Hyderabadghar/Do it your self/Installing a Whole-House Surge Arrester

The electronic equipment found in most homes of today is sensitive to lightning, which can destroy your expensive computer system and digital big-screen television. Anything with microcircuits is at risk, including security systems and portable phones. Lightning traveling through phone lines can melt your modem. To make matters worse, a single flash of lightning can consist of several discharges, increasing the odds for damage. To protect against a power surge, it is necessary to stop the surge from entering the house wiring at the main panel. This can be accomplished by installing a whole-house surge arrester and using individual surge arresters, or suppressors, at points of use that protect each device or appliance at its outlet.

Regardless of the quality of your whole-houses surge protector, it cannot be effective unless it is connected to a good grounding system. An ideal grounding system will typically consist of one or more approved grounding rods and clamps. As a rule, the more grounding rods you have, the better the system. Be certain that the grounding wires are buried deeply enough not to be cut by your lawn mower or otherwise disconnected from the grounding system. Check local code for grounding-wire depths.

PROJECT BASICS

Project: Moderate
Estimated Project Time: Half-hour
Start Tips: Provide an individual surge arrester at each point of use also
Safety Tips: Always wear a disposable face mask in the presence of airborne sawdust.
Recommendation: Do-it-Yourself

Fig. 1

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Turn off the power
To install a whole-house surge arrester in a main panel, first turn off the main breaker in the panel. (Fig. 1) This will cut power to the hot bus bars into which the circuit breakers are plugged. Remember that the power will remain in the panel at the point where it connects to the main breaker. Test the circuits before proceeding. Remove the panel's cover and set it aside, taking care not to let the cover drop as you take out the last screw. Here, the surge arrester will take the space of a double-pole circuit breaker.

Fig. 2

2) Wire and install the surge arrester
Wire the surge arrester (Fig. 2); then push it into the bus-bar tabs, snapping it in place just as you would a standard circuit breaker. To wire the arrester, connect the hot red and black wires from the circuit you wish to protect to it. (The entire house circuitry will be protected even though the arrester is connected to just one circuit.) Next, connect the white pigtail wire at the back of the surge arrester to the neutral bus bar. Finally, attach the circuit's neutral wire to the service-entrance panel's neutral/grounding bus. (If the panel is a subpanel, the white and grounding wires will be separated. Attach the white wire to the neutral bus and the grounding wire to the grounding bus.)

Fig. 3

3) Replace the cover and restore power
Replace the panel cover and refasten the screws to complete the installation of the surge arrester. Throw the main breaker to restore power to the main panel (Fig. 3); then check the system. Depending on arrester model, a glowing red or green light will indicate that the circuit is receiving power and that the surge protection system is functioning properly.