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Old 07-27-2009, 01:07 AM   #1
Canada 02
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Default Surge Protection?

the area where I live has had a number of brown/black outs and lightning storms in the last few years. It has lead to repairs on my microwave, two DVd players and possibly two laptops

What can I do? I have the expensive equipment on surge protectors, but is it adequate? What do I need for my computer and home theatre? What kind of specs should I be looking for?

is there something I can do to protect all the electrical equipment in the house, or is that overkill?

recommend a good product for me please!
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Old 07-27-2009, 01:58 AM   #2
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Yes, there are products which can be installed to protect your entire house. Your best bet would be to call an Electrician and see if they have any recommendations for a whole house surge protector. There are some people who say most surges occur from within the home and not outside, but frankly I don't know enough to say if it's true or not. Personally, I'll be getting a whole house protection system whenever I get a house.

Are brownouts a big issue for you? Because these are caused by a decrease in voltage and the only way to prevent them are to get a battery system installed (and it's not common to do so).
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Old 07-27-2009, 06:50 AM   #3
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I bought a 500 watt UPS for my computer, as we have numerous power outages, etc. The computer has a 500 watt PSU but even at 100% it doesn"t come close to using that much, it is also a line conditioner and has an input and output for my router as a nearby lightening strike blew out my old router and the lan connection on my motherboard. Shaw doesn't seem to bother with having an outside fuse like Telus does, so it might be a good idea to find a surge suppressor with co-ax connections to protect your TV etc also.
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Old 07-27-2009, 08:51 AM   #4
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I think the UPS you have Vulcan is a 500VA one, not quite the same as 500W (http://www.dansdata.com/gz028.htm)

If you are getting frequent brown/blackouts, a whole house surge protector will help but won't be everything.

http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/np_produ...484609,00.html

Maybe whole house surge suppression combined with a UPS on expensive stuff like home theater and computer?

I've got a 1500VA UPS for my office and a 500VA one in my basement for my router, modem, and NAS.
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Old 07-27-2009, 08:53 AM   #5
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Keep in mind too the technology the surge protector uses, most of them use technologies that wear out as they are used.. i.e. for every surge it will become less effective. So if you get frequent surges, you might look into ones that don't have that disadvantage (not sure what to look for though).
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Old 07-27-2009, 09:13 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackArcher101 View Post
Here's a site with some info.
link?

thanks to everyone for the info so far.

sounds like a UPS would be a good idea on a computer to prevent data loss, but is there a need for one on a home theatre, or can I get away with a surge protector with a high joule rating?

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Old 07-27-2009, 09:29 AM   #7
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Quote:
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link?
Disregard that comment
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Old 07-27-2009, 01:24 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photon View Post
I think the UPS you have Vulcan is a 500VA one, not quite the same as 500W (http://www.dansdata.com/gz028.htm)

If you are getting frequent brown/blackouts, a whole house surge protector will help but won't be everything.

http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/np_produ...484609,00.html

Maybe whole house surge suppression combined with a UPS on expensive stuff like home theater and computer?

I've got a 1500VA UPS for my office and a 500VA one in my basement for my router, modem, and NAS.
No, I guess it's 540 watts and it says it's 900VA on the case. Anyways I'm glad I got it, though it may be overkill for my computer. Right now the computer is running at about 50-60% load and it's only drawing 16% or 86 watts from the UPS. It's a dual core e6750 with two video cards and two HDDs with a 22' monitor.

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProdu...duct_Id=171926

Last edited by Vulcan; 07-27-2009 at 01:36 PM.
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Old 07-27-2009, 04:34 PM   #9
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I use a pair of surge protectors from these guys: http://www.zerosurge.com/index.cfm

They are ancient now, but because they do not use sacrificial components like a cheap surge protector (eg. cheap MOVs or other sacrificial parts), they last forever. I have never had issues with electronics failing that are connected to these.
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Old 07-27-2009, 05:06 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vulcan View Post
No, I guess it's 540 watts and it says it's 900VA on the case. Anyways I'm glad I got it, though it may be overkill for my computer. Right now the computer is running at about 50-60% load and it's only drawing 16% or 86 watts from the UPS. It's a dual core e6750 with two video cards and two HDDs with a 22' monitor.

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProdu...duct_Id=171926
Ah ok, yeah I have that one too actually. Probably from a Dell days of deals linked to from here lol.

500 and 550VA are really common sizes.
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Old 10-04-2018, 02:13 PM   #11
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Any new info on surge protectors?

I use CyberPower UPS on 2 computers in the house but need to up my game on protection for TV's and other sensitive electronics.

Want something with auto shutdown should it be damaged by a surge or just wears out over time.
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Old 10-06-2018, 05:52 PM   #12
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I'm actually wondering the same thing.

Does it help? We are in the process of putting surge suppression on our 600V main line in our facility to help protect our equipment but a lot of people claim it won't do much for a big surge.

Well, a big surge will probably blow the fuses on the main electrical line, no? So I would be more worried about small stuff that won't blow the fuses.

So much conflicting information out there over what actually works.
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Old 10-08-2018, 12:47 PM   #13
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Interesting related story, I installed a ~$100 Panamax surge protector on a client's media system, (TV, amp, cable box etc). He had a lighting strike a tree in his backyard. Fried his furnace, microwave and pretty much anything else connected to his electrical system that had a circuit board inside.

Everything behind the surge protector was fine. The surge protector itself was toast (partially melted) but took the bullet. It was also kinda funny because the Tv etc was 4-5 years old the client would have preferred to have them replaced by insurance since he was putting a claim in anyways.

All bets are off when lighting strikes (I think the above client was (un)lucky depending on the perspective) but I do recommend surge protectors (particularly with under/over voltage protection) to all my clients especially if they are on acreages / farms will tend to have more power issues.

In regards to whole-home vs individual surge protection, industry training I have taken (albeit potentially somewhat self-serving and biased) recommends individual protection over single whole-home protection as they can be over/under voltages, spikes etc generating by sub-pumps etc within a home.

I am not an expert when it comes this topic but just sharing what I have learned over the years.
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Old 10-08-2018, 12:57 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay View Post
Any new info on surge protectors?

I use CyberPower UPS on 2 computers in the house but need to up my game on protection for TV's and other sensitive electronics.

Want something with auto shutdown should it be damaged by a surge or just wears out over time.
this model's receptacles will stop working if its surge protection stops working.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...IK6Y9EEQB&th=1

https://www.techhive.com/article/327...ain-price.html
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Old 10-08-2018, 04:08 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cupofjoe View Post
Interesting related story, I installed a ~$100 Panamax surge protector on a client's media system, (TV, amp, cable box etc). He had a lighting strike a tree in his backyard. Fried his furnace, microwave and pretty much anything else connected to his electrical system that had a circuit board inside.

Everything behind the surge protector was fine. The surge protector itself was toast (partially melted) but took the bullet. It was also kinda funny because the Tv etc was 4-5 years old the client would have preferred to have them replaced by insurance since he was putting a claim in anyways.

All bets are off when lighting strikes (I think the above client was (un)lucky depending on the perspective) but I do recommend surge protectors (particularly with under/over voltage protection) to all my clients especially if they are on acreages / farms will tend to have more power issues.

In regards to whole-home vs individual surge protection, industry training I have taken (albeit potentially somewhat self-serving and biased) recommends individual protection over single whole-home protection as they can be over/under voltages, spikes etc generating by sub-pumps etc within a home.

I am not an expert when it comes this topic but just sharing what I have learned over the years.
My understanding is that proper in home protection includes protection against surges generated inside the home as well.

And then on top of that you do individual protection.

I wonder if something like this would help make a difference.

https://www.amazon.ca/CyberPower-CSB...urge+protector

And then on top of it you put surge protection with battery backup on the electrical stuff.
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