I use a UPS for my computer and my newer consoles (360, PS3). Older consoles I tend to take out for a while and put away (i.e. unplugged in a drawer) as soon as I'm done playing, but while they are on I plug them into a power strip. I don't think it is a "surge protector," but those power strips tend to die on me at an alarming rate in any case.
Anyway, the UPS can handle the PC plus one of the consoles (360 or PS3) for about 10 minutes which is plenty of time to save my game, shutdown the console, and shut down the computer. Of course for those quick power blips the UPS beeps once or twice and I can keep going without a hiccup. I love it.
Do Surge Protectors even work?
Re: Do Surge Protectors even work?
Yeah I think i'm definitely gonna invest in a UPS now. An extra 10 minutes or so will give me plenty of time to safely shut down and turn off my electronics. I'm looking at some now and they're typically around $150. Is that the average cost for a good one? Are there any that you guys recommend, as I seriously have never looked into these things before.
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Re: Do Surge Protectors even work?
winds wrote:So about a month ago I had the power go out in my area and unfortunately my hard drive in my PC got fried in the process. My PC is hooked up to a surge protector which I thought would protect it in rare cases like these. Now today we experienced another power outtage, and on a different surge protector in another part of the house, my cable box got fried.
Read the numeric specs. Each plug-in protector did exactly what its numeric specs said it would do. Where do specs list protection from each type of surge? It doesn't. And it cannot.
No protector is protection. But when selling myths to the most naive using sales propaganda, that myth is routinely believed. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. No plug-in protector has earthing. None have the always required short wire to earth. No earth ground means no effective protection.
Either you pay tens or 100 times more money for scam protectors routinely promoted by naive neighbors. Or you install protection that has been well proven for over 100 years. That earths direct lightning strikes - and even the protector remains functional.
That plug-in protector is promoted to the naive. For example, it may refer to a wiring fault or missing ground. That is safety ground which has nothing to do with surge protection. But they just forget to mention which ground is which - to further promote a scam.
A protector too close to appliances and too far from earth ground can even give surge even more destructive paths through nearby appliances. Not just the appliance it connects to. Destructively through other appliances on other wall receptacles in the room.
If your 'whole house' protector is not earthed 'less than 10 feet' to single point earth ground, then you have no surge protection. Take a $3 power strip. Add some ten cent protector parts. Sell it for $25 or $150 because so many consumers do not even look at numeric specs. Never ask, "How does it provide protection?" Do not ask even the simplest questions. How does that 2 cm pat stop what three miles of sky could not? How does its hundreds of joules absorb surges that are hundreds of thousands of joules? The obvious resulting answer - plug-in protectors do not protect from typically destructive surges. They are profit centers because so many only believe retail propaganda. Never ask for numbers or specs. Blindly believe the first thing they are told. Welcome to a reality that even explained why Saddam had WMDs.
A next post explains layman science behind protection - so that direct lightning strikes cause no damage even the protector. A 'whole house' protector means everything is protected for tens or 100 times less money.
Re: Do Surge Protectors even work?
Take a $3 power strip. Add some ten cent protector parts. Then sell that same circuit for $7 in a grocery store. $25 or $150 as a brand name protector. Or put it in a fancy case and sell it for $200.
Or read the numeric specs for all those products. Specs are similar. And never define any protection from typically destructive surges. The scam is profitable because, well, how many first defined what provides protection? No one.
Protection is always about where energy dissipates. Always. Either energy is harmlessly absorbed outside the building. Or that energy is hunting for earth destructively via appliances. The Belkin sometimes gives that surges even more path through adjacent appliances. Nothing stops energy inside a building. But some with recommend $150 products only because it looks better.
All appliances contain serious protection. Anything that might be on that appliance power cord is already accomplished inside the appliance. But again, what provides the protection?
Every wire inside every cable must connect to single point earth ground before entering the building. Only then is no energy inside hunting earth via appliances. Cable TV and satellite dish are 100% protected if a 'less than 10 foot' wire connects each cable to earth. But you cannot directly earth AC electric or telephone. That is what the protector does.
No protector does any protection - despite myths that say otherwise. Protector connects each AC electric and telephone wire to earth. That is what the NIST (US government research agency) says:
> You cannot really suppress a surge altogether, nor "arrest" it. What these protective devices
> do is neither suppress nor arrest a surge, but simply divert it to ground, where it
> can do no harm.
Effective solutions that costs tens or 100 times less money come from more responsible companies (without obscene profit margins). For example, from General Electric, Intermatic, Siemens, Leviton, ABB, Polyphaser, Keison, or Square D. A Cutler-Hammer solution sells in Lowes and Home Depot for less than $50.
But again, no protector does protection. What is found in protectors from more responsible companies? That always necessary short (ie 'less than 10 foot') connection to single point earth ground. Because only that earth electrode provides protection. An answer that does not discuss earthing is not discussing protection. Most never learn this that was understood even 100 years ago.
So why did Belkin, APC, Monster, or the other ineffective protector manufacturers not discuss earthing? View their profit margins. Honesty would only hurt sales. The NIST is even blunter:
> A very important point to keep in mind is that your surge protector will work by diverting
> the surges to ground. The best surge protection in the world can be useless if
> grounding is not done properly.
What is that Belkin? Useless because it does not have (and will not even discuss) that earth ground. Somehow the Belkin's hundreds of joules will magically make hundreds of thousands of joules in a surge just disappear? That is what a sales brochure is for.
A protector is only as effective as its earth ground which is why the Belkin (and other plug-in protectors) make no surge protection claims in numeric specs.
Protection is always about where energy dissipates. The superior solution also costs tens or 100 times less money. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.
Or read the numeric specs for all those products. Specs are similar. And never define any protection from typically destructive surges. The scam is profitable because, well, how many first defined what provides protection? No one.
Protection is always about where energy dissipates. Always. Either energy is harmlessly absorbed outside the building. Or that energy is hunting for earth destructively via appliances. The Belkin sometimes gives that surges even more path through adjacent appliances. Nothing stops energy inside a building. But some with recommend $150 products only because it looks better.
All appliances contain serious protection. Anything that might be on that appliance power cord is already accomplished inside the appliance. But again, what provides the protection?
Every wire inside every cable must connect to single point earth ground before entering the building. Only then is no energy inside hunting earth via appliances. Cable TV and satellite dish are 100% protected if a 'less than 10 foot' wire connects each cable to earth. But you cannot directly earth AC electric or telephone. That is what the protector does.
No protector does any protection - despite myths that say otherwise. Protector connects each AC electric and telephone wire to earth. That is what the NIST (US government research agency) says:
> You cannot really suppress a surge altogether, nor "arrest" it. What these protective devices
> do is neither suppress nor arrest a surge, but simply divert it to ground, where it
> can do no harm.
Effective solutions that costs tens or 100 times less money come from more responsible companies (without obscene profit margins). For example, from General Electric, Intermatic, Siemens, Leviton, ABB, Polyphaser, Keison, or Square D. A Cutler-Hammer solution sells in Lowes and Home Depot for less than $50.
But again, no protector does protection. What is found in protectors from more responsible companies? That always necessary short (ie 'less than 10 foot') connection to single point earth ground. Because only that earth electrode provides protection. An answer that does not discuss earthing is not discussing protection. Most never learn this that was understood even 100 years ago.
So why did Belkin, APC, Monster, or the other ineffective protector manufacturers not discuss earthing? View their profit margins. Honesty would only hurt sales. The NIST is even blunter:
> A very important point to keep in mind is that your surge protector will work by diverting
> the surges to ground. The best surge protection in the world can be useless if
> grounding is not done properly.
What is that Belkin? Useless because it does not have (and will not even discuss) that earth ground. Somehow the Belkin's hundreds of joules will magically make hundreds of thousands of joules in a surge just disappear? That is what a sales brochure is for.
A protector is only as effective as its earth ground which is why the Belkin (and other plug-in protectors) make no surge protection claims in numeric specs.
Protection is always about where energy dissipates. The superior solution also costs tens or 100 times less money. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.
Re: Do Surge Protectors even work?
As an electrician, I routinely visit peoples homes after lightning struck (yes it's pretty common) to have them complain about their surge protectors not working. It's true they won't do a whole lot.
However, if the house was properly grounded in the first place a lot of the damage can be avoided. When lightning strikes we end up digging out the old ground plate (connected to your water lines/panel) and 9 times out of ten both ground plate and wire size is inadequate to do anything (direct the massive surge elsewhere).
Code is trying to change everything to ground rods instead of plates since there is so much more surface area touching ground. In essence they are far superior. However the aluminum ground plate is dirt cheap. So that's what we use. They should be buried outside your home a few feet away and about 2 feet down. Most are only 6-8 inches from the top and with voids under the plate to save man hours...
To sum it up if your paranoid about protection of your devices, call an electrician to check it out. We may charge you for a consult, but at least you will have a professional opinon vs one you gathered from multiple websites, which can ahve very wrong information. You should also ask them about the whole house surge protectors Square D and other panel makers have available. These work very well and should direct most of the current elsewhere and dissipate it. However, These are not cheap.
One more final thing. Check if your receptacles are grounded. Many older homes use 3 prong receptacles but only have the hot and common connected. No ground. This doesn't help in the least! So as a home owner/renter, you should check your receptacles out!
That is all! Hope that helps.
However, if the house was properly grounded in the first place a lot of the damage can be avoided. When lightning strikes we end up digging out the old ground plate (connected to your water lines/panel) and 9 times out of ten both ground plate and wire size is inadequate to do anything (direct the massive surge elsewhere).
Code is trying to change everything to ground rods instead of plates since there is so much more surface area touching ground. In essence they are far superior. However the aluminum ground plate is dirt cheap. So that's what we use. They should be buried outside your home a few feet away and about 2 feet down. Most are only 6-8 inches from the top and with voids under the plate to save man hours...
To sum it up if your paranoid about protection of your devices, call an electrician to check it out. We may charge you for a consult, but at least you will have a professional opinon vs one you gathered from multiple websites, which can ahve very wrong information. You should also ask them about the whole house surge protectors Square D and other panel makers have available. These work very well and should direct most of the current elsewhere and dissipate it. However, These are not cheap.
One more final thing. Check if your receptacles are grounded. Many older homes use 3 prong receptacles but only have the hot and common connected. No ground. This doesn't help in the least! So as a home owner/renter, you should check your receptacles out!
That is all! Hope that helps.