Powerboards that aren't terrible

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AlphaAlfalfaSprout

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#324457 12-Apr-2026 21:12

Does anyone have recommendations for good quality power boards?

Most of them use a horrible contact sleeve design that bites excessively and makes the plug difficult to extract. I have some awful ones from Goldair etc. that grip so hard that the top of the board bows upward every time you pull a plug out and releases with a bang. They never 'break in'. After years of use they are just as bad. Body flex, creaking, grinding and resistance upon insertion, and having to position the plug at just the right angle - almost every board I've bought in the last 15 years has been terrible.

The last one I bought was a Belkin SRB004AU2M. The construction was feather light and there was a piece of plastic rattling around inside it right out of the box. The whole thing felt cheap and nasty while costing $75. The USB-C charging circuitry also failed violently after a month of use, with a loud pop and scorch marks around the port. There wasn't even anything connected to the USB ports at the time. I'm sure that was a rare failure, but it further soured my experience with the product. The same old issue of overall cheapness and difficult ports would remain anyway.

In several aspects, these 'SpikeFree' units are the best I've found:

https://www.hamer.co.nz/inventory/product/1222/spikefree-6-outlet-metal-cased-surge-protected-plugbox

The entire casing is metal with zero flex. The glossy coating is easy to clean, and the white doesn't turn yellow like plastic. Best of all, they use a superb contact design. The sockets feel firmly anchored. Insertion/withdrawal from the sockets is smooth and easy, yet the grip is firm.

HOWEVER, the switches let the whole board down. The switch mechanisms are liable to fail after a year or so and the neon lights within the switches usually start flickering after months. I also don't like the presence of the obnoxiously bright lights in the first place. They are OK for a workshop environment but terrible for the home. Since the lights are inside the switch, you can't even cover them easily.

If they would only make them without the switch and maybe some higher capacity variations (they only come in 3, 4, and 6 sockets) these would be my holy grail power boards.

Looking for alternatives.

richms

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#3480281 12-Apr-2026 21:15

I prettymuch only get HPM powerstrips - 8 way or 12 ways, but I did get some 5s that have spacing between them. Seem to come and go from the green shed and they are mostly pushing some other brand at the moment, so I guess HPM didnt pay enough marketing to them.

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nztim

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#3480288 12-Apr-2026 22:39

Jackson power boards are not too bad and relatively priced too

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Dynamic

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#3480299 13-Apr-2026 06:51

nztim:

Jackson power boards are not too bad and relatively priced too

We've had mixed results with Jackson power boards, which we can get directly from the importer. Some are great. A small number have internal alignment issues which makes plugging things in more challenging than it should be.

I have never had a safety concern about them though, which I have had with some other brands.

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AlphaAlfalfaSprout

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#3480345 13-Apr-2026 09:58

Mixed results from Jackson might have something to do with different models being designed and manufactured by completely different OEMs. I just noticed that they have a product which is clearly a rebranded version of the metal-bodied spikefree line I mentioned above:

https://www.lcp.co.nz/product/8-outlet-powerboard-with-heavy-duty-metal-housing-surge

So the design is available in >6 plugs after all. Unfortunately, same design = same switch.

I'm half tempted to get that and bypass the switch.

Yet another rebrand of the same thing by 'Powerleader' https://www.wagneronline.com.au/product/power-boards-metal-case-10a-996880?sku=l58015

richms

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#3480354 13-Apr-2026 10:33

I got some random brands from Bunnings a while back with a 5m cable which then had a recall for the switch having the flippy but fall out. None of mine did that and it's not something I use so never bothered returning them as I can't find any others with a decent cable length.

Richard rich.ms

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#3480400 13-Apr-2026 12:41

HPM are the only powerboards that I will use. Not sure I've ever experienced a board with excessive grip on a plug but then again my powerboards are usually plugged in once and hidden behind furniture never to be touched again.

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tweake

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#3480406 13-Apr-2026 12:59

typically you want tight contacts. otherwise power adapters fall out or make bad contact.

i much prefer those with individual switches, removing plugs all the time is what damages them.

i do like that hamer one for having decent locations to screw it to the wall. most boards are a pita to fit on a wall. but the single mov spike protection is a joke. you want 3 minimum. my good ones (no longer made) have 3 mov's per outlet.

AlphaAlfalfaSprout

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#3480417 13-Apr-2026 13:27

tweake:

typically you want tight contacts. otherwise power adapters fall out or make bad contact.

i much prefer those with individual switches, removing plugs all the time is what damages them.

i do like that hamer one for having decent locations to screw it to the wall. most boards are a pita to fit on a wall. but the single mov spike protection is a joke. you want 3 minimum. my good ones (no longer made) have 3 mov's per outlet.

I agree it should be tight but there's good tight and bad tight. Those metal-bodied clones have sockets that are good tight. The grip is very firm, but here's no horrible grinding sensation or violent release.

I also like individual switches, but only if the switches are good.

nztim

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#3480670 13-Apr-2026 21:06

Dynamic:

We've had mixed results with Jackson power boards, which we can get directly from the importer. Some are great. A small number have internal alignment issues which makes plugging things in more challenging than it should be.

I have never had a safety concern about them though, which I have had with some other brands.

https://www.cdlnz.com/4-way-powerboard-w-surge-overload-protection-3m-power-cord

These are bullet proof

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KiwiSurfer

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#3480678 13-Apr-2026 21:42

I've had good experience with Belkin. We have two currently and no issues with either. As a rule I never buy anything with USB charging as an add-on feature -- asking for trouble. However one of the Belkins we have is my hubby's power board with 2x USB-A chargers (bought against my advice) which has nonetheless worked fine. They come with a pretty good warranty but haven't had any reason to claim against it.

Agree the HPM ones are pretty good -- my non-Belkin power boards ones are HPMs and all working well.

Interestingly I prefer those with a good grip on the plug metal pins -- unlike the OP. I hate the cheapo ones with poor grip which plugs just fall out of when you look at it the wrong way.

gzt

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#3480680 13-Apr-2026 21:47

Imo the average domestic plug board just isn't designed for repeated plugging and unplugging these days. I came to the conclusion they just have to be plugged and left alone.

I found myself unplugging and replugging in the entertainment area. Instead I upgraded to a single 10 way board. It does mean a couple of things have power that are hardly used but it fixed the replugging problem anyway. It's all low power devices and adaptors with a few spare slots now.

If the recommendations above don't work out maybe consider a genuine trade board. Survival for repeated plugging and switching operations is likely to be better and you'll only buy it once.

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AlphaAlfalfaSprout

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#3480685 13-Apr-2026 22:13

KiwiSurfer:

Interestingly I prefer those with a good grip on the plug metal pins -- unlike the OP. I hate the cheapo ones with poor grip which plugs just fall out of when you look at it the wrong way.

Again, I never said that I didn't want one with a good grip. I want that doesn't bite excessively, with grinding on the insert and case warping etc on the way out. The 'spikefree' unit I'm using as my benchmark for good contacts grips just fine. There are zero problems with heavy wall warts migrating out or anything like that (I would never tolerate that). It just doesn't feel crunchy, grindy and cheap.

It's interesting all the praise for HPM in this thread. I just double checked one of my most loathed designs (which I incorrectly identified as Goldair earlier) and it's actually an HPM model. We have one on a table and I can hear the bang of people unplugging chargers from it from the other end of the house. We have two and they're exactly the same. In its defense, it is individually switched and the switches have held up very well.