What is you surge suppression experience

Hi,

First, to put it simply: I highly recommend a fiber optic cable connection.

Why?!!!! -> Because you have two major problems, plus a few other minor issues that also play a role.

1) Lightning strikes
2) Different grounding potentials between the buildings.

1.a) Lightning strikes can NEVER be intercepted with just a single component. That's the "minor" issue I was referring to.

Please look here at Eaton, USA (I use this in EU, Austria):

https://www.eaton.com/us/en-us/products/backup-power-ups-surge-it-power-distribution/surge-protection.html#sortCriteria=%40p_navigation_title%20descending%2C%40page_title%20descending%2C%40title%20descending&f-product_attributes_product_status=Active&enableQuerySyntax=true&cq=%40sub_category_id%3D%3D%22surge-protection-devices%22%20AND%20%40country%3D%22us%22%20AND%20%40language%3D%22en_US%22

So, the building needs a foundation grounding system, which is driven very deep into the ground in the center.

There are regulations regarding whether there needs to be one or more of these; this depends on the size of the building site.

You've roughly illustrated the extent in the video, about 300m on each side, approximately...
Therefore, also because there are several buildings, multiple foundation grounding systems are necessary; depending on the size, two or three.

This also depends on where the power source is located and where the transformer is situated.

The point is:

The power lines, in this case the lightning strike from where it would originate, create a voltage cone. Within this voltage field, the building's infrastructure, and even living beings with their step voltages, can be affected.

Therefore, first, the building must be protected with a lightning rod. This lightning rod already dissipates a significant amount of energy.

Second, the building needs surge protection for the three-phase power supply in the distribution box, directly at the inlet of the power line, along with an RCD (residual current device) and fuses.

With this surge protection, you can also install filters if a modem is installed that transmits data over the power line.

Third, surge protection devices for the equipment are then installed in the building, for example, as you showed in your post.

For the building, it is crucial that the protective earth conductor (PE) is very well connected to the foundation earth electrode, located at the bottom of the building on the equipotential bonding bar.

For the building, it is important that the protective earth conductor (PE) is very well connected to the foundation earth electrode, which is connected to the equipotential bonding bar at the bottom of the building.

The better these buildings are connected to the ground, the better the grounding potential between them. The lower the grounding potential, the better, ideally less than 2 volts.

The problem is minimized between buildings when you need to run data cables; underground is better than above ground.

The shielding of the LAN cable then acts as a ground conductor because it's connected to the protective earth (PE). Be careful not to create a ground loop.

Precisely for this reason, I recommend using fiber optic cable instead of copper cable.

Since you need power and LAN in all buildings, you can use fiber optic cable as the "backbone." The LAN cabling infrastructure is then located within the building.

Strictly speaking, this would eliminate the need for a wireless setup. In my experience, wireless LAN has its own set of problems, mostly related to weather conditions. Whether fiber optic or wireless, you'll need to use data converters in both cases. So, the effort involved is comparable. Fiber optic cables might be a bit more expensive to install, but after that you practically have no problems, unless an excavator tears the cable off, or the laser diode weakens after many years.

This was just the first thinking about, ok.

In the 1990s and 2000s, I offered these devices at my company as an electronics technician. Later, I was an electrician for the railway. Now I'm retired.

If you like, you can post here some details of your project.

Best Regards

Gerald

Hi Gerald,

Very useful information!

Hi Gerald,

Very useful information!