Siemens FSPD140 vs Siemens FS140 Surge Protectors

[@blkhawk661]

i know nothing about these products, I just know that i'm buying whatever Arthur is selling.... he knows his stuff and he is doing things for the right reasons.

[@rokroll]

I agree with you there.

[@disasterprepper]

Very kind of you. Thanks.

[@seditiouslibel]

First & foremost thank you for a thorough, detailed description and walk-through of the new product. As a master electrician I have installed several FS140 protectors. I find it to be a straightforward easy install which complies with the national electrical code. The new FSPD140 will not be a product I offer. It falls short of meeting code compliance and fails to meet Siemens standards. I site the following. 90% of these devices are installed on the bottom of the load-center. Siemens specifically requires the conductors terminate as close to the MAIN CB. That would require the conductors be a minimum of 36" in length to accomplish this. Secondly, the original design was provisioned with mounting holes. This was not just to provide a secure mount, but to comply with fastening requirements of all equipment. A male thread and locknut is not acceptable and will fail an inspection. In closing, I would offer this new product if it was designed to meet higher standards for support and lengthened the conductors, thereby offering the electrician the opportunity to meet Siemens specs for point of termination. Again, great review. Siemens, let's make some re-designs. Thank you, stay well. NOTE: My comments are open to criticism and were based strictly on the presentation. Not hands on.

[@disasterprepper]

All very fair criticisms. I'm a fan of the FS140.

[@cengeb]

Why would you want longer leads, as most mfgs of surge devices want it as short as possible...I think it would be better with shorter leads, and have to connected even in the middle of the bus of the panel, rather than longer leads creating a problem with protection, more than not exactly as close to main CB. Why is male thread mounting on a panel, not passing inspections, they are UL listed for using this attachment procedure? Ever see outdoor flood lights mounting into a box, on a male threaded part, out door lighting is much heavier and stressful on the mount than a light weight plastic box.

[@randomsmarts3977]

I'm a bit confused. It seems like it might be possible for an E3 surge to last quite sometime (seconds). If the surge protector is wired into a panel using a series breaker ( some low amperage like 20A-50A) then what prevents that breaker from tripping and disconnecting the surge protector and unprotecting the house from a continuing surge or subsequent surges. Would it be better if the main 200A breaker tripped completely disconnecting the house?

[@normbal]

Makes sense to me; I don’t understand how tripping a SINGLE breaker protects anything else on the bus much less the whole house.

[@TristanThrogmorton-y3g]

I have FSPD140s at both my service panels (outside at meter load side) and inside my house (breaker panels) total of 4 (two 200A services) I’m concerned that the VPR is to high. 700v seems pretty high before the thing kicks on. Would it be better to add something else downstream with a VPR closer to 240v?

[@michaelbeckerman7532]

Absolutely correct. What rarely gets mentioned in these review videos on whole-house/whole-building MOV-based surge protectors is the fact that if they aren't even going to start to clamp voltage until 600 to 900v then they are basically worthless for protecting an devices with sensitive electronics in them. Most electronic devices today can handle voltages up to about 330v before they start to get damaged. Well, if your whole-house surge protector doesn't even start to protect until 600 to 900v then the damage is already done by the time they start to work. You would likely be wise to a put series-mode, non-sacrificial, inductance-based SPD at the outlet where you have any expensive electronic devices plugged in. Those (at least for the good ones) can start to clamp voltage right at 330v which is exactly where you want your protection to kick in. Also, keep in mind here those devices don't just dump excess voltage off onto the ground wire the way MOV-based SPD's do when they start to clamp. Dumping voltage off onto the ground wire cause ground-wire contamination and can potentially damage any networked devices on the premises as those will typically use ground as a reference.

[@coloradogirl9913]

Thank you Arthur for sharing your knowledge with us!

[@bdubs1412]

Thanks for the review! How do these stackup to the emp sheild SPD?

[@expertpc2007]

I had the FS140 installed by an electrician as well as the ferrites. Interestingly enough, when they started to install, they found my panel had fried from a previous incident where a high voltage line dropped onto the residential lines and surged the whole town. I lost a few things but had not realized the panel was damaged. As the electrician took off a 30 amp breaker to wire in the SPD, he saw all the carbonization. Further investigation found the whole panel was badly damaged. I watched the whole time to learn and am glad I did. That was pricey! I wish I had that SPD in place a couple years prior when the surge hit! In any case, would you recommend replacing the currently installed and operational FS140 with the new FSPD140? If so, is it just a matter of swapping line for line or is there a new wiring requirement? Thanks!

[@disasterprepper]

If you suffered that kind of damage, it's probably worth considering a new FS140. Surely, it experienced some heavy currents.

[@expertpc2007]

1:03 ​@@disasterprepperThe damage to the breaker panel occurred before I had the SPD installed. When the electrician pulled a 30a breaker off he saw the carbonization of the connectors. Then pulled others and they were barely conducting current. Once all were pulled you could see the damage. A new panel was installed and then the FS140 was added. So back the the original question, is the protection of the new SPD worth the cost of swapping out the FS160?

[@1winlock]

Im installing a FS140 on my house, and my question is if I add an Intermatic AG3000 dedicated to my AC is that setup redundant or will it cause problems? Ya I know it's a long sentence🙂

[@Inkling777]

I have exactly the same setup and view it as a positive. Not only am I giving added protection to my heat pump, which is my most valuable equipment by far, surge protection works both ways. The largest in-house source of a surge is my heat pump compressor. The AG3000 should help keep that compressor surge from reaching other equipment.

[@disasterprepper]

One may kick on sooner than the other, but I don't see how it would cause any issues.

[@jeffmueller9059]

I ordered 3 ferrites from you and have 4 cables going into my panel 200amp service should i put #3 ferrite on neutral or ground for now until I order another, my neutral bus bar and ground bus bar are physically connected

[@robertblaser9899]

Since you took both apart, can you share the PN of each type of MOV? I'm really curious on those single large square type. Would like to lookup datasheet on them and compare

[@disasterprepper]

Oddly, I couldn't see a part number on them.

[@okstgrad86]

Would this newer version still be your top recommendation? I went to buy one based on your past video only to find that the older model is extremely hard to come by without paying a king’s ransom. You have also mentioned Eaton. Does this change your preference? I am purchasing based on your opinion. Thx!

[@disasterprepper]

I still like the FS140 best because of the ease of installation. That said, if you can't find one, the FSPD140 is probably the next best. The Eaton CHSPT2ULTRA is a lower cost alternative that is also a great product.

[@okstgrad86]

@@disasterprepper Thank you so much!

[@roberttorres809]

First off, let me start by saying that I love your videos. They’re very insightful, thank God for KZbin! Second, I was wondering if you could at some point compare an HEPD80, 80KA Ultimate, Surge Arrest, Whole Home Surge Protection; it’s a Square D that I bought at the Homedepot back in 07/ 21; to the ones that you just show cased. Your insights on this product would be helpful. Thank in advance; Bob….

[@disasterprepper]

Hi Bob, I'll see if we can get one of the HEPD80's.

[@renisthemenace]

I saw in a couple of video comments that the companies that make these got on the NEC board and made these a code requirement for 2023 so they can sell them and they even have subscriptions from utility. I got a flier from Duke for a subscription plan for surge protector

[@maddeusdoggeus1]

Great Info as always. Thank You!

[@TheWilferch]

I wouldn't call the 2, separate incoming 120V lines as "phases"...as properly this whole deal is single phase power....whether you're looking at the 120V line or both together to create 240V. And therein lies my question. Some devices like AC units call each 120V "leg"... L1 or L2.... and Siemens seems to use the moniker, line "A" and line "C", matching the green lights label...which I thought was odd as why not label them as "A" and "B" ? I installed not only an FS140, but also 2 digital meters to monitor each of the 120V "legs"..... and needed to label the meters somehow, so I used A and C to match the location and labelling of the FS140. So my question---> my GE Goldmark panel allows the use of half-width breakers....and for the few slots where this can be done..... the breaker numbering therefore must use ( for example, for slot 25)..... 25A for the top half slot location and 25B for the bottom half. When half sized breakers are used this way in the SAME slot number....BOTH pick up power from the SAME LEG. If a full size breaker was used here, it would simply be location #25. So, if you use half-width breakers, you need to number them separately some way....either "Left" leg (A), or the "Right" leg (B). Why wouldn't Siemens also use A and B to avoid labelling confusion when stuff like this gets installed ???.... any idea?

[@disasterprepper]

Not sure why Siemens labels this way. I understand how it could cause confusion.

[@KEVINPAGEkf4znl]

What about old-fashioned fuse box? House was built in 1910 and is grounded but no grounded outlets.

[@henrychung007]

Great video! Siemens FSPD140's specs look very similar to Raycap RSE Series 1. I'm wondiering if FSPD140 is a rebranded Raycap RSE Series 1 or it's made by Raycap for Siemens.

[@llN3M3515ll]

Thanks for the video, subbed.

[@underdog2594]

Thanks for the review!

[@dajodadarodajodo4600]

Thanks Arthur ! much appreciate it !!

[@richardoder3459]

How can you turn a shipping container into a large faraday cage?

[@disasterprepper]

It's a bit of a trick, and I talk about it on one of my videos. You have to focus on the seams and of course, the doors.

[@todamnbad]

Do you have a video talking about the midnight solar SPD

[@disasterprepper]

No, but I do like their DC surge protection devices. They seem like well made products.

[@todamnbad]

@@disasterprepper I have a few of them but can't seem to find any 3rd party reviews on them

[@cDog8766]

I've been binging some of you EMP shielding videos and have found the information both helpful and interesting. Something that I'm left curios about is the effectiveness of different layer combinations and if they need to be worried about in preparation of probably the worst case scenario; a nuclear bomb based EMP blast. It's my understanding that such a scenario would have much greater effects than what you've shown in your lab based videos, and am concerned that just one layer wouldn't be enough in the hopefully unlikely event. In your opinion, what might be the best combination for a multi layer storage box?

[@disasterprepper]

A good shielding layer can easily offer 50+ dB of shielding, which in my opinion is enough to protect from the effects of an EMP. That said, multiple layers can give you 100 dB or more if you want even more assurance.

[@mkpears]

...the short wires are on purpose, as the device needs to be as close to the incoming power wires as possible...

[@iiinsaiii]

Can you use them for EMP Protection?

[@waynehajek839]

@iiinsaiii No, this is for transient voltage surges, not for EMP.

[@disasterprepper]

Yes, for protection from E1 and E2, but not E3. SPDs aren't perfect EMP protection, but they do help with the conducted transients coming in on the power lines.

[@zeb781]

Hello, Thanks for the great video !!! I prefer the older one MORE !

[@lidong8599]

👍

[@ChristoSchutte-p1d]

... connecting multiple MOVs in parallel is not the same as connecting a single MOV (with the same ratings as the "combined" MOV rating) due to the fact that the knee-point-voltage of MOVs have a tolerance and the one with the lowest KPV would be destroyed ex. one of the MOVs because it will clamp at lower voltage than the rest in parallel. The failure mechanism of an MOVs is a short circuit, until the device is destroyed resulting in an open circuit (or fire). You need a single MOV that has a one clamping voltage and a much higher current rating (single MOV)... thus the new model having only one MOV for a specific purpose. Wonder how many units failed because of this configuration and thus the change???

[@jppalm3944]

Mounting sucks. Ever see a fully wired panel? Plywood! What’s with the in wall? Code has panel on plywood or equal

[@disasterprepper]

Agreed.

[@cengeb]

2 phase? 125/250 Residential is single phase...

[@derrelcarter9401]

I have a question: my home has an external flush mount breaker box that is locked (by the power pukes?) & an internal garage flush mount breaker box. Do I just need to install this box and the magnetic protectors on the internal breaker box?

[@waynehajek839]

@derrelcarter9401 This unit needs to be installed at your incoming main service panel location, not downstream to your surface mounted load center.