As it gets hotter and the rain birds start singing, many of us become excited, because soon the cooling rains will arrive, and the wooded areas will turn a beautiful green. But what we might forget, is that along with the rain comes thunder and lightning.
And if lightning strikes near the power, telephone or cable lines in our neighborhoods it could send a harmful surge of electricity into your house. This energy surge could fry any unprotected electronic gear it comes in contact with as it attempts to reach the ground. You can either provide this harmful surge with what it wants, a shortcut to the ground, or risk serious damage to your electronic appliances.
Does your wiring provide that harmful surge of electricity a shortcut to the ground? Let’s find out. Either you have the old-fashioned two-wire system which doesn’t or a modern three-wire system, where the third wire which is a ground, hopefully leads directly to either a ground wire provided by the electrical company, or often in Mexico, directly to copper rods buried deep in the ground on your property. Without that third wire to redirect that harmful surge of electricity, that surge can enter your TV, receiver, computer, refrigerator, etc. and do serious damage.
To learn more about the wiring in your home, look at any electrical outlet in your house. Each plug receptacle should have three holes (two rectangular and one circular). In Mexico the wire that carries the 127 volts is usually wrapped in black or sometimes red insulation and is attached to the smallest rectangular slot in your outlet. The neutral wire, usually white, attaches to the larger parallel slot. The third wire is the ground; it is often green or copper and leads to the large circular hole. If any of the wires are crossed, you are in danger of being shocked or having your equipment fried. To see whether your wires are properly connected either borrow an AC outlet analyzer and check all of your outlets or get help from an electrician.
If your house is properly wired, you can connect an item appropriately called a “surge protector” to the outlet and connect to it the items you are trying to protect. This protector intercepts the harmful surge and redirects it away from the equipment and to that third wire that leads directly to the ground. A simple surge protector could be a 250 peso power strip. Typically they are several inches wide and about a foot long with room for about six plugs. Unlike a simple power strip, the surge-protected power strip has electronic circuitry that senses power surges and redirects them to the grounding wire. (You could also consider a whole house surge protection system).
Don’t repeat the mistake of a well-meaning friend who thought that a surge protector would provide at least some protection on ungrounded two-wire circuits. Without a ground wire to shunt the surge to, you have very little protection. My friend lost a sat receiver and several computer components.
Remember not only can that surge of electricity enter through your power lines but also any other line you might have entering your house, like your cable TV or telephone line. That’s why more sophisticated surge protectors also have inlets and outlets for your telephone and/or cable TV lines.
Surge protectors are economical and easy to find at computer and hardware stores. They can protect you from most power surges. But should the lightning strike be close enough, surge protectors will be overwhelmed and your equipment will be harmed. The best protection is, of course, to unplug your electrical gear during electrical storms. Take immediate action to protect your electronics from lightning surges. The storm season is almost upon us.
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