Surge Protection Device, 1 Phase, 120/240V, 2 Poles, 2 Wires CHSPT2ULTRA - 1 Each

Why so difficult? The leads are quite short. I planned to mount the unit through a punchout in the bottom of the panel. I quickly realized the leads would not reach without extending them. However, there was plenty of room inside the panel. I mounted it at the top beside the main breaker. Even at that, it was s stretch for the white wire to reach the Neutral bar. I also had to move a neutral wire down one screw to make the top connection available. Drilling the holes for the screws through the main panel was not easy. The panel is made of a very hard steel. To be sure the screws secured tightly, I drilled smaller holes and kept enlarging them until I got just the right size. I had also planned in piggybacking to the range breaker. Once I pulled the breaker, I discovered very heavy gauge wire connected and sealed with dielectric grease. Rather than mess with that I ran to Ace and bought a 50 amp breaker, which would be to code anyway. Then as I was reassembling the panel, I realized there would be no way to monitor the LED's without removing the panel cover. I had to carefully measure and drill two holes in the cover that lined up with the LED's. The old measure twice thing did not come into play here because the cover shifts position once installed. I ended up drilling FOUR holes and covering two with duct tape. Not electrical tape? No, because the electrical tape is black, and does not match the panel. Well, that and, I'm a guy. Guys use duct tape. It's a guy thing, you wouldn't understand. So that's a total of eight holes drilled through hardened steel, and a few of those were drilled three times to get the right size without stripping. Wiring the unit was very quick and easy and had the leads been long enough, mounting would have been just as easy. It was mounting the unit that was so time and labor intensive. Now that it's done though, I am very pleased with the installation, as is my wife because nothing is visible from the outside when the panel door is closed. As for the function of the device, I have seen the internal components. The MOV's are extremely beefy! I can't imagine typical surges or spikes ever damaging this thing. I would expect it to work forever unless we get hit by lightning. And that's the biggest reason for it. Should that happen, we'll have more to worry about. But I imagine between this unit and plug-in surge suppressors inside, our electronics should survive. Let's not test that theory, but this device is insurance. Also, normal daily surges and spikes do not necessarily damage equipment but their effect is cumulative. Eventually, the electronics will fail. This device, in combination with the normal surge suppressors, should extend the life of my equipment. This is definitely something NO home should be without! Why are these not required by code?

I recommend it. This item has a history of good performance. I added it as increased protection over what the electrician installed when we built the house. I told the electrician he did a great job wiring my house (I inspected it as the house was being built), and because I was nice to him, he installed a 5K device in the outside box for free, which provides minimal protection (some, but not enough to make me comfortable). So, I got this Eaton device for extra protection at 108K and put it in the box in the garage. I didn't have room to put it inside the box, so I installed directly to the side of the box (see picture). Super easy to install. As other reviews mention, you need a 50A breaker, so read the product instructions and get exactly what the instructions say to get. And as some other reviews mention, nothing will protect from a direct lightning strike, so don't expect that kind of protection. At 108K (more than 20 times the protection of the 5K device in the outside box), this unit gives me peace of mind. Notice in the picture the two green lights are lit, which means it's functioning properly. I like how I can see it easily whenever I'm in the garage. I drive into the garage and think, "Yep, still protected." I forgot to mention...before you go buy the 50amp breaker, FIRST check your load center (i.e., panel box) to see what type it is, such as, for example, QO or Homeline. If, for example, you buy an HOM 50amp breaker, it won't fit in a QO panel, and vice versa. And, just so you know, the wires are supposed to be short. Some reviewers complain about them being too short such that the unit doesn't fit in their panel. The wires are short for a reason; if you extend the wires beyond their limited length, you risk the device not functioning properly when you need it. So, just because you might not understand the design (e.g., why the wires are so short), don't complain and bash the device as being a poor design.

I don't know what to say except it had a good price. Easy install of you know your way around a breaker box. As for working is wired in and lights are on, I guess I'll see if anything gets blown up.

I like having this installed on my electrical panel and I did it myself. Most people should not be installing these if you do not have electrical experience. I have 30 years of electrical experience so installing it was very simple. If there is anything negative about this it would be that the leads are too short. They should be long enough to reach anywhere in the electrical panel regardless of where on the panel you install it. If you do a lot of research on this first, you will find that the manufacturer requires a 50 amp breaker be used to supply power to the device. In this case you must be careful because of the brand of breaker you have. Some manufacturers do not make their breakers so it will fit this lighter gauge wire. The clamps will not tighten down, so because I happen to have one of those brands, I had to buy a 30 amp breaker so it will tighten down on the wires. I understand the reasoning why the manufacturers of some panels and breakers do this but the clamps or screw terminals should tighten all the way down. That is my opinion. After doing research I also came across That many people say you should not extend the Wires in order to make them reach the breaker or in order to make them fit the terminals on your breaker. I abided by this notion but then realized maybe I did not need to. I am a home inspector and I noticed in other homes that already have this installed by an electrician, that the electricians extend the wires by adding extra length using wire nuts. I do not know if this voids the warranty or not but in my opinion it should not, even though it may. I mean if you have an electrician install it with a jumper wire because it will not tighten down with the brand of breaker that you have then how can a manufacturer expect you to change out your panel and breakers just because they used a small gauge wire. If they are going to recommend that you use a 50 amp breaker, double pole, they should make the device with a heavier gauge wire. One other thing that I heard which could be a real downer. If you research this online you will read that Amazon is not an authorized retailer for Eaton, meaning eaten may not honor their warranty. I cannot say this is absolutely true because I did not contact eaten and you know not everything online is the truth. I have had this happen to me before with other brands and other types of equipment where I search online for a good deal and then I find out that I bought it from a retailer who the manufacturer does not honor. That happened to me with a Frigidaire dehumidifier I bought for my basement and now may happen with this device. I am not going to worry about that too much because if it does fail I will just replace it myself and not pay an electrician several hundred dollars to do it for me. Eaton is a very good brand-name and these are very good devices so I have no regrets buying it on Amazon but I think you should know as much as possible before you buy it.

We had a power outage a few days before installing the surge protector. And a GFI and the kitchen failed. It's important to connect the surge protector as close as possible to where the ground and neutral enter the bus bars. Will need the following materials and tools to install properly if your breaker box is vertical and mounting unit at bottom of box. 50 Amp double pole circuit breaker to match your breaker panel (called for in instructions). One each Red, Black, Green and White 12 AWG stranded wire 2 to 3 feet (60 - 90 cm) long each. May be shorter or longer depending on your panel and mounting location. 4 wire Nuts (Yellow). Electrical tape (optional) Wire strippers. Flat Blade screw driver. Hammer Pliers Small round file to remove burrs. RTV or Silicon Gasket Material. Especially if Breaker box is part of the service entrance and is outside. Ours is outside. It takes longer than you expect to install, if you want to install it right. Depending on your experience 30 minutes to an hour. The instructions call for the double pole 50 amp circuit breaker to be installed close as to the main breaker as possible. In our case we had to move two single pole 20 amp Breakers down which go to Kitchen GFI. And use those positions to install the 50 amp breaker next to the main breaker. Using Pliers broke out two filler tabs for the 20 amp breakers moved down. Instructions also calls for a liquid tight connection to box but there is no gasket included to make a liquid tight connection. If your breaker panel is indoors and there are no water pipes near the panel, you may be able to install it without a liquid tight connection. Or use a silicone RTV gasket sealant to seal the unit tight to the exterior of the panel box. This was the option we chose. And we mounted the unit at the bottom of the box to protect it from the rain and weather. Used a good sized bead so that the RTV squeezed out and into the inside of box completely sealing unit to box. Used hammer and the flat blade screwdriver to knock out the plug at the bottom nearest to the back and pliers to pull it off. Sometimes there is a burr that is left and it will need to be filed smooth. The wires supplied on the unit are about 18 inches long (45 cm) so we had to lengthen the red and black wires to reach to the 50 Amp Breaker at the top near the main breaker. Had to lengthen the green wire to connect them as close as possible to the ground entry/connection point on the ground bus. Had to lengthen the white wire to connect them as close as possible to the neutral entry/connection point on the neutral bus. Although the unit comes with 14 AWG stranded wires up sized to 12 AWG wire to reduce resistance. Do not use automotive grade 14 gauge stranded the insulation is not rated for AC voltage. We striped the wires and used yellow wire nuts that make the connections to the added wire. Then for additional safety wrapped electrical tape in the same direction we turned the nuts. Then fold it over the nut on to the wire and taped over for additional safety. Now house is fully protected against surges. But still will use 120V surge protection strips to provide additional protection for electronic devices. Added this unit to protect the electronic controls on our new dryer and our induction range. But it also provides protection till the refrigerator, microwave and air fry oven which all have electronic control boards and adding a hundred twenty volt surge protector is not easily done. The reason down grades to 4 stars is because the wire length is too short and had to add on to make it work in this application and they did not provide a gasket which are available from McMaster-Carr and are intended for a 1 inch hose washer. Wasn't about to buy 100 pieces for one installation and pay shipping. If you have everything on hand it will take you about 30 minutes to one hour to install it. But because we had to run back to the store to get additional wire it took us 2 hours. The wire is relatively inexpensive at $0.39 a foot here locally. It's better to buy a little more wire and cut off the excess then to have to go to the store again. The 2 pole 50 amp breaker was also less expensive locally and under $10. The reason this unit was installed in the way we did is because I used to work for a commercial contractor and had to learn about and specify on the permit drawings how to properly install surge protection and lightning protection. *** Up Date March 2019*** we have had a couple of thunderstorms here locally in February and March. Saw the surge protector in action. A surge came from the Utility side (this is why you connected closest to the main) and the surge protector acted immediately and shunted the surge to ground. Lights did not dim appreciably but didn't notice our computers and TVs turn off just for a second then turn back on. The surge protector work the way it was supposed to. When it's shunted the surge to ground there was a temporary loss of power, but once the search had passed. The Protector returned back to normal mode... that's why the TV turned back on. And my son's computer did a check to make sure everything was running okay. We also have standby power supplies with surge protection on our computers. That extra effort to install it correctly protected all our electronics and the new washer and dryer we just purchased.

I installed this in a brand new construction single family home - we had an Eaton panel but that wasn't the only reason I went with the product, it has some good flexibility for the installation and is rated extremely well. Note that this product is NOT Cutler-Hammer - it is EATON - if you are trying to find more info elsewhere, go to the Eaton website and review the information they have there on their surge protection products. Eaton bought cutler-hammer ages ago and all cutler-hammer products are made by them anyway, but if you are looking for info you won't find it under the cutler-hammer name. I knocked out a bottom hole because the panel was mounted with two studs flush on each side of the box. Requires a new two-pole breaker - note that while the smaller ones use a smaller breaker, this box requires a 50 AMP two pole breaker. They are available at your local Lowe's if you have an Eaton box - you don't need an Eaton panel for this product but you need the right breakers for your panel whatever brand and type that is, and it needs to be 50 AMP two-pole (essentially two breakers hooked together). I was installing in my main panel and so on the sides both buses were wired to each other - this is normal for modern service panels and in such case you can wire the ground and neutral into the same side of the panel/same bus. I chose to put it on the side of the box where the utility ground was hooked up. Since I had to come in from the bottom I was able to just put the breaker at the bottom of the box and wire the hots in before seating the breaker in the box. There are some recommendations out there to install these breakers at the top of the panel - there's some validity to this, but if you are installing in an existing panel the benefit you get from moving everything around to do that isn't worth it - and you definitely don't want to do it at the expense of longer wires - the shorter the wires are the better, they are your weak point in the connection. You'll want to cut these down some if you can (though don't go too short - I almost did, whoops!) It is also recommended to have the hots twisted - this is described in the instructions. All in all it was a snap to install - make sure you have the main breaker off while doing this unless you really know what you are doing, and use a voltage tester to make sure things are safe before you get started. Don't forget to consider surge protection for coax or phone lines coming into the house. Eaton sells products for the phone lines I think if you have the traditional ones. For coax like cable TV/internet I recommend the tii 212 device - was a snap to install. You still also need good surge protectors for high end electronics like your entertainment system at the plug - this device won't be able to protect your devices from surges that occur along the same circuit as other devices and there are various other factors within the home. For my computers I use a variety of surge strips/protectors and I have a belkin device for my entertainment system setup. For my wall mounted TV I have a recessed outlet with a leviton surge protector/outlet combo so I don't have to have a strip up there somewhere. Keep in mind that the warranty for this device will only apply if you surge protect other wires coming into you house - such as the coaxial cable line.

Has to be installed in main panel to hot lines. You may need an electrician to install safely. A must for new service panels.

Straight forward installation. Wires about 14 inches long but wise to install as close to 50 amp breaker as possible to trim wires shorter than 12 inches, per instructions. Encased wires in gray PVC as they entered panel thru the wall. Did not buy expensive 50 amp breaker with status light as the protector already had status lights. This saves significant money. Hire an electrician if you are not comfy working safely with you your service panel!

Update Aug 2023: Well we had a lightning strike hit a tree 20ft from our house. Caused an attic electrical fire in our neighbour's house, but I'm confident the whole house surge protector saved most of our devices. Other than a few items nearest to the lightning strike, everything else in our house is working. Can't say enough good things about this product. Now to replace it with a fresh one since it's ability to protect us has been diminished (even though it's still working). ---------------- I've been wanting to install a whole house protector for awhile. Looking through all the reviews online, this model comes as the best overall deal, and it's universal since it connects to any 50A breaker. The install is very simple. 2 wires into a dual pole breaker, 1 wire to ground, 1 wire to neutral. The breaker, while others recommend placing as close to the main in line, can go anywhere in the panel. Surges will always look for the shortest way to ground, so it's unlikely you have anything closer than the surge protector. It's more important to keep the wires from the protector as short and kink free as possible. The 2 green LEDs ensure it's easy to check if the protector needs to be replaced. Only time will tell how effective it is, but with the 108kA rating, it gives some peace of mind.

Compre dos protectores los cuales instale en centros de carga separados, me ha funcionado muy bien, realmente lo recomiendo por su propia y sencilla instalación, la calidad precio funcionalidad, sin duda alguna lo recomiendo; en el sector donde vivo, se han presentado problemas en el suministro eléctrico domestico, a un vecino se le dañaron unos equipos mientras que en mi domicilio, no paso nada.

I'm an electrician, I bought this CHSPT2ULTRA surge protector a little over a year ago. Installation was very simple. It's recommended that you use a 2 pole 50A breaker to connect inside your panel, so make sure you have space available. The wires are intentionally short, as it is important for it's effectiveness in the event of a surge. It needs to be as close to the man lines as possible. If you have to extend the wires, then do it, but ideally, they need to be as short as possible. We had a tree come down on a teired hydro line in the area, and the higher voltage lines touched the lower voltage lines blowing up a lot of TV's and equipment on the street. My house had no issues. It's hard to say that this little piece of protection is working because all you see is a couple green LED lights on it, but I'm pretty glad I installed it when I did.

Received promptly and complete. I'd done my research, so knew what to expect and wasn't disappointed. Installation was quick and easy. Now we have some satisfaction that our sensitive home appliances and electronics are protected from nasty surges! I've layered them with both protection at the panel (type 2) and at the plug (type 3) - its the most I can do. Fingers Crossed!

Installation was easy, the specs are good. I have to just assume it's going to do the job if it ever gets put to the test.