Is a power strip and a surge protector the same thing?
- Thread starter austin316
- Start date
Except you'll probably be wasting a considerable amount of money if you don't care about surge protection and get a surge protector. You can get as many as 3 power strips, sometimes more, for the price of even the most basic surge protectors.
Ok, I have a PS2, Logitech Z5500 Receiver and a flat panel tv. I should definitely switch to a surge protector, correct? Can someone point me in the direction of a cheap one that works well?
A power strip is essentially an extension cord with multiple outlets on the end. A power strip in and of itself offers no surge protection. If you add a surge protector to the power strip then what you have is a surge protecting power strip.
Just hit up target, circuit city, etc... and get one that says surge protector. Something with 2000+ joules protection should be ok.
Rubycon
Madame President
- Aug 10, 2005
- 17,768
- 485
- 126
No - a power strip just allows you to plug more devices into a standard outlet.
A surge protector has more components - cheap ones an MOV which is designed to clamp at a specific voltage (usually over 340VAC) to prevent damaging spikes and CW overvoltage from long term faults from reaching your equipment.
Better ones include LC filtering (a has filter comprised of inductors/chokes and capacitors ) to reduce RF noise and harmonics from entering and/or leaving your equipment. The MOV's on better ones will have a larger rating (in joules) and lower clamping voltage with faster response times. They can snub spikes from the back emf of a hermetic compressor starting on the same line (fridge, water cooler, etc.).
The next step up would be a line conditioner which can be a combination of the above with transverse rejection to a full blown transformer such as a ferroresonant transformer. These provide full galvanic isolation from the utility grid and superior protection against 6.6kV flashover spikes from lightning line strikes, for example.
A surge protector has more components - cheap ones an MOV which is designed to clamp at a specific voltage (usually over 340VAC) to prevent damaging spikes and CW overvoltage from long term faults from reaching your equipment.
Better ones include LC filtering (a has filter comprised of inductors/chokes and capacitors ) to reduce RF noise and harmonics from entering and/or leaving your equipment. The MOV's on better ones will have a larger rating (in joules) and lower clamping voltage with faster response times. They can snub spikes from the back emf of a hermetic compressor starting on the same line (fridge, water cooler, etc.).
The next step up would be a line conditioner which can be a combination of the above with transverse rejection to a full blown transformer such as a ferroresonant transformer. These provide full galvanic isolation from the utility grid and superior protection against 6.6kV flashover spikes from lightning line strikes, for example.
Aikouka
Lifer
- Nov 27, 2001
- 30,382
- 910
- 126
That's what I was thinking... I'll regularly call a surge protector a power strip simply because most "power strips" you buy today have surge protection in them... unless they're very, very cheap.
I use a UPS on my main PC and my sub PC/DLP TV. Although there tend to be more electonics for a TV so it's harder to find a UPS that has enough room. I'm actually tempted to plug a power strip into my UPS to get more ports supported by battery back-up, but I don't know if this is a bad idea or not
.EDIT:
Looks like I found the answer to that one:
Do you think a guy who doesn't know the difference between a power strip and a surge protector has any idea what the fuck you are talking about here?
Most often you buy a power strip that indicates it already has a surge protector built into it. I can't say that I've ever seen a surge protector sold alone as a separate unit although I guess such a thing could exist. . .
When you say $20 for a surge protector do you actually mean a surge protecting power strip or are you actually thinking of the surge protector as a separate thing? Usually the surge protector is "part of" a power strip. If the power strip has a surge protector unit in it, then it will say so in the specifications on the box somewhere. You can also kind of tell if the power strip has a surge protector in it because there is usually some kind of "reset" button on it usually near the on/off switch.
Modelworks
Lifer
- Feb 22, 2007
- 16,240
- 6
- 76
Surge protectors include about 1.00 of MOV they use for 'protection'.
Funny how a 1.00 part makes the price go up 20x
Funny how a 1.00 part makes the price go up 20x
Miramonti
Lifer
- Aug 26, 2000
- 28,651
- 98
- 91
Power strips are splitters, while surge protectors are units that come with equipment protection such as $25,000 guarantees in case they fail to protect your equipment due to a defect in the surge protector, that most likely not a single surge protector manufacturer has ever reimbursed a victim of fried equipment for his losses.
whoa. now, I'm getting completely confused. I would like to protect against a sudden "surge" of electricity, so that my electronic equipment doesn't get ruined. I would also need to be able to plug in at least 4 cables.
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