New Smart TV for a Dumb Guy :>)

Dragging myself kicking and screaming to take down my huge box/tube tv that I can hardly lift off its place in the house and has dark spots
---- I now have a Smart TV on the way.
Should be here next week -- Poll the audience???

Whole house surge protectors are a Myth Busters episode at best!

Do I need to protect my new "SMART" appliance with a simple surge protector - do I need a UPS -or a power line filter thingy

or all that jazz??

Kind Regards
Sting

I have a surge suppressor strip for my tv. All the other A/V crap,is plugged in as well. Couldn't hurt. Uninterrupted power supply usually has a surge suppressor built in. Don't have one of those for the TV but do have the computer plugged into one. Welcome to the 21st Century, Sting!

I went through that pain about two years ago. lcd, led, plasma, ?!?!?!?! dang I just wanted to be able to watch a few baseball games I didn't know I had to go through such an educational process.

I have the same as C12, plugged into a filtering power strip with the other 25+ yo stereo equip. I was hitting the switch on the power strip to minimize the off hours electric usage. But that got moved by the decorating committee and I can't get to it since I don't have an arm that is 40" long and 2" wide to fit behind the cabinet.

By the way is there something simple they sell that I can plug my ipod into and have it feed through one of my stereo inputs? I have two tape inputs on the amp that aren't being used.

Yes! A filtered uninterruptible power supply plugged into a surge protector. That ought to do it!

Back to the real side.... someone told me "if it has a computer chip you should use a surge protector". So... if it's "smart" it probably does. I'd at least put a surge protector on it. A quality uninterruptible power supply probably wouldn't be a bad idea. They will stop spikes and fill in gaps giving nice smooth power.

A basic surge protector should be fine, but if you have frequent issues with your power provider it might be worth looking into a UPS.

Also, if you use an outside antenna please make sure it is properly grounded.

is a ground rod enough

Yes. I use a coaxial grounding block and connect it to a grounding rod.

titleist1 wrote:By the way is there something simple they sell that I can plug my ipod into and have it feed through one of my stereo inputs? I have two tape inputs on the amp that aren't being used.

My smart*ss answer is "Yes, an Android."

Something like this? If the iPod has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack (and I think that it does), then this should work. Radio Shack has them, as do most [BigBox]-Marts. Only cost a couple bucks. I use one of these to plug in my Droid as well as my daughter's iPod Touch to the front RCA jacks on my amp.

Apple does sell A/V cables to hook an iPod/phone/pad into a TV or audio equipment. Will display video, screen content, photos and of course, play music.

wow....looky there - a simple cable......

you guys up there in central pa get all the neato gadgets.....

my next trip outta ceciltuckybama i'll have to check the stores in PA and pick me up one of them.

Sting wrote:is a ground rod enough

Sting, like you say it depends. It's important to under stand the ground wiring path to your TV. If for example your TV is using rabbit ears there is only one ground, the green safety ground in the AC power outlet. BUT, in the more typical case you have cable TV and/or and external antenna. Both of these have a grounding rod if install according to code. So far so good. BUT if the entry location of your antenna or cable TV coax is a different place than your service panel entrance wiring you could have a problem. Ideally all conductors entering your house enter at the same physical place and use the same earth grounding rod. What happens in a strong lightning strike current flows in the earth between any to different grounding rods. This very large current causes a voltage difference. If for example, this voltage difference is between your cable TV coax shield and your AC safety ground, this voltage also enters your electronics. It produces a current. How much depends. Too much and something burns out.

A more detailed explanation is here:

http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lhm/IEEE_Guide.pdf

So what would I do? (1) Install a whole house protector in your circuit breaker panel. Buying your own is cheaper that renting or buying the meter socket type from the power company. (2) Use a quality surge suppressor on the TV power cord and (3) also have a surge suppressor on the TV coax/antenna input. Look for units that combine (2) & (3).

I've posted before on this topic. Do a search.

<dragging the topic to my own selfish needs>

I have an antenna on the roof at the opposite end of my of the house from main electrical entrance. I have a ground rod on each end of the house. Main entrance to one, antenna to the other. Without reading 61 pages of how to protect myself from lightning....am I OK?

"It depends!" How deep are the rods? I remember reading somewhere that 2 grounding rods can be a bad thing depending on how they're wired. I await the experts response.......

The separate ground rods should be bonded together with at least #6 copper. This should equalize the voltage and help avoid damage.

However if you get a direct hit.....good luck with that avoiding damage thing!!! I've personally seen 200' of 7/8" antenna cable (with three grounding kits installed at various places) shattered into pieces no bigger than 2' when the appropriately grounded tower took a hit. Other hits I've been around were less destructive and the equipment survived.

Build your own surge protector, its easy and cheap. Store bought ones are worthless, also if you really want to play is safe build a relay drop out. That is also easy and cheap to do. You can combine them in one little box.