Eric Greenwell wrote:
Doug Haluza wrote:

Current flows in a complete circuit--direction is arbitrary and
irrelevant. What actually happens in many cases of applicance damage is
not voltage surges, it's ground potential difference. If your power,
telephone, cable TV and water services do not enter at the same point
and have common grounding, they can have different "gound" potentials
relative to each other. Even if lightning does not strike your house
directly, it disturbs the ground potential for a large area. This is
why telephones, televisions and refrigerators with ice makers are often
damaged--they are connected to two different systems.

If the surge protector has a cable or phone jack connector in addition
to the AC sockets, would that protect the TV or telephone?

To the extent that the surge protector is able, yes. However, the cheap
power strip surge protectors that people often have are unlikely to absorb
a lighting strike. If this is your goal, make sure you purchase one that
says it can handle it. The good ones have attached equipment guarantees,
where they'll pay for damage if their stuff fails to protect your stuff.

--
Michael Ash
Rogue Amoeba Software