Lord Thunderin Lightnin

[Leurgy]

A thunderstorm just rolled through here. If you are into weather radar check this link. The red spots are the thunderstorms. Don't forget to press play.

http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/radar/index_e.html?id=wkr

Now my question.

I have a Radio Shack Surge Protector that I bought 3 years ago. Its a cheapie. Only $2500 of surge protection. I want to get a better one.

Any suggestions?

[Train]

Look at the Joules rating, the higher the better. But rest assured A lightning strike with in miles of you to the power lines/phoneline/cable can still fry parts of or your whole computer.
Best bet unhook everything frome the computer. I mean everything. External speakers included.

[Leurgy]

Thanks for the reply Train, but thats too busy for me, I like to live right out on the edge.

As far as the Joules goes, the box says (I always keep the boxes):

Maximum Surge Dissapation: 280 Joules (AC)
340 Joules (Coaxial)

[Train]

Might want to look into a ups then.

[Leurgy]

This brings me back to my original question.

What should I look for in a Surge Protector?

Joules?

Insurance?

The likelyhood of a surge?

Is there a new standard?

[TheGorx]

design

I got a surgemaster
with spots for large adapters
also one always on plug

[Dr.Gibbs]

Insurance means nothing, basically

The Joules rating refers to how long the surge protector can protect your computer, and the Amp rating indicates how much your computer will be protected during that time. Basically, more amperage means protection against larger surges, but more joules mean protection against longer surges.

Generally, something along the lines of 1700 Joules would be good for an average home computer. You can get a Belkin with this type of rating for about $30.00. If you have a couple thousand invested in your rig, you might want to consider something a little better. They go up to about 4000.

Just remember that NOTHING will protect against a direct strike. Small surges in power lines can be stopped, but if lightning were to actually get into your wiring, all it's going to do is fuse the breaker in the surge protector and fry everything anyway. I know this from unfortunate experience

[Leurgy]

1700 Joules?

So I have a dinkey toy?

Dr Gibbs, what don't you like about the insurance? Has anyone ever had a claim? How about a successful claim?

[Dr.Gibbs]

Yeah, 280 Joules isn't much... I don't think I'd trust that thing with much more than a toaster

As far as that insurance is concerned, think about this: manufacturers rate a surge protector's protection for the bare minimum that they KNOW it will protect against. There's no way that a surge lower than the rated protection will ever get through to your equipment. It's all physics. If it gets through, it HAS to be greater than the protection rating, one way or another. Well, they're not going to pay for anything that was damaged by a surge greater than the protector was rated to handle, so anything that was big enough to get through the protector would void the coverage.

What if it's defective, and fails to protect against a normal surge? Well, there's always some kind of LED or other type of light that gives an indication of whether or not the breaker is working. If that light isn't on, it's unusually dim, or it flashes, then there's something wrong with the breaker. Since the surge protector gives you a visual indication when it's not working properly, the manufacturer sure isn't going to pay for anything you were brave enough to plug into it.

In other words, there's really never a time when you can collect anything. Maybe once in a blue moon someone makes it through the system, but I've never known anyone who has actually succeeded. It basically just lets them put something attractive on the package

[bistro]

Ditto Dr. Gibbs.
No company in its right mind would offer that much insurance on something that is so unpredictable. One will have a real hard time proving their case, and even a harder (read: "impossible") time should they experience a direct strike. Ignore the sales pitch about the insurance and concentrate on the joules/amps side of the house.
Protected power strips can be effective up to a point, but a protected UPS is even better---with an UPS, you get the best of both worlds...surge and brownout/blackout protection.
Conext makes some excellent UPS's.

[SuperSparks]

I swear by UPS's, not so much for the surge protection (lightning isn't that common in my part of the world, and nearly all our cabling is undergraound), but for the blackout/brownout protection. After a power failure wrecked a hard drive I promptly bought a UPS, and I'm sure glad that I did. I use these:

www.apc.com

[Leurgy]

Thanks for the replies and especially to Dr.Gibbs for that valuable information. I've dealt with Claims Brokers who'se sole function is to throw sand in your eyes, so I understand what you are saying.

We had a number of power failures yesterday due to high winds and this machine crashed five or six times but all seems to be well. Guess I got lucky.

Thanks again for the info.

[104456]

How Surge Protectors Work

As soon as the extra current is diverted into the MOV and to ground, the voltage in the hot line returns to a normal level, so the MOV's resistance shoots up again. In this way, the MOV only diverts the surge current, while allowing the standard current to continue powering whatever machines are connected to the surge protector. Metaphorically speaking, the MOV acts as a pressure-sensitive valve that only opens when there is too much pressure.

Some surge protectors have a line-conditioning system for filtering out "line noise," smaller fluctuations in electrical current. Basic surge protectors with line-conditioning use a fairly simple system. On its way to the power strip outlet, the hot wire passes through a toroidal choke coil. The choke is a just ring of magnetic material, wrapped with wire -- a basic electromagnet. The ups and downs of the passing current in the hot wire charge the electromagnet, causing it to emit electromagnetic forces that smooth out the small increases and decreases in current. This "conditioned" current is more stable, and so easier on your computer (or other electronic device).

To protect your equipment from surges, you need individual surge protectors for each outlet. These power strips range a great deal in quality and capacity (as we'll see in the next section). There are three basic levels of power strip surge protectors:

Basic power strip - These are basic extension cord units with five or six outlets. Generally, these models provide only basic protection.

Better power strip - For $15 to $25 you can get a power strip surge protector with better ratings and extra features, such as a protection indicator light and individual switches for each outlet.

Surge station - These large surge protectors fit under your computer or on the floor. They offer superior voltage protection and advanced line conditioning. Most models also have an input for a phone line, to protect your modem from power surges, and may feature built-in circuit breakers. You can get one of these units for as little $30, or you can spend upward of $100 for a more advanced model.

Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) - Some units combine surge protection with a continuous UPS. The basic design of a continuous UPS is to convert AC power to DC power and store it on a battery. The UPS then converts the battery's DC power back to AC power and runs it to the AC outlets for your electronics. If the power goes out, your computer will continue to run, feeding off the stored battery power. This will give you a few minutes to save your work and shut down your computer. The conversion process also gets rid of most of the line noise coming from the AC outlet. These units tend to cost $150 or more

[irdreed]

SuperSparks,

I swear by UPS's, not so much for the surge protection (lightning isn't that common in my part of the world, and nearly all our cabling is underground), but for the blackout/brownout protection.

I'm glad to hearyou switched & now You use UPS's. This is an odd story, but some years back we had a major storm at the Airport where I worked. All our Power and Control Cables are buried underground and Lo and Behold we lost Power to the whole Control Tower during this storm. Upon Investigation we discovered in the middle of the Field by the Runway a 3 foot Diameter hole (it looked like a small volcano eruption), and of course that's where our cable was buried, and FRIED to a crisp!! So being buried underground is no guarantee, it would seem.