A surge protector for use with a two line signal path or control circuit. The surge protector has two terminals for connecting to both line signals as well as provisions for earth grounding. The surge protector has a surge protection stage and a short detection stage for detecting imbalances in the signal. The surge protector also includes a trigger stage which activates an electromechanical device to disconnect the two terminals from the rest of the surge protector when the short detection stage detects a short. The surge protector further includes visual indicators for indicating an operating status and a short detection.