[olug] One Point Twenty-One Jigawatts

Wed May 14 13:20:01 UTC 2003

Thank God for cheap hardware. 

On Wed, 2003-05-14 at 00:45, Vincent wrote:
> I agree with what everyone said (very good advice), but no one addressed Joe's question.  There is no protection from Lightning that
> may strike your home, or near enough to enter your house.
> 
> Surge protectors and UPS will protect you from surges, spikes and brown-outs, but would do no nothing against lightning.  Lightning
> is just too powerful and will arc across any blown fuse.
> I was in a house struck by lightning once and saw it arc from one power outlet to another across the room.  If it'll arc 30+ feet,
> that 1cm fuse won't be a problem and forget about "paths of least resistance" too!
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jon H. Larsen" <relayer at omahadirect.net>
> To: "Omaha Linux User Group" <olug at olug.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 11:36 AM
> Subject: Re: [olug] One Point Twenty-One Jigawatts
> 
> 
> > Maybe this could be a OLUG meeting subject?  I don't mind discussing it at
> > the next meeting...(did I just volunteer?)
> >
> > One thing to remember about Surge Supression is that the supressor you
> > buy is only as good as the power runs in your house.  A prerequisite
> > for a Surge Supresser is a properly gounded three-prong outlet.  For about
> > $5 to $7 bucks, you can pick up an outlet tester at Menards.  This is a
> > standard item in my toolkit.  Very useful for Lan Parties.
> >
> > Plug it into the outlet you plan to put your UPS/Supressor on - there is
> > usually three lights on the end, with instructions on how to read the
> > lights printed on the side.  If the outlet tests anything beyond normal,
> > don't use it, you may be sorry (most likely No Ground, or Hot Neutral).
> > Also, Two-prong outlets are not considered safe.  These are non-grounded
> > plugs, don't trust an adapter.  Also, if you have a house with a mix of
> > two-prong and three-prong, chances are the three-prong outlets were
> > installed to avoid the use of a three-prong to two-prong adapter.  Best
> > bet, always test your outlets.
> >
> > Putting Surge Supression on an AC power line is only part of the picture.
> > Telephone, Cat-5, and RG-6 (coax cable) all need protection, as any one of
> > them plugs directly into your PC.  These are often overlooked items. The
> > APC BackUPS Office has Phone/Cat5 protection.  Having Surge Supression on
> > your cable/satellite coax lines is essential if you have a Home theatre
> > system, which often has more investment values than some PC setups.
> >
> > I do not remember if the Whole-House surge supression covers Telephone,
> > CAT5, Coax runs.  Spending a little money in these areas will save you
> > later.  Does anyone have whole-house suppression from OPPD?  What fee do
> > you pay per month for the service?  Installation?
> >
> > A good habit to get into is to check your surge supressors after each
> > electrical storm.  You never know if any of them have been hit.  Check the
> > LED status.  A medium to high-end supressors, you will usually have a
> > "Protection" status LED - if this is not on, replace the supressor, as it
> > has done it's duty.
> >
> > Surge Supressors with higher Joules ratings are always better.
> >
> > Underground wiring will help with some surge situations.  I moved last
> > December to a subdivision that has underground wiring -
> > we lost power around 4 AM on Sunday May 4th.  I saw
> > the light from a few OPPD trucks inspecting the above-ground lines in my
> > area (120th and Military) - power was back on about 30 minutes later.
> > I know it was May 4th because I had to re-program my VCR to record the
> > F1 race at 6:30 AM.
> >
> > I have several APC UPS units at home.  My main unit, APC SmartUPS 900, is
> > a bit older, but still works great.  I followed the directions from the NUT
> > site to build my own APC cable using a couple DB-9 plugs and a Cat-5
> > cable.  Using PowerChute, I can have my PC shut down automatically after a
> > given amount of time.  I have a small APC BackUPS 300 for my cable modem
> > and router.  The smaller current draw allows the 300 to stay up longer.
> >
> > NUT is the Network UPS Tools.  I believe you can have one host monitor the
> > UPS through the signal cable, and notify other hosts on the same UPS to
> > shut down.  Very handy for multi-host environments on one UPS.
> >
> > Check it out:
> > http://www.exploits.org/nut/
> >
> > If you want the extreme in surge supression, check out PolyPhaser corp.
> > http://www.polyphaser.com
> >
> > Check out their Engineering Notes area (LAN, Phone, equipment rack,
> > roof-top grounding):
> > http://www.polyphaser.com/ppc_pen_home.asp
> >
> > Jon L.
> >
> > On Tue, 13 May 2003, Joe Catanzaro wrote:
> >
> > > Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 09:39:13 -0500
> > > From: Joe Catanzaro <joecatanzaro at cox.net>
> > > Reply-To: Omaha Linux User Group <olug at olug.org>
> > > To: olug at olug.org
> > > Subject: [olug] One Point Twenty-One Jigawatts
> > >
> > > I didn't grow up in a place that has lots of lightning like the Mid-west,
> > > so I have several questions regarding best practices for lightning and
> > > computers. Just like many of you, I have about 6 computers running 24/7 and
> > > would like to prevent the loss of data and fried hardware as much as
> > > possible. And bear with me here, I'm not very smart when it comes to
> > > lightning strikes.
> > >
> > > When a storm rolls in, do you turn off the computer? Rely on a cheap surge
> > > protector? Rely on an expensive surge protector? Unplug everything?
> > >
> > > How does the lightning get to my computer? Does it strike the power pole in
> > > the back ally and then travel through the circuits in my house? Or does it
> > > hit my house directly?
> > >
> > > Are lightning strikes common and is it worth getting that OPPD "whole house
> > > surge protection?"
> > >
> > > I grew up in Hawaii and the last thing we were concerned with was a bolt of
> > > lightning.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Joe Catanzaro
> > > joecatanzaro at cox.net
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > OLUG at olug.org
> > > http://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> > >
> >
> > -- 
> >  [ Jon H. Larsen  - email: relayer at omahadirect dot net         ]
> >  [ ICQ#: 10412618 - http://www.animesunday.org/jonl               ]
> >  [ PGP Pubkey - http://www.animesunday.org/jonl/relayerpubkey.txt ]
> >  [ OpenOffice.org - Freedom at Work - http://www.openoffice.org   ]
> >
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> 
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