shooter mcgavin said:
I have not inspected the ground connections in the breaker box. Are you just saying to make sure that each breaker has an attached earth ground?
High voltage and a surge are two completely different anomalies. As defined by numbers. An excessively high voltage might be 180 volts on 120 volt wires. A Belkin will completely ignore that or just slowly degrade to uselessness.
Another anomaly is about earthing a surge. Not earthing a circuit breaker or appliance. A Belkin has no earth ground. It only has something completely different - safety ground.
Surge protection is about hundreds of thousands of joules dissipating harmlessly outside - in earth. That means no surge current is anywhere inside a building. That may have created the original problem. But that is not blowing out HDMI ports.
So, stick to one problem. HDMI ports are not as robust as other connections. Apparently you have a harmful voltage difference between that TV and its connected appliance. A voltage that can be explained by numerous other defects. For example, is an HDMI connection between two devices that do not share a common power receptacle? That should not cause damage if some other defect did not also exist. But we know this much. Some excessive current is passing though HDMI cables. Why does a voltage difference exist between that TV and attached appliance? Long before considering a solution, first that problem must be defined.
Even a defective safety ground (not earth ground) might explain it. A list of possible reasons why are quite long; too many to list here. But most likely suspects include household wiring defect, a defect inside the TV or HDMI attached appliance, or some third device that is electrically defective. All we know is an excessive current through that HDMI connection is creating a high and destructive voltage on your HDMI ports. We do not even know which wire in the HDMI cable. Magic plug-in devices can only (and sometimes not) cure symptoms. First find a defect. Fixing it comes later.
Another possible useful fact. Your meter should not measure any AC voltages between each contact inside the HDMI ports (TV or attached appliance) and safety ground, chassis ground, or any electrically conductive parts of all other nearby appliances. A detected AC voltage is an example of finding the problem. Fixing it comes later.
Obviously you also want surge protection that actually does protection. But that is another topic unrelated to what what is now blowing out multiple HDMI ports. Lack of surge protection might explain why a defect was originally created. But for now, find a defect that is blowing out HDMI ports. Much later, move on to another and different problem: apparently non-existent surge protection especially if you thought a Belkin actually did that.