Hilux 4x4 Forum

So with the latest rounds of load shedding, i fear for my electronic equipment once more.
I have already lost tv and two decoders over the years. Now i read last week, that someone even lost their washing machine becuase PCB blew. And i just bought new washing machine 2 months ago.

SO i thought of getting the the individual surge protectors plugs for each plug :

https://www.takealot.com/ellies-feafg16 ... lsrc=aw.ds

But that could turn out quite and expensive exercise ... So it thought of getting just one for the DB board... connected to the main input:

https://www.takealot.com/eaton-dc-solar ... lsrc=aw.ds

But is this not just like your mains trip switch. And why is my mains trip switch not doing it's job in the first place?

dalkill wrote:So with the latest rounds of load shedding, i fear for my electronic equipment once more.
I have already lost tv and two decoders over the years. Now i read last week, that someone even lost their washing machine becuase PCB blew. And i just bought new washing machine 2 months ago.

SO i thought of getting the the individual surge protectors plugs for each plug :

https://www.takealot.com/ellies-feafg16 ... lsrc=aw.ds

But that could turn out quite and expensive exercise ... So it thought of getting just one for the DB board... connected to the main input:

https://www.takealot.com/eaton-dc-solar ... lsrc=aw.ds

But is this not just like your mains trip switch. And why is my mains trip switch not doing it's job in the first place?

Providing you have a mains circuit breaker and not an isolator. A breaker only trips if the current being pulled through the breaker exceeds the breakers rated current or if there is a short circuit. It will not operate if lighting or a surge in voltage occurs before the breaker.

The SANS 0142 was to include a new regulation that all new houses had to install surge protection devices in the Distribution Board to make the house compliant. After further testing it was found that surge protection devices does not operate fast enough if a strike is near or direct. Thus they did not implement the regulation.

Lightning and voltage surges are a bastard. Some devices may protect but to find the one approved surge is a good guess.

Wrt load shedding or outages. I switch off all breakers except mains and light breakers. I leave only one light on. When the power is restored I wait at least 15-20min for every thing to settle before switch rest of breakers on.

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Have to agree here ..... I'm no sparky, but surge protectors are not as efficient as we would like them to be. Perhaps a better option would be a UPS that can absorb the surge, but that's going to be a pricey option for a UPS system that can handle the wattage requirement of your household or even just the plug circuits.

Eish.. and here i thought surge protectors was the answer to my problems.
We havealos resorted to switching off appliances when scheduled load shedding was due... but after a few days of no load shedding at the advertised time slots, we just forgot about it.
And now i'm afraid load shedding sporadically, even at advertised times, cause we don't trust that schedule to prepare anymore... :-(