What happened here?

[Rip City Dave]

So what is the complaint? Sounds like your units saved your gear. Poor form that companies don't stand behind claims to cover equipment, but your sacrificial surge protection did its job. BTW, have you contacted Panamax to see what they have to say? You basically just want them to replace their units right?

What complaint? I have no expectations. I just want an understanding of what happened and why.

 

[Rip City Dave]

So they did what they were designed for. Most likely the over voltage wasn't a short surge or spike (which they should survive) but a longer event.
Maybe half a second or even longer.

Also, when certain high power voltage protections 'clamp' at 400V or 600V they may need 1kV or 2kV to be 'triggered' which may be a very short trigger. Maybe the Eaton triggers at 400V but holds at a lower voltage. It should release well above the mains voltage it is designed for.
Most household equipment must be able to survive very short spikes (< ms)

This is the kind of answer I like! I'm interested in the physics behind a surge and the methods of protection so I can make better choices for my gear.

 

[ZolaIII]

What complaint? I have no expectations. I just want an understanding of what happened and why.

What happened is you had a electrical over voltage from the grid when electricity came back and the fact that surge protectors don't really help there for that you need deacent voltage regulator. Actually you ware lucky that only surge protectors are gone.

Edit:
Cople months buck lightning stroke a satellite dish directly bypassing the lightening rod at my buddy home. He got two receivers and TV dead. Tugh luck, fortunately no one whose hurt. I whose amazed how puny coaxial cable could lead so much voltage but apparently it did.

 

[SimpleTheater]

What complaint? I have no expectations. I just want an understanding of what happened and why.

I would have complained. There should be a simple reset or fuse replacement to get them back up and running. You used the word "bricked" in your original post. The assumption is they aren't usable any longer. Am I wrong, are they running normally now?

 

[Rip City Dave]

I would have complained. There should be a simple reset or fuse replacement to get them back up and running. You used the word "bricked" in your original post. The assumption is they aren't usable any longer. Am I wrong, are they running normally now?

Dead. Completely dead. No lights. Nothing.

What puzzles me is that nothing else in my entire house was affected. I wonder why that is.

 

[Harmonie]

I might have to take English lessons again, cause I thought that your equipment was dead when reading :
Something happened to cause me to lose two Panamax MAX 4310 units and an Adcom ACE-515

 

[SimpleTheater]

I might have to take English lessons again, cause I thought that your equipment was dead when reading :
Something happened to cause me to lose two Panamax MAX 4310 units and an Adcom ACE-515

He did lose the two Panamax 4310’s and Adcom ACE-515. They’re dead. These are all power conditioners, not audio products.

 

[rkbates]

Sounds like the first event was a lightning strike and the power coming back on shortly after an auto reclose, probably at distribution level. Both can be extremely high surges, but are characteristically different wave fronts. The device on your switchboard and the devices near your AV equipment have different levels of protection - clamping voltage, energy capability, speed. Its not unusual for a surge to come past the doorman (big and strong, but not real smart) but get caught by the little guys who get destroyed in the process. Sounds like the carnage would have been worse without them. The best path for surges is not always the obvious path.

 

[Harmonie]

He did lose the two Panamax 4310’s and Adcom ACE-515. They’re dead. These are all power conditioners, not audio products.

Thank you and sorry, I thought it was an Adcom amp.

 

[Rip City Dave]

Sounds like the first event was a lightning strike and the power coming back on shortly after an auto reclose, probably at distribution level. Both can be extremely high surges, but are characteristically different wave fronts. The device on your switchboard and the devices near your AV equipment have different levels of protection - clamping voltage, energy capability, speed. Its not unusual for a surge to come past the doorman (big and strong, but not real smart) but get caught by the little guys who get destroyed in the process. Sounds like the carnage would have been worse without them. The best path for surges is not always the obvious path.

Thanks for that explanation. I guess my line conditioner/surge protectors need surge protection, because they are not cheap to replace. LOL