Protecting Variable Speed Pumps

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CJadamec said:
Between the SQD and the intermatic I would go with the SQD one. Easy to install and is indoor/outdoor rated. I may be biased as that is the one I have in my main panel at my house.

The other question would be if it's over kill to have another one on the sub panel for the pool.
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The majority of transient events will make their way into your electrical system through your service entrance panel to the house. That should be your highest priority for quality surge protection. Transients can also be generated within your house/pool equipment area so locating a quality surge device there can have benefit.

It is also possible for nearby lighting strikes to a tree, house etc to induce a transient into nearby electrical circuits and damage equipment. If you have a pumping system on the far side of your house electrically distant from your main panel an induced surge could damage all of your equipment because the SPD upstream offers no protection.

On a side note, all of the surge devices you guys have been posting would offer virtually no protection for a direct lighting strike of moderate strength. You would need a SPD of at least 100kA per mode which are not residential class SPDs. I'm not even putting a device that large on my home. I'm more concerned with transients coming in through the utility system.
 
In the spirit of the post I think it was how to protect the pump electronics from the everyday nasties of the utility grid and other local surges that may occur. I went crazy with 3 ground rods and I bonded my panel to the rebar in my foundation. On top of adding a SPD to the main panel. Too many apliances have too many circuit boards to get fried these days.
 
apologies for the bump but lots of good info here and wanted to make sure I understood fully as we're getting ready to have our elec/equipment run. Going to go with the HEPD80 as recommended here. Is it necessary (or at least better) to have one installed at the main panel in the garage as well as at the pad (we'll be having a Pentair ET8 with hopefully a 125A breaker if we have room in one of the 2 main panels) or just the one? We also will have a standalone hot tub (50A service) that may or may not be on the same panel in the garage. If the spa and the ET8 are using different panels in the garage should we add one to both panels?
 
I have two. The Eaton Ultra is on my main service panel to protect all my household electronics (including the pool equipment). Eaton Whole House Surge Protector-CHSPT2ULTRA-1 - The Home Depot

I have a smaller one at the pool sub panel just to provide a little additional protection for the pool equipment. Amazon.com: Square D by Schneider Electric SDSA1175 Panel Mounted Single Phase Type 1 Surge Protective Device: Home Improvement

Total cost for both was under $150 and install took one afternoon of my time.
 
In general as I understand it surge protection works best the closer the protector is to the device you are protecting. There are a few good explanations I've read that have been posted here. Having a protection device in your main panel is good it will offer protection to the entire house. The further away you are from the main panel (wire length not physical distance) the protection from the device in your main panel diminishes. That is why it is better, if you have a subpanel for your pool, to install a surge protection device there as well. Along the same lines using the plug in surge suppressor/powerstrips next to computer and home electronics offers more complete protection to those devices.

The other thing to consider is the type of surge suppression. Not all the panel mount devices are equal. The HEPD 80 is recommend because it offers a much higher level of protection when compared to most of the other devices available at Home depot. Any surge protection is better than nothing but for the devices readily available to the average home owner, in my opinion, its the top choice.
 
I will be installing a variable speed pump this spring. I will add a surge protector to my main panel at my house. However, I do not have a sub-panel for my pool equipment. I have a single 220V circuit for my pool pump (circuit breaker is in main panel) and a second 110V circuit for my heater and pool light (circuit breaker is also in main panel).

Is there a way to add secondary surge protection near my pump without adding a sub-panel at my equipment pad? Maybe I'm reading things incorrectly, but it seems that all the posts on this site where people add secondary surge protection at their equipment pad there has been a sub-panel involved.
 

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Is there any kind of junction box at the equipment pad? Pictures would help.


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faby3003 said:
Is there a way to add secondary surge protection near my pump without adding a sub-panel at my equipment pad? Maybe I'm reading things incorrectly, but it seems that all the posts on this site where people add secondary surge protection at their equipment pad there has been a sub-panel involved.
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I don't see the point of doing this. If you have one at the main panel and pool equipment is fed through the main panel, then that should take care of the pool equipment. You would need a second protector if a pool sub panel was fed directly from the meter.
 
I have 2 eatons installed. I spoke to a tech rep at Eaton and he said that mounting it this way would protect the whole house. Here is the the one at the main panel.






I also installed on on the sub panel. Not sure how much these will protect but at $90 each I thought it was a good investment. :cheers:

 
Generally speaking, surge protection comes in different levels of protection based on clamping voltage limits, joule ratings, and clamping speeds. A "whole house" SPD is good for keeping power utility variations from affecting household equipment but they won't protect devices far away from them that experience a direct spike. Usually you want a mix of SPDs with very sensitive equipment having SPDs at the plug.

I have an SPDs at the main panel as well as sub panel AND I have plug based SPDs on my computers, TVs and an UPS/SPD on my cable modem and router.


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JoyfulNoise said:
Generally speaking, surge protection comes in different levels of protection based on clamping voltage limits, joule ratings, and clamping speeds. A "whole house" SPD is good for keeping power utility variations from affecting household equipment but they won't protect devices far away from them that experience a direct spike. Usually you want a mix of SPDs with very sensitive equipment having SPDs at the plug.

I have an SPDs at the main panel as well as sub panel AND I have plug based SPDs on my computers, TVs and an UPS/SPD on my cable modem and router.
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Agree..... I have SPD's at outlets with my equipment as well including major appliances such as the refrigerator, garage door opener, computers, TV's, etc. I'd rather think I'm overdoing it than saving a few bucks and have to replace expensive equipment.
 
I am not an expert but I have these on every single outlet in the garage and house including fridge. I have quite a few things on automation I would like to protect like my Rachio and IQ liftmaster in the garage. I also have APCs for my security camera system and computer and back up drives located in my office and one dedicated to my indoor home theater system.:cheers:
I have this on every outlet.




bobandsherry said:
Agree..... I have SPD's at outlets with my equipment as well including major appliances such as the refrigerator, garage door opener, computers, TV's, etc. I'd rather think I'm overdoing it than saving a few bucks and have to replace expensive equipment.
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I use Tripp-Lite SPDs of various sizes like this one -

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One thing I like about Tripp-Lite is they design their SPDs so that each outlet has its own dedicated clamps and chokes as opposed to others that usually gang several outlets together in parallel. This means that cross-interference is not possible between devices so if a TV threw off a high voltage surge, the Blu-Ray player plugged into the the adjacent outlet space is immune.


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JoyfulNoise said:
Is there any kind of junction box at the equipment pad? Pictures would help.


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At the pad I have a junction box that has a switch for during my current single speed pump on and off. I also have an enclosure for my Intermatic mechanical time clock. So, there are places where I could put a SPD in line. But, I'm not sure if there are SPDs sold that are meant to be installed inline, or if they all need to be hooked up to a breaker.
 
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