Re: Surge protectors to use with home electronics when grounding is not available?

On Jun 21, 3:08 pm, Charlie Siegrist
<none.act...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:39:08 -0700, d_dd22222 wrote:
I am moving into a home which was built in the late 1800s where
brownouts are common and no grounds are available on the outlets. I
will not have the option of rewiring the home.

Does anyone have suggestions as to how I can best protect my home
electronics (computers, entertainment center, etc).

Keep your equipment in a different place. Do you have the option of
building a shop on the property with modern wiring? Tools and equipment
can live there happily, but I believe you should rethink your idea of an
electronic entertainment center, may I suggest some acoustic guitars and
a nice piano, perhaps? Don't fret the oil lamps, lighting will work fine
on line-to-neutral without ground, provided the mice haven't gnawed too
deeply into the insulation.

I've seen plenty of "surge protectors" which look like they are more
marketing hype than anything else. What are your opinions on these?

http://www.zerosurge.com/HTML/purchspec.html

That should answer your questions about suppressor operation. However,
your problem is deeper than a concern about line surges, and as others
have offered, surges and brownouts are not the same thing. Modern
appliances are designed to work with 2/1 wiring, that is, two conductors
and a safety ground. Using these devices without that ground attached,
leads to a plethora of safety and performance concerns.

Since you are choosing to live in an apparently historically protected
domicile, you should probably likewise choose to live in a manner
consistent with the restrictions of said domicile. Welcome to the 19th
century!

Thanks all for the responses.

I see that there isn't much I can do short of having the building
rewired (maybe if I purchase it down the road).

I added brownout and surge protection to my renter's insurance and
knocked the deductible down. I've discussed such policies at length
with several insurance companies and feel that this will be adequate.
If anyone thinks otherwise, please share your comments.

I lived in a home with no grounds while attending college and had no
issues with electronics or computers so I guess I'll just have to wait
and see how things go here. There are more electrical storms in this
area during this time of year, which is my reason for additional
concern.

The place is wired for high speed internet/digital cable and the last
dweller used two A/C units (there are a total of 24 circuits in the
home. Some circuits are 30 A- not sure if that goes for all of them
yet. The presence of 240 VAC for both the stove and an electric dryer
has me wondering if the wiring may be more recent than 1900? It is
not knob and tube wiring but is definitely old. I'll have to get
pictures online after I move in to see what electricians have to say
(provided the said plethora of performance problems doesn't completely
prevent me from accessing the internet).

.