BUYER BEWARE!
We regularly speak with customers that have been approached by salesmen claiming surge suppressors can save significant amounts of energy and even guarantee their energy savings.

NEW!!!
SECRET WHITE PAPERS
This may be the best one yet....
This guy claims to have spent $500,000 on a study to prove that surge suppressors save energy and he won't let anyone see them because they're "proprietary".

HERE'S THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

O.K...let's figure this one out.  This guy's proven something that could SAVE OUR COUNTRY BILLIONS OF DOLLARS...maybe even make us more secure by reducing our reliance on Middle-Eastern Oil...but noooooooo...he's got a "secret".

There's only a few reasons you'd keep such a thing a secret, because "secret white papers" don't amount to diddle when it comes to proving anything to a customer.  Of course, 

   1. He DID prove that surge suppressors are energy savers but you also proved that it doesn't take his ridiculously overpriced equipment to do it and it can also be done by something you can buy from a catalog for $400. He sure wouldn't want you to find THAT out...if it's true.  You'd figure if these claims have been made for 30 years, now, SOMEONE in the industry would have figured it out before now.

2. He DID prove that they save energy but it's nowhere NEAR the "20% GUARANTEE" he made his "business decision" about.  

3. He knows the "study" isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

4. Claiming he has "secret papers proving his claims" tends to fool the mouth-breathers* he cons into buying inventory as distributors*.....

*but apparently some of them aren't dumb as a box of rocks...SEE YET ANOTHER ARTICLE 

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET..........
(Also known as "X" picoseconds...)

We've heard of a company claiming "picosecond" reaction times for industrial surge suppression equipment.   Interestingly enough, they claim exactly the same number as another company (which does it in "nanoseconds").  We've even got a copy of the original test report on file.

This is the funny part.  The test was done in the 80's...wh en equipment did not exist to measure reaction that quickly.  It's difficult today to measure reaction times this quickly.  We can't think of a single ethical manufacturer of surge suppression equipment that would do so...because there is no standard for measuring "reaction speed".

Then...they claim that this reaction speed is the reason they are so good at "saving energy".  Here's a hint for the mathematically deprived...the faster the transient, the more likely it has less energy.

Can they claim this difference MAKES a difference?  Let's look at it another way, with two manufacturers...one claiming a nanosecond reaction time (reasonable and achieveable)...and the "picosecond boys".

If a second were a THOUSAND MILES....
....One nanosecond would be .000005 foot, or about .012 inch (twelve hundredths of an inch)
.....One hundred picoseconds would be .0012 inch (twelve thousandths of an inch).
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
One-ONE HUNDREDTH of an inch...in 1000 miles.

Does this pass the logic test for you?  If you really want to get rid of this type of "rep"...ask him to provide proof from an independent, nationally recognized testing laboratory...and then forget about him.  
You won't see him again 

"MAGIC EPOXY"..........
(Also known as "VOODOO GLUE"...)

This company claims that they encapsulate their equipment in a "special" epoxy that is "proprietary" and that it has special "heat dissipation" properties that make it very efficient at "saving energy" because it is able to dissipate component heat more qu ickly.

Hint for the mathematically deprived.  Heat=Energy.  If your surge suppressor is "heating up" it means that you aren't diverting transient voltages with the least resistance possible.  In other words...you are USING energy.  The components in surge suppressors have a characteristic.  They divert voltage with almost no resistance.  This means...no heat.

WHAT WE THINK IS THE REAL REASON:  They fill the box with epoxy so the unsophisticated can pick it up and think..."Gee...this one is really heavy...it must be worth a lot."  What happens when you fill a box with epoxy?  Think about it.  The components of a surge suppressor will become liquid under severe conditions (like lightning).  If they are encapsulated in an extremely thick chunk of plastic, there's nowhere for this force to go.  It explodes. Violently.

Oh, yeah...this is from the same company that uses 14 gauge "THHN" wire in their construction...the cheapest you can get.

"Transients make your electrical meter "over register"..........
(Also known as "The 100 MPG Carburetor that the big-bad Utility Companies are hiding from you "...)

Proof #1? A photocopied page from a GE technical manual...FROM 1949!

Proof #2? An article written almost 10 years (here's a copy) that is poorly understood by laymen. Its basis is a mathematical proof that transient activity can produce "X" percent energy losses in commercial environments.  The problem? This proof relies on using a specific number of transient events per hour...and there is no proof that there is either (1) that many transients per hour in the average f acility and (2) an analysis of the magnitude and frequency of the transients being considered (and that they could produce such savings...even if eliminated completely).

There is some evidence that meters will over- register in the presence of very high levels of harmonic activity...but if that's happening to you, you've got bigger problems than your meter over-registering.

The "Lifetime Guarantee"..........
(Also known as "Under THOSE conditions we'll give you THREE Lifetimes...")

This company tells you to install their suppressor on a circuit breaker.  Go figure. What happens when the breaker trips? Your protection is..."off". Any transient capable of killing the unit will cause the breaker to trip...thus protecting the product...and leaving you wide open.

This page,  unfortunately, will be constantly "under construction".  The crazy things we hear never stop.

PHONE:   (678) 546-6780      FAX:   (678) 546-6782

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Stedi-Power, Inc.
5044 B U Bowman Drive,
Suite 102
Buford GA 30518

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