Surge Protectors - internal quality? joules?

[Slickone]

Is there any way to tell by opening up surge strips if one is better than another? Any way to tell the # of joules by looking inside?

 

[Slickone]

^

 

[HappyPuppy]

I have never trusted surge protectors. I prefer UPS's to condition the line voltage.

As to your question, I don't know.

 

[LordRaiden]

An APC UPS is the best kind.

www.apc.com

Trust me. I've worked with many and APC has always done best.

 

[Slickone]

These are for my TV's, phones and such.

 

[dquan97]

Should I splurge the cash and buy APC or will I be ok with an off-brand UPS for my desktop PC?

 

[Infos]

Have both UPS and surge strips..I like the equipment replacement guarantee
Good luck trying to collect on it though, I suspect
Can't you check out the model # on the net to get the joule rating?
If not it's probably an el cheapo

 

[0roo0roo]

eh, i only spend about 15-20 dollars on my surge protectors. never had a surge that i know of, works so far. that and i got some higher end ones in a hotdeal worth far more

 

[FoBoT]

they are all the same, just buy the cheapest , or better yet, get a power strip and plug it into a quality UPS

 

[Carbo]

About three years ago I had a power surge zap through my entire house. A main line outside the house broke loose from some rusted out connector, arced and shorted, and sent a surge through my house that could've caused serious damage.
I say could've because I had all my electronic goodies and toys sitting behind a variety of surge protectors: my home office, (PC, fax, printer, scanner, and telephone), two TV's, even the garage door opener. But, not one unit was damaged in the slightest. The same cannot be said for the various protectors. All of them were scorched and stinky, black and burnt. Dumped 'em, and bought new ones. Cheap insurance.

 

[Slickone]

Anyone else know?

 

[Slickone]

^
Electronic gurus?

 

[MWink]

The number of joules it can absorb is not the most important spec IMO. The research I've done seems to indicate that the let-through or clamping voltage is the most important spec. (lower is better)

BTW, APC is the best.

Edit: The way to tell a crappy surge protector is that it will only have a few MOV's (they look like painted quarters) and nothing else. A good surge protector should have quite a bit of electronics in it to filter noise and such.

 

[numark]

Another thing to look at is response time. Preferably you should find a surge protector that has a time of <1 nanosecond. Anything more than that and your equipment's pretty much DOA. Some of the really cheap ones have something like 5-10 nanosecond response times, which is way too much. I have to agree on the APC suggestion. I had one of those when lightning hit the house, and my computer survived the surge without a problem (although the surge protector didn't, of course).