TVSS definately not Snake Oil, usually mis-applied
Gentlemen,
I will begin with the statement that I sell Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV)-based TVSS systems for a living. I’m also an A-V nut and a musician. Now that you know I'm biased, let me explain what I know in layman’s terms.
MOV's degrade over time for a couple of reasons. The primary cause is as their surge capacities are exceeded, they degrade. Similar to how a fuse blows at too high of a voltage, so do MOV’s. The MOV's found in Audio Application surge strips, like the Monster power bar I have on my Pioneer Elite 710 HD, are tiny and can take up to only a certain amount of voltage hit until they reach the pain threshold and begin degrading. Usually these smaller strips degrade rather quickly...read the fine print of your strip's manual and that should tell you the capacities and warn you of this issue. They are simply too small to take the big hits.
IEEE, the Electrical Industry's experts, therefore recommends that you approach lightning and surge suppression in a "Layered" format in what is referred to as the "Emerald" book.
Here is the quote from the experts:
(Chapter 8, Page 338)
“Facilities housing electronic load equipment of any type should have service entrances equipped with effective lightning protection in the form of listed category “C” surge protective devices, as specified in the IEEE Std C62.41.-1991. “
What they are saying is that in order to get the very best protection, you should seriously consider putting a "BIG OLE HUNKIN" (obviously my technical term) TVSS at the service entrance into your house or business. Located at your main breaker panel. If you have any sub-panels, you should put smaller ones there. Then the downline power strips and or power conditioners are therefore protected from the larger strikes and will not degrade.
Our industrial capacity TVSS units have very short leads and when properly installed at the panel they have a very short path to ground. And therefore they have one-billionth of a second response times. You cannot physically get this super fast kind of protection from a unit you have in your audio rack plugged into a wall unless you sink a ground rod right there.
The latest/ eighth-generation of these large TVSS systems are currently being sold exclusively by briopower.com out of Austin, Tx. (The company I work for.) The gentleman that patented/invented this stuff 30 years ago using NASA's research notes is named lord helmet Diller (referred to as the Grandfather of the surge strip), and he claims there is no better protection than our Surgepure TVSS Plus system in existence, from a capacity and longevity perspective.
The reason these are better is that he has developed a way to manufacture very large capacity units using a Huge / Single MOV Design. In a multiple MOV design (a less expensive, degrading method to build these things), best attempts are made to size match an array of smaller capacity MOV's in order to keep their electrical switching points as close as possible, but one is ALWAYS weaker than the other and will be the first to go during a catastrophic hit, degrading the capabilities of that stoppage point.
A very neat benefit of a service entrance MOV is that in addition to protecting your Audio equipment from exterior surges, it also isolates each electrical circuit in your house from the other. This means that when your fridge or AC compressors switch on and off and generate big-ish transient voltages (notice lights dimming when your AC kicks on?), before that surge can get to the circuit that powers your audio (or the power conditioner there) it is sent to ground at the breaker box. After a TVSS panel installation your lights might still dim, but they will never get hit by “too high” of voltage again, and that is where the damage happens.
We’ve found that businesses that install a service entrance TVSS and sub-panel TVSS’s eliminate all transient voltage damage that they generate themselves. Studies show that 75-80 percent of electrical degradation (sometimes referred to as electrical corrosion or rust) is actually due to internally-generated transients. In other words, your own equipment kills your other equipment over time.
It is as important to protect your sub-panels too, if you have one. IEEE states:
“ In addition to surge protective devices installed in the service entrance equipment, it is recommended that additional surge protective devices of Category”B” or Category “A”, as specified in IEEE Std C62.41.1991, be applied to downstream electrical switchboards and panelboards, and panelboards on the secondary of separately derived systems if they support communications, information technology equipment, signaling, television, or other form of electronic load equipment.”
Once these systems are properly installed and eliminate transients you’re generating yourself, light bulbs start lasting FOUR TO TEN TIMES LONGER on average. Motors last two to four times longer and run more efficiently. And your power bill is very likely to go down (or not increase as much as power rates go up), as more optimum efficiencies of any electrical equipment are maintained longer, and all your electric “stuff” pulls less power over time.
Again this should be used in conjunction with regular power strips/line conditioners.
At briopower.com we know this stuff works so well that we partnered with Hartford insurance to offer equipment surge warranties for $500,000.00 for 15 years. Install our TVSS equipment and if any of your connected audio equipment gets hit or damaged afterwards by a surge or strike event, we repair/replace it for free, no deductable, non-subrogated.
I did not make that statement as an advertisement, rather to illustrate how effective panel-mount TVSS systems are.
Two final notes. The industrial TVSS devices are expensive, but are less than a top of the line Line Conditioner. One TVSS big enough to handle a service entrance runs about $2500, smaller ones for sub panels (if needed) run around $1500.00. But more often than not, these will pay for themselves in lowered electrical bills and lowered maintenance costs over time. And they protect EVERYTHING in your house, from alarm clocks to alarm systems.
You can also call your homeowners insurance to ask for a premium reduction after installation, and you can feel good about the environment because you consume less equipment, energy, and light bulbs/fixtures over time.
Oh, and if you install a TVSS system, be sure to check your refrigerator temps afterwards as it is not uncommon for them to literally become more efficient and get colder…to the point of freezing your veggies.
