Surge Protector Guide

[Guest]

Hi, I'm new to surge protectors, can someone give me a guide for them? Like what joulies are, and why some cost as much as $200 and others like $50? 

[Godlygamer23]

Some are not surge protectors, but only give extra outlets. Others that are actual surge protectors vary in price because of the difference in given outlets and the amount of energy that can be absorbed in the event of a surge. Some also come with phone jacks that can be used to protect landline phones as well.

[STRMfrmXMN]

Hi, I'm new to surge protectors, can someone give me a guide for them? Like what joulies are, and why some cost as much as $200 and others like $50? 

Some can pump out more amperage. More power = better (efficiency, ability to power more, etc). More plug slots. 200 joules of protection is pretty decent nowadays.

 

http://www.cnet.com/news/9-things-you-should-know-about-surge-protectors/

[Guest]

Some can pump out more amperage. More power = better (efficiency, ability to power more, etc). More plug slots. 200 joules of protection is pretty decent nowadays.

 

http://www.cnet.com/news/9-things-you-should-know-about-surge-protectors/

Is that article/page pretty accurate? 

[STRMfrmXMN]

Is that article/page pretty accurate? 

Yep, describes everything pretty good.

[Guest]

Some are not surge protectors, but only give extra outlets. Others that are actual surge protectors vary in price because of the difference in given outlets and the amount of energy that can be absorbed in the event of a surge. Some also come with phone jacks that can be used to protect landline phones as well.

Can you go into detail about the amount of energy absorbed in that case? Thank you by the way!

[ShiftHitTheFan]

Can you go into detail about the amount of energy absorbed in that case? Thank you by the way!

Think of the Jules as the health bar. It can asorb many small surges or one big one. More Jules is better. Micro surges cause the protection to fade over time. Buy a new protector every 5 years at least.

[Guest]

Think of the Jules as the health bar. It can asorb many small surges or one big one. More Jules is better. Micro surges cause the protection to fade over time. Buy a new protector every 5 years at least.

Is there a way to tell if a protector is dying or is dead 

[ShiftHitTheFan]

Is there a way to tell if a protector is dying or is dead 

Yes, but it involves expensive special equipment. If it's old, throw it out. 

[Guest]

Yes, but it involves expensive special equipment. If it's old, throw it out. 

Did some research, turns out a lot of them come with features that tell if they are working or not 

[westom]

Hi, I'm new to surge protectors, can someone give me a guide for them? Like what joulies are, and why some cost as much as $200 and others like $50? 

Near zero surges (ie hundreds of joules) are made irrelevant by protection already inside appliance.  Your concern is the rare and potentially destructive surge that can be hundreds of thousands of joules.  

 

View specification numbers.  How many joules will that power strip absorb?  Hundreds?  Thousand?  So protector parts must disconnect from that surge as fast as possible to avert a fire.  Meanwhile that same surge remains connected to attached appliances.

 

A surge too tiny to damage adjacent appliances can also destroy that undersized protector.  Then naive consumers use speculation to assume, "My protector sacrificed itself to save my computer."  Total nonsense that can only exist when one routinely ignores spec numbers.

 

Sometimes that thermal fuse does not disconnect protector parts fast enough.  A fire results.  

 

Facilities that cannot have damage routinely use something completely different - called a surge protector.  This solution, proven by over 100 years of science and experience, means hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate outside.  That means no surge current is inside the building.  Then everything is protected.

 

If anything needs protection, then everything needs protection.  That can only happen when a 'whole house' protector is properly earthed.

 

And so we have defined two completely different devices.  One with few joules will magically avert a surge.  The other, that dissipates hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly outside, is also necessary to protect those near zero protectors recommended by other - by even ignoring specification numbers.

 

The proven solution costs a homeowner about $! per protected appliance.  More money is put into protection - not into the obscene profit margins found in magic plug-in protectors.  A protector is only as effective as its earth ground - which plug-in protectors do not have and will not discuss.  A low impedance (ie less than 10 foot) connection to single point earth ground means joules dissipate harmlessly outside.  Then even direct lightning strikes cause no damage - even to that protector.