Surge protection advice…

Forums › Desktop computing › Surge protection advice…

kiwis

837 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 12

#295380 24-Mar-2022 17:26

On the back of my other topic around my monitor I believe there is such a thing as surge protection.

Essentially during our storm on Monday we lost power and one of my monitors wouldn’t work afterwards.

I understand surge protection can help when these things happen, is there anything specific I should be looking for or avoiding when I look to buy one of these??

Do I even have the name right?

Cheers

Lias

5655 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3978

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2891515 24-Mar-2022 18:16

Surge Protectors are one fairly common and comparatively cheap protection mechanism against some of the kinds of electrical issues, e.g. transient voltage surges.

As to whether you should have them, the general answer is "yes" for electronics you don't want to blow up, but can't justify the cost of a UPS to protect.

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup. Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

kiwis

837 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 12

#2891595 24-Mar-2022 19:47

Cheers so any of them are okay. Like this result from Bunnings

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/hpm-8-outlet-surge-protected-powerboard-charcoal_p0264522?store=9491&gclid=CjwKCAjwiuuRBhBvEiwAFXKaNCa2l6KmWaUIH5_p49-A25xXxEzLb177VWrpIgtwIa0bsZ8pOjjWOxoC6rQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Lias

5655 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3978

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2891646 24-Mar-2022 20:00

kiwis: Cheers so any of them are okay. Like this result from Bunnings

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/hpm-8-outlet-surge-protected-powerboard-charcoal_p0264522?store=9491&gclid=CjwKCAjwiuuRBhBvEiwAFXKaNCa2l6KmWaUIH5_p49-A25xXxEzLb177VWrpIgtwIa0bsZ8pOjjWOxoC6rQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Like most things they come in varying capacities. Look for how many Joules it can handle (e.g. how big of a surge it can take) That one can only handle 150 Joules, others can handle up to a few thousand. Some of the fancier ones also do other filtering to produce a cleaner power signal etc.

gzt

18672 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 7807

Lifetime subscriber

#2891729 24-Mar-2022 21:16

Is it really going to be much use in an erratic power scenario?

kiwis

837 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 12

#2891756 24-Mar-2022 22:22

gzt: Is it really going to be much use in an erratic power scenario?

Narr I didn’t think so. So what exactly am I looking for??

Tinkerisk

4798 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3660

#2891807 25-Mar-2022 08:10

Despite from some kind of overvoltage spikes the surge protection plugs alone without an overall concept are pretty much useless.

A serious protection concept requires the first defense at the house entrance, the second one is the protected area and the third one are the individual appliances. What people usually buy is only the third stage and it can‘t withstand what directly comes in from the outside. So it really depends on what protection level you like to have. A direct hit during a thunderstorm can‘t be covered anyway.

- NET: FTTH & VDSL, OPNsense, 10G backbone, GWN APs
- SRV: 12 RU HA server cluster, 0.1 PB storage on premise
- IoT: thread, zigbee, tasmota, BidCoS, LoRa, WX suite, IR
- 3D: two 3D printers, 3D scanner, CNC router, laser cutter

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

1101

3141 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1143

#2891867 25-Mar-2022 10:28

Re anti surge/spike

The cheap ones from bunnings etc are probably garbage .
Cheapos were tested some time back by Consumers Institute, only 2 rather expensive ones did anything usefull.
And they are only good for 1 'hit'

A power outage isnt the same as a voltage spike.
It could be the monitor was flakey & would have died anyway. nothing else in your house was affected I assume

As mentioned above ,a surge caused by lightning cant be protected against with a UPS or other (cheap) protector .

gzt

18672 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 7807

Lifetime subscriber

#2892100 25-Mar-2022 13:32

kiwis:
gzt: Is it really going to be much use in an erratic power scenario?
Narr I didn’t think so. So what exactly am I looking for??

I don't know the answer. Possibly a small UPS.

Eva888

2759 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2420

Lifetime subscriber

#2892121 25-Mar-2022 14:37

My Belkin surge protectors with guarantees felt secure until I read they may not protect in a lightning storm so have always unplugged TV, fridge and electronics until the lightning subsides. This weeks storms have opened the subject again and I found a helpful link

https://standbysystems.co.za/lightning-versus-surge-protector-voltage-stabiliser-and-ups-who-wins/

Lias

5655 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3978

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2892222 25-Mar-2022 18:51

My understanding (and I could be wrong) was always that nothing can save your electronics from a close/direct lighting strike, but that surge protectors can protect them from voltage spikes caused by more distant strikes affecting the grid. I also understood that with power grid outages due to damage to the grid (car hits pole, transformer blows up, etc) there is a decent chance of things going awry with the power coming into your house that can make your sensitive electronics and/or switched mode power supplies go bang.

Aside from UPS's there's also things like CVT's, power filters, etc that use various things to make the power "clean" but isn't something I know much about.

Tinkerisk

4798 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3660

#2892559 26-Mar-2022 21:46

1101:
A power outage isnt the same as a voltage spike.
It could be the monitor was flakey & would have died anyway. nothing else in your house was affected I assume

As mentioned above ,a surge caused by lightning cant be protected against with a UPS or other (cheap) protector .

Well what do you think what's going on, when the power network comes back after an outage? There are quite heavy spikes due to the inductivity of the net itself when all sources are still switched on at the same time when power comes back?

Apple TV

Stream your favourite shows now on Apple TV (affiliate link).

1101

3141 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1143

#2893019 28-Mar-2022 10:48

Tinkerisk:
Well what do you think what's going on, when the power network comes back after an outage? There are quite heavy spikes due to the inductivity of the net itself when all sources are still switched on at the same time when power comes back?

We dont see massive number of homes & businesses with every device fried after a power outage

We see a very very small number of homes/busenesses with SINGLE device failed.
If it was an issue we'd see thousands of home & busnesses with manys devices fried .

When I get a call out because something is dead after a power cut, its ALLWAYS no more than one device . And its often zero things blown , ie old UPS or not knowing how to push the power button . :-)

What Ive seen, is a dead device that was on its last legs anyway .

Tinkerisk

4798 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3660

#2893382 29-Mar-2022 10:11

1101:

We dont see massive number of homes & businesses with every device fried after a power outage

No one has claimed that. After all, the devices are usually protected by design up to approx. 1500V. Nevertheless, overvoltage peaks occur when the mains supply is restored. If you want to protect yourself effectively, you have to do it according to a protection concept, either completely or not at all. In any case, you can forget about a lone protective socket. Depending on the type of construction, it is often even better to leave it out altogether.