Surge Protectors Neccessary?

[chaddeus]

Is it really neccessary to get a good SURGE Protectors for your PC in California? Everone seems to be using but I am not using any and don't seems to have a problem.

- Charles

 

[John]

One day, a surge protector might save a PC component. A good analogy would be car insurance, most people have it....some don't. When damage happens you want to be covered.

 

[jcmkk]

A surge protector is made to protect your electronics if a surge happens to come through your house. The most common way this would happen is if some lightning hit your power lines and sent a huge surge through your wires. Anything that was running at the time without a surgeprotector would be fried. I personally don't care about the fact that they might save my PC, I just use them so I can plug in a bunch of wires. If my computer was fried, it would just be a good reason to build a new one

 

[MWink]

YES. EVERYONE should have a GOOD surge protector if not a UPS. It's people like you who give me lots of business. "yea, my system stopped working yesterday after that big storm."

I don't see how people can spend thousands on a top of the line computer and not be willing to spend $50 on a good Surge Arrest. I would strongly recommend you (and everyone else) get a good (APC) Surge Arrest or UPS. Just today my UPS's AVR has kicked in twice.

 

[agentK]

D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y !!!

It's like spending $2000 on a brand new sound system for your car and forgeting to install an alarm.

 

[Jeff H]

chaddeus, two summers ago I lost two surge suppressors in three weeks - one on a laptop and one on my main home machine. Both times they saved my machines. One suggestion - don't succumb to the cheapest one you can find. You don't have to get the most expensive either, but spend a few more dollars and get a good name brand unit.

 

[johndoe52]

A must. The car insurance this explains it perfectly. You may not need it for years and then your luck runs out.

 

[krackato]

Short answer. Yes. You won't understand until everything you own goes down a second after a freak lightning strike.

 

[SpecialEd]

absolutely! Surges in electrical power can any time, there doesn't have to be an electrical storm. If fact, your house probably experiences surges in power every day (most of them are pretty minor). the surge protector is primarily there to protect your electronic devices from the every day ups and downs of electrical power. It will even protect your stuff from a lightning strike if its far enough away.

However, if your house gets directly struck by lightning, a surge protect won't do much to protect anything (even the high quality ones). Your better off just unplugging all your things durring an electrical storm.

But its still important to have one, electric currents aren't as consistent as everyone likes to think.

 

[Yossarian]

SpecialEd wrote:



<< the surge protector is primarily there to protect your electronic devices from the every day ups and downs of electrical power. >>



Well, just the ups Get an UPS for the downs.



<< However, if your house gets directly struck by lightning, a surge protect won't do much to protect anything (even the high quality ones). Your better off just unplugging all your things durring an electrical storm. >>



Good advice but I think the guarantee on good surge protectors kicks in even in this situation. I haven't read the fine print on mine since I bought it but IIRC any type of surge is covered. Even though your system may die, you may get some money back from the surge protector manufacturer.

 

[JellyBaby]

Yes! They don't protect against a lightning strike (what would?) but deal with everyday spikes and surges nicely. Get a good one but you shouldn't need to spend a lot of money.

 

[chaddeus]

Thanks guys. Maybe I'll get one but is the power in US so inconsistent? I am from Singapore (a small country) and the power is very consistent without any kind of spikes.

- Charles

 

[Alex]

To put it bluntly: YES.

ive lost mobo, nic and modem all due to power surges... and i consider myself lucky. now with my no break i not only do not worry about surges but i can still use my comp during a power cut for a couple of hours!

 

[Dunbar]

There's only one surge mode that endangers PC's - lightning. There's nothing in your house that can cause a surge sufficient to harm a computer (it's rated for 1000V differential.) A surge suppressor is only as good as the earth ground path your house has. You must have a good ground before a surge protector will "protect." Most homes do not have good quality grounds because the spec is poorly written and it's usually not tested. The best surge protetion is a good ground system with a whole house surge suppressor.

 

[JellyBaby]

I've been in apartments where the lights would flicker quite a bit. I can't image that's good for any sensitive electronics. Good a surge protector or better yet a UPS. Then even complete, repeated loss of power say in a storm won't be an issue either.

 

[Dunbar]

Why do you think voltage dips are bad for a computer? Don't you think if it were a lot more computers would be failing?

 

[SteelCityFan]

PipBoy

I have 2 Belkin's at home.. one with 8 plugs and phone, and another with 8 plugs, phone, and 2 coax. They protect my PC, DVD, Stereo, etc.

Anyway, Belkin includes lightning strikes in the warrantee which for me is either 25K or 50K. I assume most of the mroe respected names do the same...





I had to have one replaced once.. the protected light went out so I assume it took a hit and sacrificed itself for my PC as they call it. All I had to do was call Belkin, and they mailed me a new one... I had to mail the old one back of course. The one I mailed back was 3+ years old, and the new one they sent was the same model number but they had upgraded it by about 400 Joules... good deal for me. Both of mine are around 2000 Joules of protection. I think they are called "Surgemaster II" or something like that.

 

[VTrider]

I have many of those Belkin Surgemaster protectors, and they are sure worth it. Before I started using surge supressors/protectors I lost many a hard drive, motherboards, modems, you name it. I've also sent back dead Belkins and receieved new/better ones very quickly. One thing that you should also look for is protecting not only the electrical plug ends, but also the telephone jacks. I lost about $200.00 + 2 digital answering machine/phone units when lightning struck the telephone pole in front of my house 5 years ago - everything that was plugged into the wall survived, everything that was plugged into a phone jack got fried!!

-VTrider

 

[chaddeus]

Sounds scary. I'll buy one this weekend.

- Charles

 

[slowbutsure]

I have surge protectors on everything electric in my house and have additional protection called Strike Safe. Strike Safe is a surge protection system installed on my electric line, Cable and telephone lines coming into my house by my electric company(6.95 per month). I feel that the extra protection is well worth the little it costs since I live in Southern Louisiana and storms and lightning are a way of life in my area. You all should check with your power companies to see if Strike Safe is available in your areas. IMHO

 

[HouRman]

I heard surge protectors are only necessary to prevent a fire, while they will not protect your computer equiptment as much as a quality power supply. Of course the guy that told me this is nuts but he said his power supply protects his computer from damage while the surge protector just acts as an AC multitap. Most surge protectors won't be helpful unless the power surge is strong like 1.21 gigawatts of electricity. ---> bolt of lightning from back to the future

But why I use one?... cause audiophiles recommend it for home theater and there are surge protectors with over $100,000 insurance on surge damages.

 

[MWink]

<< Anyway, Belkin includes lightning strikes in the warrantee which for me is either 25K or 50K. I assume most of the mroe respected names do the same... >>



That's strange, the Belkin I saw had a star and when you read the really fine print it said the exact opposite.

I wouldn't trust a Belkin. I have seen too many of them fail and read too many bad reviews.

 

[CSoup]

Surge protectors are cheap enough these days that it is not worth it to run without one. Surges happen all the time even when the weather is not bad and even when there is no lightning in the area.

 

[Elledan]

I bought an MGE UPS a few months ago. Before I decided to buy it I didn't really see the use of it, but now, after the UPS having saved my equipment a couple of times when the power was cut off (possibly preceeded by spikes), I don't see it as a waste of money. It's a good investment.

Like said previously, if you buy equipment with a worth of over $2000, why not get a $50 (or $100) surgeprotector/UPS?

 

[Jerboy]

<< I bought an MGE UPS a few months ago. Before I decided to buy it I didn't really see the use of it, but now, after the UPS having saved my equipment a couple of times when the power was cut off (possibly preceeded by spikes), I don't see it as a waste of money. It's a good investment.

Like said previously, if you buy equipment with a worth of over $2000, why not get a $50 (or $100) surgeprotector/UPS? >>




I use a $30 CyberPower 320SL UPS, because I was getting tired of a few sec power outage putting my computer down and it has proven to work fine for me. Most surge protectors are PURE PROFIT for the manufactures. There is not much in there. Usually there are three of these Quarter(actually you're pretty well off if you have Quarter size MOV. Many cheapies use Dime size) sized MOV in so called surge protector power strips, perhaps two in real cheapie and they couldn't cost more than 30cents each in bulk. Some surge protectors that cost $70 may have gas discharge tubes in them, an additional component that cost $3 or $4 in bulk.