can i install a coax surge protector at the point where the cable enters my home so that ALL televisions and computers are protected?

thanks for any advice

Sure. Of course if lightning strikes near the house it may not make a lick of difference.

As already posted. A direct hit or near direct lightning event will probably fry most anything. My cousin had very expensive surge protection in his home and a near direct hit burned out that stuff and still fried most of his electronics.

Don't forget that coax layer of protection does nothing for the big risk to the power supplies in all of you devices plus if you have a projector type TV or front projector for Home Theater those bulbs can be stressed with sudden power loss that prevents the normal shut down/cool down cycle.

We have a decent UPS - projector and tv and pc power supplies plug into two of them strategically located in our house - they provide good protection from surges plus have enough capacity to run our tv and projector and sat receiver for about 20 minutes giving more than ample time to safely power down our equipment.

any recomendations??

bump

http://www.panamax.com/Products/Modules/MOD-DBSTV.aspx

I'm sure there are others. But ask me it's a waste.

can i install a coax surge protector at the point where the cable enters my home so that ALL televisions and computers are protected?
Certainly not against lightening. But think of this .... power surges will enter via the cable, electrical, telephone, plumbing systems. So the fact you have the cable semi protected, you must also protect all sources of surges into the home to make this worthwhile. Just make certain your homeowners policy covers losses due to power surges (not just lightening).

"I'm sure there are others. But ask me it's a waste."

do you not use anything? i realize a lighting strike is going to take everything out but what about smaller surges?

"power surges will enter via the cable, electrical, telephone, plumbing systems. So the fact you have the cable semi protected, you must also protect all sources of surges into the home to make this worthwhile."

i am going to have a surge protector installed in my electric box. how do you protect against a surge via plumbing????

Cable & phone companies have some form of surge protection in their distribution. You can add a dedicated cable TVSS device to the cable leading to a distribution panel. Power companies don't use TVSS at least from the final transformer to your home, so centralized power TVSS is advisable.

A whole home product is something like Square D Surgebreaker Plus Whole House Surge Protector and incorporates whole coaxial cable protection.

In the end, lightning induced surges, power line surges, or even static discharge can be induced at any electrical conductor by EMF, requiring at least final protection just before the device connects to the cable. Much of these surges or transients will be suppressed by simple grounding used in wiring conforming to the National Electrical Code, NEC.

The best assurance you have of suppression is:

A NEC approved earth ground
A UL 1449 rated TVSS device plugged into the wall for each of your TV or computers

To be fully protected all lines entering your appliances must have TVSS:

Power
Phone, even if fiberoptic only if the wires are copper after the junction
Cable TV, including satellite or antennae, same issue as phone if fiberoptics are used
Internet: less an issue if the cable only comes from your cable box, already protected, then into the computer or TV

Because the most destructive surges come from the power line, a centralized junction box TVSS provides the first line of defense against it.

Generally, appliances that run directly from line power e.g. 120V, like washers and dryers, are less prone to TVSS damage, but its another issue beyond this forum's focus.


can i install a coax surge protector at the point where the cable enters my home so that ALL televisions and computers are protected?

thanks for any advice