V power supplies connected to an external ADSL modem.
After the router and the first power supply died, I bought a Belkin Surgemaster - the spec is as follows:
- Model number F9H410: 1034 Joules, 19,500 Maximum Spike Amperage,
4-sockets, Telephone/Modem/DSL protectionBut then today, there was another storm and the (new) power supply for the modem died even though it was plugged into the Belkir - both phone line and power.
I have since done some research on Google and found that the power-strip surge protectors are not necessarily much use against lightning strikes.
So I am looking for advice on a better solution. I have read that the sure way to be protected is to unplug appliances and equipment during storms but this is not always possible - we have to leave our computers on when no-one is home in order to access them remotely etc.
Here is some futher background in case it is useful:
- Our house is Earthed by a braided wire (approx 5mm diam) that goes from our fuse-box through the wall and into the ground about 2 metres away. I don't know how deep it goes, as it was here since before we moved in.
- Occasionally during these severe thunderstorms, the differential in the fusebox trips, but usually it does not. This is a mixed blessing - I'd rather the switch tripped than damage occurred but at the same time it's really annoying to come back from a week away and find the freezer has defrosted iself because the trip switch has gone a few days earlier.
- The ADSL modem whose PSU was fried twice was plugged into both the phone socket and a mains socket the first time, but then today, was plugged in through the Belkin Surgemaster. The Netgear router was plugged into the mains socket, and then by ethernet cable to the ADSL modem, and also some other computers.
- The socket that Surgemaster power strip was plugged into is about
8-10 metres of cable (within the walls) from the fusebox and ground. (I read on some previous posts that surge protection should be within 10ft of ground).So any suggestions would be gratefully accepted:
- Does the above sound like symptoms of faulty Earth? Is there cause to get an electrician out to check it?
- Does it sound like something that the phone or electricity service suppliers should be made aware of? Is there anything they could check or do to stop it happening?
- Is there any other equipment I can install to protect my house, and equipment?
Thanks in advance for any information. If you need any more info about my setup here in order to advise, then please ask. Simon.