Battery Surge Protectors?

[Xeogred]

Anyone have any recommendations for one?

Been having some weird flicking with the power at my new apartment every once in awhile. It's happened at least twice now in a few months with my PC, quick enough for a self reboot as the power comes back on but I'm not liking that. I'd rather be safe. I have a friend that got one that's pretty expensive I think, but it's lasted him like 3+ years and counting. I'm kind of looking for a cheaper option now though but don't want junk either.

No idea where to begin or look. I could go through Amazon but figured I'd ask around here if any of you guys have experience with these.

[bmoc]

APC Back-UPS BE550G

I've had mine since 2012. Probably due to replace the battery soon but it has been a champ.

[Jagosaurus]

That APC is rated for 330 joules. Not a bad little guy, but you can get almost triple the protection for $30 more. I order this 850VA often for clients:

http://www.microcenter.com/product/4490 ... _850va_ups

I've had that guy protect phone systems from lighting. I trust it.

Also, make sure your TVs are plugged into power strips that aren't over a couple years old. After several surges, they become dumb pass throughs with no protection.

[Xeogred]

Nice choices there and the second one isn't out of my price range, that looks really solid. My friend also mentioned the mute button is pretty good to have too. I'll definitely consider that one. I'm only using four plugins on my PC power strip but maybe I could get some of the systems and TV hooked up to that too. A few weeks ago my PS4 knocked out midgame from a surge or something... it was pretty nerve racking since it's the first time I've seen the PS4 startup error and needing to "recheck" after the reboot. I don't even think my TV kicked out though so it seemed really random that my PS4 got hit.

Yeah the other two or three regular power strips I'm using around my place are fairly new. That's a good idea to keep them rotating every few years.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[marurun]

Keep in mind that the MOVs in surge protectors wear out once they have absorbed a certain amount of over-current, and most protectors won't tell you when they are out of capacity and continue to pass along current, leaving your stuff unprotected.

[Jagosaurus]

Happy to help.

Keep in mind that the MOVs in surge protectors wear out once they have absorbed a certain amount of over-current, and most protectors won't tell you when they are out of capacity and continue to pass along current, leaving your stuff unprotected.

That's what I was referring to with age.

Most true UPS (not simple surge strip) devices will beep when they need service. It is terribly annoying but helpful.

[Xeogred]

And I just realized my actual PC is hooked up directly into the wall... not the surge strip I'm using with the rest of my PC stuff.

I had always heard it's sometimes good to have powerful stuff (lol?) hooked up to the walls directly, but maybe that's not a huge deal. I think that's maybe why I did that... can't believe I didn't realize it until now though.

[bmoc]

On the APC stuff, you can mute them by installing the software and turning that feature off. Handy when my computer was in the bedroom. Having that go off in the middle of the night did not make for a happy wife.

[Jagosaurus]

On the APC stuff, you can mute them by installing the software and turning that feature off. Handy when my computer was in the bedroom. Having that go off in the middle of the night did not make for a happy wife.

Nice. I knew you could on the 2U rack mounted LAN ones (that have the display LCD screen) but never tried on the smaller guys. Will have to remember that.

Side note, While in college I once did maintenance on a UPS that was 6 car batteries linked. It was a beast. Good times.

[Xeogred]

Jagosaurus, about how long do the batteries last on the one you recommended?

bmoc's going strong for 5 years sounds crazy. Is the surge protection still there too and all?