Are surge protectors a waste of money?

[alex24]

On the back of this thread, I've started to wonder whether in a real surge they'll offer any protection at all. Has anyone had their equipment saved by a surge protector? That is, a power strip kind that cost £5 to £50 depending on model, not what is sometimes described as a 'surge arrestor'.

It's stated in the above thread that the most effective means of protection is a 'whole house' protector. Anybody else with knowledge on this?

Before you add your 2 cents, think about what you're saying, does it prove or disprove the question here? I'm open to any opinions, and am generally quite curious as to the answer of this question. When working as a PC tech and in sales, I was always told that they were needed, at least just for the PC. This view wasn't questioned.

So, what do you think?

 

[TheRedZealot]

I have never used a surge protector in the past 4 years of so of owning a high end system, i have also suffered no problems that a surge protector could have prevented.

 

[postmanfw]

Had a friend that had a decent belkin one and surge came down phone line due to lightning stike right outside the house. (remote area)

Fried the belkin and burnt the carpet but only damage to pc was the usb port the bb modem was plugged into (modem fried too of course)

Expect it would have been a lot worse if no protector but it still failed to do its job properly.

 

[Audigex]

Considering a 4-way extension with surge protector is about £2 more than one without, I think it's plain stupid not to.

It might help, it might not, but for £2 there's no reason not to.

 

[alex24]

I have never used a surge protector in the past 4 years of so of owning a high end system, i have also suffered no problems that a surge protector could have prevented.

A question of risk then.

Had a friend that had a decent belkin one and surge came down phone line due to lightning stike right outside the house. (remote area)

Fried the belkin and burnt the carpet but only damage to pc was the usb port the bb modem was plugged into (modem fried too of course)

Expect it would have been a lot worse if no protector but it still failed to do its job properly.

I have repaired countless machines that had recieved damage from surges down the telephone lines. The vast majority had failed modems, and a few had failed motherboards too. Not the extensive damage you may expect though, just a failed 56k modem was nothing to cry about. What about the mains power though? A large number of people now use routers some distance (often wirelessly) from their PCs, thus negating the risk from a phone line.

Considering a 4-way extension with surge protector is about £2 more than one without, I think it's plain stupid not to.

It might help, it might not, but for £2 there's no reason not to.

The sort I have to buy (to allow connection of all my expensive peripherals an aerial too) is an 8 gang, like this. That's £23, and I have loads of spare non-surge power extenders, so the cost is basically nothing for that. £23 wasted? Hardly £2 from my point of view, and I expect a lot of people. Fair point though, when in doubt, better safe than sorry. However, proporting to know a fair amount about PCs and associated electronics, I can no longer claim ignorance.

 

[lukus001]

I would expect the surge protector has a specific rating, therefore if your house gets hit by lightning and blows your socket off the wall, that £5 surge protector might not handle the load.

It all depends on what you want, those £5 surge protectors arn't really surge protectors -_-, think they just condition the power since they are powering multiple devices on a single strip, maybe similar to a voltage regulator? with minor, cheap surge protection.

You get what you pay for. A £5 surge protector uses less than £5 in componets, Do you trust £5 to protect £1000 from a surge?

 

[matthab]

Ive always used a surge protector on my computers as a £25 power block is better than a £200 PSU and anything it takes out with it. Then again ive never had the surge protector blow so I never know how much it is protecting and how many spikes i actually get.

 

[Kotu]

the slightly more expensive ones tend to come with a valued guarantee. This acts like a one off insurance cover against surges, which i think is well worth the money (as long as they actually honor it).

 

[datalol-jack]

This acts like a one off insurance cover against surges, which i think is well worth the money (as long as they actually honor it).

There is a cover-all-cases clause that states liability of the manufacturer only when the surge protector was at fault, which is not the same as outright insurance on a claim basis.

As for surge protectors, I use them myself, but I am not naive enough to think they will ever replace a dedicated house unit plus a proper UPS between the power grid and the machine, which conditions current much better, and counts the number of abnormalities that hit it. These measures are industrial grade, however, and applying them to a home setting is almost always overkill.

 

[Philtor]

We don't tend to get power surges where I live but I have a surge protected gang socket for my all my PC kit. It would only take the one power surge and you've had it so it's peace of mind at the end of the day.

 

[bledd]

I always use 4way or 6way surge protectors, I don't feel comfortable if I'm not using one..

 

[datalol-jack]

Don't forget spikes, brown outs and other wonderful electrical nasties, people.

 

[Biz.Kid09]

Well from my thread i gathered they are not very good and use cheap parts etc so im thinking of getting a UPS as they seem to be better made......and i dont have the money for a whole house protector.

 

[Baboonanza]

Had a friend that had a decent belkin one and surge came down phone line due to lightning stike right outside the house. (remote area)

Fried the belkin and burnt the carpet but only damage to pc was the usb port the bb modem was plugged into (modem fried too of course)

Expect it would have been a lot worse if no protector but it still failed to do its job properly.

I had the same thing, except my modem was PCI and it also fried the motherboard! Good excuse for an upgrade

 

[Pug]

cant offer an experienced opinion on the subject to be honest, but my approach is if spending £15 on a gang plug which i'll need anyway, and one that has hopefully been manufactured to a reasonable standard and MAY offer some protection, is probably worth it on a £1200 piece of electronics. This i have them on my AV setup, and both PC setups.

 

[mymorph]

i use a surge protector, got some cheap - i think they were wrongly priced on-line, i think i payed £10 for them instead of the £30 everywhere else at the time (some yrs ago now)

anyway my parents live in a remote area and often get lighting strikes too on the telephone line and had several modems blow - nothing else, no other items damaged - except the surge protector - which was damaged saved the modem, but the was scorched at the telephone socket jack so needed replacing - not really sure they are much use really, make excellent/extension multi sockets though.

so if you do need more sockets and need to buy something then i personnally would opt for the surge protector. just in case

 

[alex24]

We don't tend to get power surges where I live but I have a surge protected gang socket for my all my PC kit. It would only take the one power surge and you've had it so it's peace of mind at the end of the day.

Would it though? How much do they actually protect from? A lightning strike is extremely powerful for example, would a small piece of electronics make any difference if it can jump all the way from the atmosphere? How do you know?

I always use 4way or 6way surge protectors, I don't feel comfortable if I'm not using one..

I know what you mean, but is that some sort of idea that's been put in our heads by salesmen?

Don't forget spikes, brown outs and other wonderful electrical nasties, people.

PSUs can deal with small spikes, as per the ATX specification, though no meaningful figures are quoted in that document. I think it stands to reason that a half-decent PSU could deal with a good amount of over potential resulting from poor supply. Similarly, with brownouts, the specification dictates that the PSU can deal with a certain amount, though this is not clear. What other 'electrical nasties' are you talking about?

A UPS can protect from a bad brown out or loss of supply, but not necessarily a surge.

Anyone who can properly confirm/deny the need for these devices? It really seems to be based on poor knowledge and sales spiel, I'm not sure what to believe!

 

[Biz.Kid09]

Westom in my thread seems to know but i dont understand it at all....it seems the best way is to get a 'Whole house protector' like the Keison but im not going to pay over £500 to protect stuff worth less....plus if anything blows during a surge thats what the house insurance is for isnt it?

 

[J.B]

I had a modem and PCI port die a few years ago from a surge down the phone line, bizarely the board was fine apart from that one PCI port.

I cant say I've ever knowingly repaird an power surge from the power line, but then I have replaced plenty of blown PSUs and PSUs+other components which could be attributed to a surge.

I do use a surge protector, just seems sensible, sorry I cant provide anything other than my own experiance and opinions. Im sure there will be someone along sooner or later who knows all about these things and can comment.

I was considering getting a UPS a couple of years ago when in uni halls as we had a lot of brown outs and with added surge protection seemed like a good idea.

 

[alex24]

Westom in my thread seems to know but i dont understand it at all....it seems the best way is to get a 'Whole house protector' like the Keison but im not going to pay over £500 to protect stuff worth less....plus if anything blows during a surge thats what the house insurance is for isnt it?

Yes, he seems to know a fair bit but has problems expressing it clearly for us simpletons! I think the point was, that the keison would protect everything too, including the expensive stuff, but yeah, it is more expensive. Debateably more effective however, so perhaps not a fair comparison?

I had a modem and PCI port die a few years ago from a surge down the phone line, bizarely the board was fine apart from that one PCI port.

I cant say I've ever knowingly repaird an power surge from the power line, but then I have replaced plenty of blown PSUs and PSUs+other components which could be attributed to a surge.

I do use a surge protector, just seems sensible, sorry I cant provide anything other than my own experiance and opinions. Im sure there will be someone along sooner or later who knows all about these things and can comment.

I was considering getting a UPS a couple of years ago when in uni halls as we had a lot of brown outs and with added surge protection seemed like a good idea.

I've also replaced lots of blown PSUs, but not many decent ones. Difficult to prove why they've failed though.

As you say, hopefully there is someone in the know, but this possible 'myth' seems to run deep!

As above, a UPS would help in that situation, but that's its only real function. Any surge protection would probably be as effective as the £7 4-gang models.