Power surge protection

[Flyingfluco]

When the installer installed our system I don't see any signs of surge protection. Is this built into the system itself? We live in central VA and are entering the spring tstorm period, is there anything I should be doing to protect the lnb's and receiver. With our big dish we have a surge suppressor at the lnb and another between the ribbon cable and receiver.

[Mike500]

No, the sure protection that might be built in may be just one MOV on the AC line going to the power supply and one small one on the modem. This is, however, not really sufficient. Most people just throw caution to the wind, hoping they are not the ones who will be zapped.

I'd get a good protector for each receiver that protects AC, modem and the lnb coax connection. Panamax is a very good brand. I have them on all of my receivers. A UPS or uninterrupted power supply is a good idea for a DVR with a hard drive.

[SimpleSimon]

You DEFINITELY and absolutely MUST put good surge protection on your system.

I run with at least two "cascaded" levels of protection. Either a strip into the wall with a UPS plugged into that, or two strips. Of course, I live in the #2 lightning county in the USA..... but it only takes ONE nearby hit to wipe you out.

Just make sure the coax protection is rated for the signals you're running.

[snella1]

"Monster Power"
That's all I'm going to say!

[SimpleSimon]

Good - I'm glad that's all you're going to say, because "Monster" is overpriced, underperforming, overhyped junk.

Don't argue, check the specs.

[Nick]

First things first. The installer should have provided a good ground. This is mandatory.

[Bob Haller]

Buy a UPS, they provide excellent protection and cover short outages

[Cholly]

I purchased a Panamax M8DBS-EX surge supressor from Powersystems Direct. It has protection for two satellite lines and one cable line along with phone line protection and 8 protected AC outlets. I also bought an additional MaxSSP expansion module to protect a 3rd satellite line. Highly recommended, with lower price and better warranty than Monster, and better specs. Check it out at www.powersystemsdirect.com -- I chose them for price and importantly because they're an authorized Panamax dealer (assures factory warranty).
While it's a good idea to have a UPS, I haven't seen any reasonably priced UPS that featured satellite coax protection.

[Nick]

Totally agree, Cholly. I have been using Panamax products on my sat and CE devices for 5 years, and I'm ordering another M8DBS-EX now. Thanks for the reminder.

[SimpleSimon]

While it's a good idea to have a UPS, I haven't seen any reasonably priced UPS that featured satellite coax protection.I use both a surge strip with satellite-rated coax ports, AND a UPS. That gives me a double-layer of protection over the power lines (most common surge for me). I do NOT have any phone line hookups to my boxes.