Surge Protection

Megahertz · 23 Jun 2020

As an electronic engineer, I would say you all are partially correct and partially wrong.

- Over voltage spikes are generated every time an electric device is turned off. The voltage spikes depends on the inductance of the line and the current of the device that is turned off. V= L.di/dt
- Surge arrester is a device that clamps the over voltage and absorbs the energy. They can be made from gas tubes to varistor, that is a semiconductor used on home surge arrester.

The best surge protector is the one that has the highest capacity on absorbing energy (joules). Look for those that has more than 3000j.

UPS by itself doesn't protect from incoming voltage spikes. A UPS can have surge arrest built in but it isn't a rule.
Some of them are dynamic switched so normally the UPS input is connected to the UPS output. Even those that are constantly reverting from DC (AC - DC - AC) are indirectly connected to the input.
When using a UPS, the best procedure would be to connect it to a good surge protector (to protect the UPS and devices downstream).

There is nothing that will protect from a lighting striking the power line near you. So, during a storm, turn off your computer and physically disconnect (by switch or pulling the wall connector).

Most of my electronic devices (TV, DVD, Streaming etc and computer devices) are connected to a surge protector and when not in use the switch is off.

margrave55 · 24 Jun 2020

Those guarantees are nonsense. The fine print renders them useless.
And why would anyone have hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment connected to a cheap UPS?

sygnus21 said:

As for "insurance" the CP1500 has a: Connected Equipment Guarantee: $500,000, and the EC850 has a: Connected Equipment Guarantee: $100,000. I don't have anywhere near that amount of equipment (connected or not), but....

Wake up guys. This business is just a confidence scheme. Surge protection requires industrial equipment, not cheapie consumer crap.

With the latter you're getting almost nothing for your money. Skip it.

The market for this crap exists only because "real" protection is expensive, and is meant for expensive equipment. Cheap PCs aren't worth that kind of spend. So they produce cheap crap for people who don't know any better.

ThrashZone · 24 Jun 2020

Hi,
Surge protectors require a reliable ground wire on the main breaker box and outlets so would a backup battery combo otherwise they are useless.

SoFine409 · 24 Jun 2020

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
Surge protectors require a reliable ground wire on the main breaker box and outlets so would a backup battery combo otherwise they are useless.

Many times older homes lack proper grounding. My house was built in the early 50’s and I had to run separate ground wires for nearly all the outlets. Talk about a PTA.

Megahertz · 24 Jun 2020

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
Surge protectors require a reliable ground wire on the main breaker box and outlets so would a backup battery combo otherwise they are useless.

ThrashZone · 24 Jun 2020

Hi,
If a home does have a ground it usually degrades after a few years since electricians usually use cheap iron rebar instead of copper poles and well iron rusts very fast underground heck above ground too lol

AirPower4ever · 24 Jun 2020

Well, all great information from everyone. An APC would be nice, but my home entertainment center does not have space for such a large box unless I just have it in the open.

Thank you everyone.

ThrashZone · 24 Jun 2020

Hi,
Just check your ground system and you can get any mid range surge protector
Electric companies also provide insurance for surge damage.

flhthemi · 24 Jun 2020

AirPower4ever said:

Well, all great information from everyone. An APC would be nice, but my home entertainment center does not have space for such a large box unless I just have it in the open.
Thank you everyone.

I use these where space is a premium. But you better be quick when the power goes out.

Josey Wales · 24 Jun 2020

NavyLCDR said:

Well, here's the deal, though. The absolute best surge protector is an Uninterruptible Backup Power Supply (UPS). That's because your computer is never connected directly to the AC power line. A UPS uses an electronic converter to convert the incoming AC to DC to supply power to charge the batteries and provide DC input to the electronic inverter. The inverter then converts the DC back to AC to supply power to the computer. So if you get a power surge it is very, very, very unlikely (like .05% chance) to get past the AC to DC converter. Then there is the battery to act as a buffer. Then it would have to also get past the DC to AC inverter. That's just not going to happen unless a lightening bolt comes through your window and hits the UPS unit directly.

Another issue to contemplate is brownouts - when the AC voltage drops. This can also wreak havoc on a computer power supply. The UPS will handle the brownout by interrupting power to the AC to DC converter when the AC voltage gets too load. The DC to AC inverter will then draw its input power from the battery until the brownout passes and the AC to DC converter kicks back in. Surge protectors won't protect you against brownouts - unless maybe they have low voltage protect circuit breakers in which case they will just completely interrupt the power supply to the computer - which is also not a good thing.

That is what I use and what my Company used. The Power coming into your house maybe clean, but the inside wiring could be not up to Code. I ran my own electric into my Computer room, and ECOS tested it plus I have additional surge protection past the UPS.