Thunder storm season

[coolbranch]

The crux of the biscuit? Always use protection or prepare to be shocked.

[palerider]

The crux of the biscuit?

I have to admit that I did not know that biscuits had cruxes!

[coolbranch]

It's a Frank Zappa classic line. A bit out of scope for most.

[archangle]

Lightning and voltage surges happen frequently. I have the A10 ResMed plugged into a Tripplite surge suppressor. The A10 cpap does not have a ground prong. How does that work? Without the ground prong, does the surge protector function as it should?

The third wire ground has very little to do with surge protection for a 2 wire device. If anything, a 2-wire device may be less susceptible to surges than a 3 wire device. The 2 wire device only sees the voltage between the two wires and doesn't care about ground unless it's connected to some other device.

If you're not going to be using it during a storm, unplugging the CPAP helps a lot. Turning off a power strip or surge protector also gives you a considerable degree of protection, but not as much as unplugging.

By the way, I would expect electrocution by power surges during CPAP to be really unlikely. It's sort of inherent in the basic design of the equipment with hose and mask. You also probably aren't connected to ground in your bed. I would also expect the machine to have a high degree of deliberate protection such as insulation and "hipot."

Of course, sometimes lightning ignores that does what it darn well wants. After all, it's already jumped though several hundred feet of air and may just decide to strike you directly as you lie in bed.

[postitnote]

It's a Frank Zappa classic line. A bit out of scope for most.

Apostrophe! Most might be more familiar with "Watch out where the huskies go and don't you eat that yellow snow".

[coolbranch]

postitnote... you are hip!...as we used to say almost daily in the 70's. Sorry to say the genius of Frank is gone, among others I loved. I enjoyed one of his Mothers of Invention concerts at the OMNI in Hotlanta. Mr. George Duke his keyboardist is gone of late also. If this reply sounds off topic, it is not. Zappa was ELECTRIC as a thunderstorm.

[postitnote]

postitnote... you are hip!...as we used to say almost daily in the 70's. Sorry to say the genius of Frank is gone, among others I loved. I enjoyed one of his Mothers of Invention concerts at the OMNI in Hotlanta. Mr. George Duke his keyboardist is gone of late also. If this reply sounds off topic, it is not. Zappa was ELECTRIC as a thunderstorm.

As in "electric pink lemonade". Oh geeze, early 70's. Small frozen cans of pink lemonade mixed with something called "Everclear". I was young. Zappa was playing at the Auditorium in Chicago. After party at a frat house I was too young to be at! I got in so much trouble Great concert!

[SleepDisturbed]

I live in tornado alley (the Van, TX tornado was just a few miles away.). We have frequent storms and abundant power issues.

All of my expensive electronic equipment is protected by Brickwall devices (http://www.brickwall.com). But, I mean EXPENSIVE stuff, as the Brickwall stuff costs hundreds, so I only cover high end sound systems, big screen tv, high end computers and stuff. I don't worry about clock radios. My cpap is covered by a tripplite, not expensive enough to justify a Brickwall.

In many years of using their stuff I have never had any kind of damage. So if you have a sizable investment in something, like an elaborate entertainment system, they are cheap insurance.y

I had my house hit by lightning once! Nothing protected by the brickwall stuff was damaged, everything else, like refrigerators, was fried and had to be replaced. The brick wall devices were also fine.

[westom]

deleted

[westom]

In many years of using their stuff I have never had any kind of damage. So if you have a sizable investment in something, like an elaborate entertainment system, they are cheap insurance.

Cheap? You spend how many $hundreds per appliance to only protect a few? The proven solution that protects everything costs about $1 per protected appliance.

How many joules does a Brickwall absorb? About 6000 joules. Destructive surges can be hundreds of thousands of joules. So your Brickwall protected from a tiny surge.

Of course, that meant a furnace, air conditioner, all bathroom and kitchen GFCIs, every recharging cell phone, the stove, washer, all telephone equipment, etc were damaged. What protected wires in the walls? What most needs protection during a surge? Smoke detectors. What protects them? Clearly not a Brickwall. All examples of why informed homeowners protect everything for tens or 100 times less money using well proven 'whole house' protection.

What actually happened? Brickwall is a series mode filter. It blocked a surge. So surge voltage increased as necessary to maintain a current flow to earth. Voltage rose so high as to find other destructive paths through other appliances. What protected the Brickwall connected device? Those other damaged appliances.

Effective protection means a surge is not even inside the building. Effective protection means a homeowner can say where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate. That solution costs about $1 per protected appliance.

[chunkyfrog]

. . . GFCIs and grounding are different things... the gfci operates by looking for a current difference between the 'hot' and 'neutral' pins on a two wire circuit. and is a really good idea to have whenever you're working around available grounded surfaces... like the sink, or the stove.

kitchen appliances don't have ground pins not because the world doesn't <3 cooks, but because the machines are designed so the outer case can't become electrified.

Actually, I have been shocked by a clothes dryer and my refrigerator, and my mother was zapped by her mixer--
hence my affinity for GFCI's---that and having worked at Square-D (drafting) while in school.

[palerider]

. . . GFCIs and grounding are different things... the gfci operates by looking for a current difference between the 'hot' and 'neutral' pins on a two wire circuit. and is a really good idea to have whenever you're working around available grounded surfaces... like the sink, or the stove.

kitchen appliances don't have ground pins not because the world doesn't <3 cooks, but because the machines are designed so the outer case can't become electrified.

Actually, I have been shocked by a clothes dryer and my refrigerator, and my mother was zapped by her mixer--
hence my affinity for GFCI's---that and having worked at Square-D (drafting) while in school.

sounds like those need to have their grounds checked!! I was getting a very mild shock from my pinball machine, and I started checking, and found that it's ground pin in the plug wasn't conducting, I wiggled it, and it fell out!

after replacing the plug, it was ok, and no getting shocked anymore.

[Goofproof]

Sounds you need to be raised tougher to surive, like I was. At the age of 2 I was regularly given baths in the kitchen sink, when the water was turned on me I'd cry.

Later they found out a 110 volt outlet was in the wall under the sink. Water would splash, when the faucet was turned on to rinse me the electricity would flow through me! You have to raise your kids tough, that's what makes the U.S.A. great. Jim

I did stutter as a kid, maybe I was overcharged.

[Zomby Woof]

It's a Frank Zappa classic line. A bit out of scope for most.

@coolbranch

The crux of the biscuit is the Apostrophe

[coolbranch]

If the crux of the biscuit is the Apostrophe, then what is a Zomby Woof? What it is, is what I felt like this morning when I woke at 4:30. Gotta stop using the Remzzzz's. Too many leaks for me.

The link is optional. However, the lyrics begin with sleep experiences which are applicable to this forum. The soothing music could very make you sleep well tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksnwEsPKO5s

Please forgive me...