outdoor ethernet surge protector died

trauts14

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has anyone had an outdoor ethernet surge protector/lightning arrester that simply died? i confirmed mine does not work now. now nearby lightning strikes, or burned out components within the device. maybe ports are rusted, but everything looks good as far as i can tell. is this common?
 

TonyR

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has anyone had an outdoor ethernet surge protector/lightning arrester that simply died? i confirmed mine does not work now. now nearby lightning strikes, or burned out components within the device. maybe ports are rusted, but everything looks good as far as i can tell. is this common?
Is that a typo? By "....now nearby lightning strikes", did you mean "...NO nearby lightning strikes" ?

Over an 8 year period I have replaced about 4 outdoor units and 2 indoor units that 'sacrificed themselves' and likely saved Ethernet ports (or more) in PC's and kitchen ticket printers and POS terminals in a restaurant. The $12-$15 devices are a lot more cheaper than the items they protected.

This is in NW Alabama, where thunder has been known to knock pictures off the wall from sonic percussion after very violent, high energy lightning. The nearby strikes that cause the ESD damage generally won't be physically noticeable in the device, it'll just open up and won't allow data and/or POE to pass; the direct hits and VERY close, high-energy strikes usually blow components up and burn things.....VERY easy to troubleshoot. Unfortunately, in many of those instances the device was not able to protect the port...just too much energy to suppress or redirect to ground.

It would not surprise me to have to replace one each year but generally these have lasted 3 or 4 and I am pleased.
 

trauts14

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thank you. correct, i meant to say we have not had any lightning strikes in the neighborhood. i am not sure exactly how these solid state devices work, but i am guessing some form of resistor. at least they are inexpensive. my time to investigate the issue would cost more than simply buying a new one.btw, could the surge protector "break" or maybe a better way of saying it would be, could the surge protector "protect" if there was ambient electricity from lightning as opposed to a direct or nearby strike? i would think if a strike were direct i would certainly see damage.
 

TonyR

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.....could the surge protector "break" or maybe a better way of saying it would be, could the surge protector "protect" if there was ambient electricity from lightning as opposed to a direct or nearby strike?
Yes. It could appear to be 'open', therefore quit functioning. It's cheap 'insurance' to have in place. It's no guarantee but much better than having nothing in place. The best protection, albeit the most impractical, would be to unplug stuff when not being used, when you leave the house or when a storm is coming up....and no one can be expected to do that. I sure can't.

I've had a power surge from lighting 5 miles away travel right through a month old, brand name UPS and fry a 65", 3D 4K Sony TV.
I've had a nearby (60-70 feet) strike come in on the satellite coax, go thru the DVR, travel the HDMI and toast a 32" Vizio TV; it had no other cable coming into it except the HDMI from the DVR, I had unplugged power!

Yeah, lightning around here seems to do what it wants to do, more often than not our surge devices will help but sometimes they won't. Just too much nature for man-made devices to handle. :facepalm:
 

trauts14

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Yes. It could appear to be 'open', therefore quit functioning. It's cheap 'insurance' to have in place. It's no guarantee but much better than having nothing in place. The best protection, albeit the most impractical, would be to unplug stuff when not being used, when you leave the house or when a storm is coming up....and no one can be expected to do that. I sure can't.

I've had a power surge from lighting 5 miles away travel right through a month old, brand name UPS and fry a 65", 3D 4K Sony TV.
I've had a nearby (60-70 feet) strike come in on the satellite coax, go thru the DVR, travel the HDMI and toast a 32" Vizio TV; it had no other cable coming into it except the HDMI from the DVR, I had unplugged power!

Yeah, lightning around here seems to do what it wants to do, more often than not our surge devices will help but sometimes they won't. Just too much nature for man-made devices to handle. :facepalm:
that is crazy! i would love to know exactly how these devices work. air gaps in resistors? what exactly makes these devices "work"? they sure are cheap protection!
 

TonyR

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Start with 'Surge Protector'==>> here

The Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV), the Transient Voltage Suppression (TVS) diode and Thyristor Surge Protection Device (TSPD) are very popular.
 

TonyR

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that is crazy! i would love to know exactly how these devices work. air gaps in resistors? what exactly makes these devices "work"? they sure are cheap protection!
Lastly, a white paper from a pioneer of high-performance lightning and surge protection devices, Tii technologies. Pretty dry reading until page 8 where the 'how it works' comes out.
 

trauts14

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i just noticed my IR illuminator that is on the same tree as the surge protector is not working. i need to get under the house to check the GFCI outlet it is plugged into. Maybe it needs to be reset. this makes me think more that nearby lightning may have been the issue. if lightning were in close proximity, would the GFCI outlet trip, or the breaker in the breaker box? all breakers appear to be normal and working properly.
 

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i just noticed my IR illuminator that is on the same tree as the surge protector is not working. i need to get under the house to check the GFCI outlet it is plugged into. Maybe it needs to be reset. this makes me think more that nearby lightning may have been the issue. if lightning were in close proximity, would the GFCI outlet trip, or the breaker in the breaker box? all breakers appear to be normal and working properly.
Not likely but excess induced voltages, even static, can cause strange things.

A GFCI outlet monitors the currents on the hot (black) and white (neutral); if what's on the black exceeds what's on the white by a tiny amount (usually less than 5 milli-amperes) it will trip. That's because it 'thinks' that the voltage being supplied by the black is not returning 100% on the white as it should but that some is going where it should NOT...like through a person to the earth or other return or by way of the protective (green) earth ground.
 
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