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Looks like we had a slight power surge last night, and I fried my surge protection. There are five outlets on it, and two work and three don't. I tried to reset it with the reset button, but I get nothing. So, I guess I am off to the retail outlet today to find a new one. I need three outlets at minimum.

 

Since I know next to nothing about electrons I do not know what to look for. I got the current model when I bought my computer several years ago. Just how much protection do I need? I have my computer, printer and modem for the cable hooked into it. Nothing else. Any suggestions?

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Most Surge Protectors on the market will do the job needed.

 

When comparing look for the response time. Should be in nano seconds.

 

Powder surges build up slowly. Not all at once. Even with lightning strikes, we are talking micro seconds. If the surge protector has a response time in nano seconds it will catch the powder surge before it becomes harmful.

 

Pick up two different makes or models and compare the specifications on the packaging. You should be able to see a difference. Then decide which gives the better protection. Be careful of pricing. The most expensive may not give the most protection.

 

I look for response time then total current dispersed. (joules)

 

Response time is key. How fast can the devise disconnect from the surge source.

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And then you have this reply from a computer repirman on CNET:

 

Surge protectors do give you a false sense of security. Nothing will protect you from nearby or direct hits by lightning. I have seen surge suppressors and uninterrruptible power supplies (UPSs) wherein direct lightning strikes "welded" the Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs) to their metal cases. I have seen desktop computer motherboards whose circuitry "evaporated" when lightning entered through cable and phone modem wiring.

I have seen computers which were unplugged from wall sockets destroyed by lightning wherein electrical energy was "induced" through still-attached Ethernet cables even though the router to which those cables were attached was also unplugged.

 

Does this mean you shouldn't use surge suppressors, UPSs, whole-house surge protection, or periodically check your cable service connection's ground? Definitely not, all of these will provide you with protection from "normal" surges caused by power line fluctations and lightning strikes on utility wires miles away.

 

That said, CNET gives Belkin's 8-outlet and 10-outlet protectors the best rating.

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Ok Badger...........I know quite a bit bout dis new fangled lect-trash-i ty.

 

 

Der's tree whars ya gots to find.

 

 

One is what called da ground whar,

. Ifin' ya aint got dat one, you'll most likely fry all dim thin's.

 

Din there's what' called da hot whar.......

It's da one what's got dat left-trash-i-ty runnin' threw it.....but ya never se it. Bet it gits mitey tired runnin' through whars all day and night !

 

 

Din, der's da wire ya don't want to find .......

It's called da OUCH whar......ya will know it when ya find it !

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If you had it "fried" once don't try to use it again, do yourself a favor and toss it, get a good replacement as mentioned earlier. They are temporary and used only as buffers to the small surges. The thing is, you will get surges every once in awhile and not know it. These things will help but will eventually "wear out" from all these little surges. It would be a good idea to replace them every so often regardless, they are cheap.

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Well, I began my search for a replacement. Half of the outlets are still hot, and others not. I am concerned that the hot ones may not offer much protection. I went out to buy gas this afternoon and when I saw the crowd at the shopping center, I changed my mind. I am retired and do not need to deal with all of these people. Mondays are bad enough.

Besides, people in the middle of the week seem to be a tad nicer to associate with.

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Monster and Belkin both make some pretty good ones. Look for one that has the energy withstand of 2500 - 3500 joules. These will run in price from $35 - $150 depending on what all you want on it...how many outlets and whether it has coax, network wire and telephone wire surge protection as well.

 

Edit....I doubt very seriously that your current surge protector is providing you protection.

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Monster and Belkin both make some pretty good ones. Look for one that has the energy withstand of 2500 - 3500 joules. These will run in price from $35 - $150 depending on what all you want on it...how many outlets and whether it has coax, network wire and telephone wire surge protection as well.

 

Edit....I doubt very seriously that your current surge protector is providing you protection.

I suspect you are correct.

I intend to rectify that Monday.

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The better protection for computers actually comes from a UPS (Uninteruptable Power Supply)

These have a battery in them that can still run your computer for a few minutes upon power outages and allow an orderly shutdown as well as provide surge and low voltage protection.

 

http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=13

 

A good choice is the APC Power-Saving Back-UPS Pro 700

 

http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR700G&total_watts=300

 

Yes they cost a little more $129-149 but they can save your expensive computer and printer not to mention any files open during the power event.

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The better protection for computers actually comes from a UPS (Uninteruptable Power Supply)

These have a battery in them that can still run your computer for a few minutes upon power outages and allow an orderly shutdown as well as provide surge and low voltage protection.

 

http://www.apc.com/p...egory.cfm?id=13

 

A good choice is the APC Power-Saving Back-UPS Pro 700

 

http://www.apc.com/p...total_watts=300

 

Yes they cost a little more $129-149 but they can save your expensive computer and printer not to mention any files open during the power event.

I looked at the specs on the APC and it has a surge protection rating of under 400 joules....not enough IMHO.

 

BMC, for my set up I do have an APC brand of uninterruptible power supply (UPC) along with a surge protector. I plug the surge protector into the wall and then plug my UPS into it and then my computer into the UPS. The reason is that the surge protector will provide protection again't surges before the power goes into the UPS. The UPS will protect against dips in the power or complete power outages....for as long as the battery has power reserves.

 

In a bad lightning storm you'll find that you will get over voltages due to high voltages being impressed on the electric utility's lines due to lightning strikes. The closer the lightning strike to your house the higher the surge voltage that your house sees. The typical utility transform installation has a surge arrestor installed directly in front of the transformer if you are served from overhead high voltage distribution lines. If you are served from underground high voltage distribution lines there is normally a lightning arrestor installed where the line dips underground.

 

Also, during a lightning storm or wind storm you will normally experience momentary blinks or dips.

 

Dips are caused by some type of fault being experienced by the utiltiy's system that is not enough to cause a complete outage but does cause voltage reductions. A common cause of this is tree's rubbing on the line. The fault applied by a tree branch rubbing on the line is typically not enough to cause a fuse to blow or breaker to open. The tree branch will burn momentarily causing a voltage reduction. When the branch blows back out of the line the voltage goes back to normal.

 

When you're lights go completely off and then back in a few seconds this is caused by the utility's overcurrent protection being exercised. We have devices that interrupt the flow of current and then reclose the line back. You'[ll typically see the line being interrupted and the re-energized back two or three times before the power is completely interrupted. This is done to try and burn away the cause of the fault and then restore power rather than just having the power turned off on the first occurrence of the fault. This allows the customers to keep their power on and the utility does not have to roll a truck out to a location and cut away small items that may cause the outages. Lots of time these will be caused by squirrels or birds of some type.

 

More info than you wanted to know, I guess, but at least you'll understand the advantage of having both a UPS and a surge protector on your expensive electronics.

 

Kajun

 

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And then you have this reply from a computer repirman on CNET:

 

Surge protectors do give you a false sense of security. Nothing will protect you from nearby or direct hits by lightning. I have seen surge suppressors and uninterrruptible power supplies (UPSs) wherein direct lightning strikes "welded" the Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs) to their metal cases. I have seen desktop computer motherboards whose circuitry "evaporated" when lightning entered through cable and phone modem wiring.

I have seen computers which were unplugged from wall sockets destroyed by lightning wherein electrical energy was "induced" through still-attached Ethernet cables even though the router to which those cables were attached was also unplugged.

 

Does this mean you shouldn't use surge suppressors, UPSs, whole-house surge protection, or periodically check your cable service connection's ground? Definitely not, all of these will provide you with protection from "normal" surges caused by power line fluctations and lightning strikes on utility wires miles away.

 

That said, CNET gives Belkin's 8-outlet and 10-outlet protectors the best rating.

 

 

This ain't no joke! I had 2 computers, an Xbox a router and the FIOS unit destroyed by a near by strike that followed the inside communication cable. All the ethernet cards/ports were toasted. What exactly got hit and how it jumped to the cables I can't say. We never found any burn marks.

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This ain't no joke! I had 2 computers, an Xbox a router and the FIOS unit destroyed by a near by strike that followed the inside communication cable. All the ethernet cards/ports were toasted. What exactly got hit and how it jumped to the cables I can't say. We never found any burn marks.

In most cases your CATV and telephone wires coming into your house are tied to the electrical ground rod and/or wire. If the surge came from the electrical system it travels down your ground rod (which is a good thing) but that also means that anything hooked to it sees the surge as well. The shield wire on your CATV cable is hooked into the ground as is the shield wire on the telephone service wire. So....an overvoltage spike will travel up the shield wires into your FIOS unit, XBOX (if hooked into your network), router and any network cards installed in your computers.

 

This is where a surge protector that has ethernet, CATV and telephone jacks in the unit can help. But if the energy level of the strike, as measured in joules, is higher than the joule rating of the surge protector your stuff will still be toast. The absolute best protection is to unplug the devices from the electrical, telephone and CATV systems when a lightning storm is approaching. Short of unplugging everything the laws of physics will be in effect....that'd be Ohm's Law (Twinkle twinkle little star, E is equal to I times R) and Watt's Law (Power is equal Voltage times Amps...and times the square root of 3 if 3ph power).

 

Kajun

 

 

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I would throw away the fried unit and use ordinary extension cords until I replaced the surge protector. I think it is worse than nothing in its current state.

 

I get some power surges or maybe drops that are caused buy PSNH. Every day at 5:30 am my UPSs beep all ovr the house. I figure PSNH is bringing some generation online.\

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Power is equal Voltage times Amps...and times the square root of 3 if 3ph power)

 

 

The square root of 3 is 1.7320508075688772935274463415059

I bet you had to take off your gloves, shoes and pants to make that calculation :)

 

 

 

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When CHEAP surge protectors fail they will continue to pass voltage. So you think you're protected but you ain't.

 

 

APC brand is a good one.

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Badger,

 

I bought the surge protector with the best warranty and guarentee. For me that was Monster with a 10 year $10,000.00 replacement warranty at the time I bought mine. Nothing will protect against a direct lightening strike, but at least I can claim it and recoup some expenses. I have my original reciept and registration information tied to the cord in a zip lock bag for just this reason.

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I heard that Grizz barbaqued one once! :)

 

Naturally!

 

Since Cliffy gave you move info that I can, I'll just play around. The only surge do-dad is still useful, let the missus us it for her curling iron or whatnot, just nothing with much circuitry.

 

And yes, I have BBQd one, repeatedly in fact. Turn off the switch, and stick a piece of solder between the two slots, and turn it on, and POP!

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