Boat Surge Protector.

One of the first things I do when I get home from the river is plug in the on board battery charger. I don’t know if anyone has had their boat electronics fried by a power surge from lightning or other causes but I don’t want to take a chance. A long time ago I put a good quality surge protector power strip in the boat rod locker. I keep the battery charger and terrova remote charger plugged into it then plug it in after I get home. I usually leave it plugged in till the next outing except if I’ll be away for a few days or I know thunderstorms are predicted. Call me paranoid but with all the networked graphs, TM etc. I think a good $30. surge protector is cheap insurance.

A guy I know had his house hit by lightning and his boat was plugged in the garage. The shock went through and killed everything in his boat. Batteries, graphs and the whole 9. He had insurance issues proving it. They ended up paying but it killed his entire season

I think surge protectors are a good idea. I put one on my garage door opener also.
Also been told a surge protector won’t stop a lighting strike from doing damage. That’s what the electrician that wired my house claims. He claims they will protect when power goes out and then comes back online. I have know idea if this is true or not.

MX1825 wrote:

I think surge protectors are a good idea. I put one on my garage door opener also.
Also been told a surge protector won’t stop a lighting strike from doing damage. That’s what the electrician that wired my house claims. He claims they will protect when power goes out and then comes back online. I have know idea if this is true or not.

We had lightning strike near our house about 20 years ago. Landline phones and a TV were fried. Two surge protector strips were toast but the computer and game system plugged into them were fine.

Pat K wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>MX1825 wrote:</div>
I think surge protectors are a good idea. I put one on my garage door opener also.
Also been told a surge protector won’t stop a lighting strike from doing damage. That’s what the electrician that wired my house claims. He claims they will protect when power goes out and then comes back online. I have know idea if this is true or not.

We had lightning strike near our house about 20 years ago. Landline phones and a TV were fried. Two surge protector strips were toast but the computer and game system plugged into them were fine.

GTK

Smart choice, had 13 thousand in damage because a substation got hit and back fed for miles . Installed a whole house surge protector after that.

I unplug my trolling motors and graph before charging my batteries.

@Don Meier If I may ask, how many years ago and approx price you paid for the whole house surge protector?

Being in the Telecom industry our equipment needs protection, did a bit of research and the brand i used was Panamax. I have had buildings get direct lighting hits and the Panamax protected equipment survived.
Made in the USA and they make products to cover every need. Look them up

Denny O wrote:

@Don Meier If I may ask, how many years ago and approx price you paid for the whole house surge protector?

It was like 2010 . It was less than 200 dollars for an electrician to instal on breaker panel

Hummm, I’ll have to look into it.

MX1825 wrote:

I think surge protectors are a good idea. I put one on my garage door opener also.
Also been told a surge protector won’t stop a lighting strike from doing damage. That’s what the electrician that wired my house claims. He claims they will protect when power goes out and then comes back online. I have know idea if this is true or not.

Seems like he might have had that opposite. Surge protectors protect from voltage spikes. Electronics (especially those with firmware/software) are also prone to brief voltage interruptions however. To prevent those issues use uninterruptable power supplies.

Huh never thought about it, yeah I am going to have research this now.

Surge protectors may or may not help against lightening, seen it from personal experience in the home I grew up in getting hit as well as hog barns which had whole power surge protection.

Lightening is so fast and intense that a lot of times it can get past the surge protector before it fully does it’s job.

The other thing you’ll see is a electronics in the house going bad 2-4 months after the strike, so don’t settle that insurance too early, or without the agreement that more may be coming.