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Smart to invest in a battery backup?

Heller

Heller

Diamond Member
When powering my rig, im not worried about loosing data, but of a surge and frying my parts.

Will i be fine with the 2 plain Jane surge strips i have already? what do you guys recommend?

Surge Strips
 
That's just a power strip and not even a surge protector. At least get a decent PC surge protector. I use an uninterpretable power supply with voltage regulation.
 
Sorry, didn't pay attention, I don't have those exactly but Mine are radio shack strips with surge protectors in them. (I'm sure of it)

I use 2 of them, i guess my question is are surge protectors enough?
 
I can't really speak to the quality of the RadioShack units and the level of protection they afford. I personally use APCs SurgeArrest Professional series, but I have been tempted snag a line conditioner. The problem I have with consumer UPS units is that you still need to spend a fair amount of $$$ to get something with decent amperage/runtime.
 
Cheap surge strips have components that degrade with each surge. They degrade to the point of no longer offering protection and give no indication of their state. I prefer a good ups, but higher priced surge protectors have a different kind of circuitry in them that does not really degrade. IMHO, spending $40 or $50 for a good one that will last for years is far better than replacing a $12 one every year or worse yet, not replacing it and having no protection at all.

A ups can handle sags as well as surges (low voltage can be harmful too). Some models have very good line conditioning for clean power. All but the cheapest can also shut down your rig if power fails, assuring the proper shut down of the os without corrupting files.
 
For surge protection you really cant beat a UPS IMHO. You dont need anything big. Down here we have TECO and Progress Energy and they always have those 'blips' as we call them. Power goes out for ilke a quick few seconds and comes back real quick. Like the power company switching grids but doesnt quite get it done fast enough. Really annoying and messes with computers and other electronics. This is were a UPS is better than just a surge protector. Just get something big enough to give you 3-5 minutes of power in case the power goes out and you need to shut down safely or will last through those little blips without a problem.
 
> Will i be fine with the 2 plain Jane surge strips i have already?

do you feel lucky?

it also depends on the quality of your power supply

i had one cheapo PS that blew up when the power DIPPED (not surged) several times in quick succession. It took out everything connected to it (mb, 3 hd, cd burner)

a surge protector won't protect you from a dip

now i always use a ups and high-quality PS, it's just not worth dealing with the consequences otherwise
 
I bought a http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_1...ders&sName=Accessories

It has a $50,000 equipment guarantee on it, whatever that means. There is fine print involved, so I'm sure I would have to jump through some major hurdles to get reimbursed for everything. At least there is an LED indicator of the protection, whether or not it is grounded, etc.

It should be fine for me, as I only use it for unexpected surges due to power outages. I don't trust anything to stop lightning, as if I'm not mistaken, nothing can stop a direct hit from lightning. Which has happened to me before. So any time a storm is brewing, I simply shut down and unplug the PC. That's 100% effective. 🙂 Living in Mobile, Alabama (one of the rainiest cities in the country), that can happen fairly often. Still, I've learned my lesson before and it's not much hassle to keep it from happening again.
 
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