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| Thread ID: 80055 | 2007-06-10 00:15:00 | Surge Protection | Winston001 (3612) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 557802 | 2007-06-10 00:15:00 | I did a search and couldn't find any specific advice. So what is the best choice for surge protection? Dick Smith have at least 3 different types and I know there are more. For example, would a $29.95 single protector with a plug board attached be enough? If so, why buy a $70 - 150 protected board with 4-6 plugs? What am I missing? Yours Frazzled |
Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 557803 | 2007-06-10 00:25:00 | Some of the more expensive ones have "equipment protection insurance", so that in the event that the surge protector fails and your equipment gets damaged, they will pay you $x compensation. I'm using a cheap $7 surge protector from Mitre 10 Mega. I figure that since NZ's power grid is very stable, it isn't worth the investment. I also have contents insurance which (I believe) covers damage caused by power surges. |
somebody (208) | ||
| 557804 | 2007-06-10 01:17:00 | Some of the more expensive ones have "equipment protection insurance", so that in the event that the surge protector fails and your equipment gets damaged, they will pay you $x compensation. the last i heard there wasn't an insurance company in NZ interested in that type of scheme. its fairly common practice in other countries. some expensive ones are simply there to make more $$ for the company. i pulled apart a locally made one and it was joke. $150 product with the internals of a $10 one :( downside is there is very little real testing done on surge protectors. the only one i've seen slammed most of them for being ineffective. i got a few panamax ones which are well made but are a little pricey. when you open them up you can see why they are pricey. at the time the closest thing available was going for double the price. with the cheap ones there is no way of knowing if its a reasonable one or not. i have even seen ones that had a sticker saying it will not protect anything from HV spikes :( |
tweak'e (69) | ||
| 557805 | 2007-06-10 02:06:00 | the last i heard there wasn't an insurance company in NZ interested in that type of scheme. its fairly common practice in other countries. This: www.dse.co.nz claims to have a $100000 "connected equipment" warranty, which is the sort of thing I was trying to describe. |
somebody (208) | ||
| 557806 | 2007-06-10 03:12:00 | This: www.dse.co.nz claims to have a $100000 "connected equipment" warranty, which is the sort of thing I was trying to describe. just had to search around a bit. while a few sites mention it the main compnay sites have little or no info on any connect equip warranties. the last time i looked (this is a few years ago) the equip warranties where only valid in the USA. however our packaging still had it printed on it and "only in the USA" in fine print. |
tweak'e (69) | ||
| 557807 | 2007-06-10 03:27:00 | A problem with surge protectors is that they don't "divert" the energy of a surge. They absorb it. The commonly used "MOV" non-linear resistors deteriorate each time they are hit and will not last forever. It's usually impossible to tell when a protector is no longer giving any protection. A major surge will explode the components, so that's visible if you open the unit. I suppose a really big surge might burst the case. ;) But there might be other indications that such a surge has occurred. Some have a pilot light which is alleged to show that the unit is functional. I don't know how reliable the indication is. suppose any suppressor is better than none. But they are like locks as burglar prevention. If a lightning strike wants to zap your computer, it can. :D |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 557808 | 2007-06-10 04:48:00 | To give a more understandable comparison, and considering that the "surge diverter" absorbs any power surges as above, if you equate the possibility of a fault on the incoming power network, you end up with a typica maximum case of 9,000+ kW of surge capacity for a few milliseconds. That is the equivalent of over 50 Holden V8 engines at full output, being "absorbed" by the little white plastic surge diverter box. Unrealistic that they will "absorb" anything other than the most trivial voltage spike. |
godfather (25) | ||
| 557809 | 2007-06-10 05:17:00 | most actualy have a divert of sorts. they simply have MOV to earth. get a spike and it shorts it down to earth. naturally when dump power down to earth it blows the fuse. sounds simply enough but when you sort it to earth the earth line becomes the spike voltage so no current flows, hence the need for some absorbsion. even the goos units are not designed for mega wattage. if you want decent spike protection fit a lightning diverter to the incoming mains of the house. its basicly a sparkplug, shorts it down to earth. this is not one of those MOV types you plug into the fuse board. diverter only works with spikes 1000v and up, MOV types are generaly for low voltage spikes. taling about not being able to tell if MOV has stopped working.... a lot of aplainces have very basic MOV built in. used to get a few that had blown the fuse and a person replaced the fuse without checking the MOV. noften the next spike would toast the cuirct boards :( |
tweak'e (69) | ||
| 557810 | 2007-06-10 07:22:00 | A problem with surge protectors is that they don't "divert" the energy of a surge. They absorb it. The commonly used "MOV" non-linear resistors deteriorate each time they are hit and will not last forever. It's usually impossible to tell when a protector is no longer giving any protection. A major surge will explode the components, so that's visible if you open the unit. I suppose a really big surge might burst the case. ;) But there might be other indications that such a surge has occurred. Some have a pilot light which is alleged to show that the unit is functional. I don't know how reliable the indication is. suppose any suppressor is better than none. But they are like locks as burglar prevention. If a lightning strike wants to zap your computer, it can. :D I had a spike board which I believe cost $29.95 from memory which came with the computer. We had one particularly bad storm a couple of years ago and before I could shut down there was a lightning strike immediately above the house. Not only did it fry the internal modem but also the Caller Alert and all power to the house. The Lineman who came out found that the pole fuse to the transformer was partially melted and had it not been blasted clear the whole house would have been zapped with x number of volts and all appliances plugged in would have needed raplacing plus all the wiring. Apparently the surge can even follow through the wall via cavities and even be conducted through mirrors. When I checked the spike board later I found that the light was flickering and was advised by the local teckie that it was most probably stuffed. The spike board I have now cost $70 but the supplier would not guarantee that it would cope with surges. From memory I believe he was talking about boards which took only nano seconds to perform. Like Winston1000 I was directed to spike boards costing upwards of $150 but there did not appear to be any guarantee with them either with household insurance or otherwise. My advice for what it's worth is to turn the power off at the mains if there is a lightning storm predicted. Regards Gordon. PS: Sorry Greg if me grammar aint up to snuff tonight but I don't bloody care! Now that took only 30 minutes to write-I must be getting better!pressf1.pcworld.co.nz |
Gordon62 (11771) | ||
| 557811 | 2007-06-10 08:48:00 | Thanks everyone. Being true to my scottish ancestry I'll plunk for the $29.95 version. Mind you I've used nothing at all for 10 years and currently have 7 computers between work and home to keep an eye on. No problems yet but one plugboard at work keeps tripping out and has a pc on it. | Winston001 (3612) | ||
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