westom

A popular myth was that speaker wire had polarity. Many were sold wire with one end marked for the amp; other end for the speaker. Quite a few said they could hear a difference. So Monster jumped in to sell $7 speaker wire for $70 - because it was marked with polarity.

Any product also being sold by Monster is traditionally a scam. Take a $3 power strip. Add some ten cent protector parts. Sell it for $25 or $150. Because it costs so much, large numbers will insist it does something.

Did you read Monster's numeric specs? What do the numbers say? Where does it list protection from each type of surge? It does not for one glaring reason. It does not claim to protect from destructive surges. It protects from a type of surge that typically does no damage. That is enough for most everyone to hype "it does 100% surge protection". Yes, the scam is that egregious.

Did you not first read the tech numbers? That is the only place where lying is not legal.

Now read the spec numbers for that APC UPS. Hundreds of joules. How does that absorb surges that are hundreds of thousands of joules? It doesn't. The spec numbers say it has near-zero surge protection. Just enough above zero so that sales propaganda says it is 100% surge protection. Again, at what point so you read numbers rather than listen to so many who are so easily deceived? BTW, the same propaganda technique also proved Saddam had WMDs.

So how does that 2 cm part inside a protector stop what three miles of sky could not? It doesn't. It hopes you remain dumb - do not ask such damning questions. Do not learn how surge protection even from direct lightning strikes was done even 100 years ago.

No protector stop, blocks, or absorbs surges. Even though Monster, APC, and other scams need you to believe the myth. Let's see what the NIST (US government research agency) says:
> You cannot really suppress a surge altogether, nor "arrest" it. What these protective devices
> do is neither suppress nor arrest a surge, but simply divert it to ground, where it
> can do no harm.

A benchmark to filter out nonsense from a majority. Do they discuss where the energy dissipates? Do they discuss single point earth ground? If not, they 'know' only what they were ordered by propaganda to know. Notice only one - jmsremax - posted reality.

Effective protection is always about where energy dissipates. Either surge energy (hundreds of thousands of joules) is absorbed harmlessly outside the building. Or that energy goes hunting for earth destructively via appliances. That is everything.

Hunting. A surge on utility wires down the street is a surge directly to every powered off or on appliance. Every appliance. So which appliance is damaged? Hunting. Which appliance makes a better connection to earth? That appliance is most often damaged. The only way to stop the hunt is to earth a 'whole house' protector.

Why does lightning strike wooden church steeples? Because even wood is an electrical conductor. Linoleum tile and concrete are even better conductors. A surge has numerous secret and hidden paths to find earth destructively. Nothing inside a building will avert the hunt. Or you know that by reading the numeric specs. Either earth a 'whole house' protector for about $1 per protected appliance. Or you spend $hundreds on a magic box that claims near-zero surge protection.

Nothing new here. This science was understood even 100 years ago. Described by last 1800s patents. And ignored when so many are educated by retail propaganda rather than well proven science. Remember how many 'knew' Saddam had WMDs? Same process. How myths and wild speculation get a majority to believe lies.

Protection is and was always about earthing. Much more responsible companies sell 'whole house' protectors including Leviton, Siemens, General Electric, ABB, Keison, and Intermatic. A list of responsible companies is long. Does not include APC, Belkin, Tripplite or Monster. An effective Cutler-Hammer solution sells in Lowes and Home Depot for less than $50.

How to quickly identify ineffective protectors. 1) It has no dedicated earthing wire. 2) Manufacturer avoids all discussion about earth ground. And yes, you must read this multiple times to understand it.

Only effective solutions make that short (ie 'less than 10 foot') connection to single point earth ground. Only effective solutions are designed to earth direct lightning strikes - and the protector is not even damaged. Effective solutions also cost tens or 100 times less money - from more responsible companies.

Protection is always about where energy dissipates. Repeated because unlearning retail myths is that difficult. Protection means hundreds of thousands of joules dissipate harmlessly in earth. And nobody even knew the surge existed. A protector is only as effective as the only thing that does protection - single point earth ground. And this is only the executive summary.