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Is a surge protected CU worth it when living in the sticks.


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We haven't lived here a year yet but so far we've had several short power cuts of five to twenty seconds. Is fitting a retrofit SPD in the CU or even a new SP CU worth the effort. We currently have the computer equipment running off a SP extension board.

 

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/HGVM02SPD.html

 

Edited by Gone West
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Power cut isn’t a surge, so your call, if fitting a new consumer unit I would install it definitely, that unit only fits a Hager board so you have to watch if you have space in the existing that it’s not type tested for other manufacturers equipment 

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15 hours ago, TonyT said:

Power cut isn’t a surge, so your call, if fitting a new consumer unit I would install it definitely, that unit only fits a Hager board so you have to watch if you have space in the existing that it’s not type tested for other manufacturers equipment 

A power cut isn't a surge but power surges can occur after an outage and we seem to being a lot of those. So if replacing the CU, fit one with surge protection. That sounds like a good idea then, thanks.

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You might think of AFDD ( Arc fault detection devices ) too along with surge protection as that's now in the second amendment and required I think next year? 

Edited by MikeSharp01
Edit to unpack acronym. (I know it messes slightly with some posts below but get it out up front.)
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Just had our elec sign off last week. I ran all cables, etc electrician checked and fitted consumer unit, he fitted an anti surge and said they would be compulsary in the next round of regulations. We also fitted rcbo's on every circuit.

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6 hours ago, Onoff said:

You might think of AFDD too along with surge protection as that's now in the second amendment and required I think next year? 

I had to look that up. That's interesting as arcing I would have thought would be a major cause of fires in CU. I shall have AFDD as well as SP then, thanks for that.

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55 minutes ago, Gone West said:

I had to look that up. That's interesting as arcing I would have thought would be a major cause of fires in CU. I shall have AFDD as well as SP then, thanks for that.

 

Sorry, wasn't trying to be cocky using the acronym. More here:

 

https://www.electrium.co.uk/about/news/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-amendment-2-18th-edition

 

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Lost a couple of fax machines years ago after a storm (TN-S system). 

 

Same street where in another house up the road I had "blue lightning" come out horizontal from the socket during a massive electrical storm. Scared the sh!t out of me. I had the ring main fuse in my pocket and the DP main switch was off. Earth was the only path. Saying that it was all run in old imperial steel conduit. 

 

It happened!

 

Edited by Onoff
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Hi been in our house North Bude GCHQ area for over 6 years we have numerous small power cuts some we don’t notice the clock on the microwave is the tell other items must have a capacitor in them as a few minutes is ok for them, very little needs resetting. No surge protection. Wiring about 20yrs old. Never had any problems with a surge following a power cut. One computer a big iMac needs unplugging for a minute before it will restart. No blown tv’s, or routers etc. I think it’s something you just get use, I certainly don’t worry about not having surge protection. 
 

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55 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Just what was it that went bang rather spectacularly?  Any "before" photo?  Was it something plugged into that now rather sorry looking socket?

Don't have the before photie unfortunately. It was a bt socket that went bang. You can see the remains of it with the wire sticking out. A router was plugged in above. It was also beyond repair.

 

The CU was remarkably intact inside - everything checked post bang. It did melt and warp adjacent to the bt socket so we had it replaced. This was not from a standard power cut/storm though. Buzzard flew into the transformer that serves the house from the overhead line. It was mostly stuff attached to bt sockets that got fried, according to the guy the DNO sent out he's seen a few similar instances.

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1 hour ago, jamieled said:

Don't have the before photie unfortunately. It was a bt socket that went bang. You can see the remains of it with the wire sticking out. A router was plugged in above. It was also beyond repair.

 

The CU was remarkably intact inside - everything checked post bang. It did melt and warp adjacent to the bt socket so we had it replaced. This was not from a standard power cut/storm though. Buzzard flew into the transformer that serves the house from the overhead line. It was mostly stuff attached to bt sockets that got fried, according to the guy the DNO sent out he's seen a few similar instances.

I guess the buzzard formed a circuit from the HV primary to the LV secondary.  I very very much doubt any surge protection devices would have helped there.

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