Need help choosing a quality surge protector...

T-800 · 30 Jul 2010 at 02:08

I live in an old house with really dodgy wiring, so am always getting spikes / surges frying my hard-drives and what not. I've been meaning to get a quality surge protector for a while now, but keep putting it off... stupidly.

A friend of mine recommended I get a surge protector by Monster Cable, but they don't appear to be all that common in the UK, and the ones that are available over here, don't seem to be as up-to-date, technology-wise, as their US counterparts. They do look pretty sweet, though!

I've heard a lot of good things about Belkin / PureAV, APC / UPS, to name a few, but because my knowledge on surge protectors is somewhat limited, I don't have a clue which one I should be going for. I'm basically after unrivaled protection for my PC and everything that plugs into it, including my Ethernet cable, which is plugged into a router in a different room, not guarded by a surge protector.

What are your recommendations, and why?

Cheers, guys!

T-800.

chokedoke · 30 Jul 2010 at 13:43

Ive got the belkin http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=UP-048-BE&groupid=702&catid=55&subcat=

The above has server me perfectly through a number of very dodgy flats. Would definatly recommend

wilko49 · 30 Jul 2010 at 14:03

let us know if it actually fixes the problem - the effectiveness of surge protectors is an ongoing argument. Also... don't buy stuff from monster cables, they are con artists.

westom · 30 Jul 2010 at 17:21

T-800 said:
I live in an old house with really dodgy wiring, so am always getting spikes / surges frying my hard-drives and what not.

Wiring does not cause spikes or surges. Wiring from the 1930 is more than sufficient for any computer.

If bad power is causing hard drive failure, then your power supply has always been defective. A defective power supply can still boot and run a computer. It 'defectiveness' can only be seen with a multimeter (or other more expensive equipment). Power supplies are for making anything on AC mains into perfectly clean and stable DC voltages. If anything out of the power supply causes disk drive (or other) damage, then the power supply is probably something dumped into the market because so many computer assemblers have no electrical knowledge - do not know what the power supply is supposed to do.

Monster has a long reputation of selling scams. For example, did you know speaker wire has polarity? If you connect the amp end instead to the speaker. A speaker end of that wire to the amp. Then sound is perverted. So Monster sold speaker wires labeled for the amp and speaker ends. And so many said they could hear a difference. Sold those speaker wires for ten times the normal price.

If Monster is selling a product, then you know all such products are scams. Monster has a long history of identifying scam. Then selling the same thing for even higher prices. The Belkin, et al are a same protector circuit also found in Monster. And also do not claim surge protection in their numeric spec. And claim surge protection in sales brochures. Because they cannot lie in numeric specs. And because lying is legal in sales brochures.

If you need surge protection, then you need products that do just that. But currently you have described nothing that says surges exist.

BTW, surges typically occur about once even seven years throughout the world. Less frequently in the UK. But myths hype surges into hourly events. The myth sells even more Monster products. Profits – not protection – are its purpose.

T-800 · 30 Jul 2010 at 17:42

Okay, perhaps I used the wrong terminology. However, there are definitely a lot of power fluctuations and power cuts in my house. The lights flicker a lot, and there are quite often what seem to be "dips" in power, not complete cuts, where everything is still running, but monitors / TVs will dim for a few seconds, computer fans will slow down a considerable amount, fridges will power down and up again, yet nothing resets itself... You get the idea.

Anyway, I've had more equipment fail in this house than anyone else I know who lives in similar aged houses, yet they have surge protectors, and I don't. This has naturally lead me to believe that a surge protector, or something else that regulates power, would help prevent further equipment from failing. I could be totally wrong, but I hope I'm not...

Mason- · 30 Jul 2010 at 17:55

Well tbh a good solution for that (although I tihnk they're quite expensive) is one of those things that charges on the mains, and when power cuts from the mains it uses power through there, really good ones can allow half an hour of power. Enough for you to save your work and shut down properly, or if its just a dip in power long enough for it to stay on.

OcUK sell some of these I think.

westom · 30 Jul 2010 at 18:14

T-800 said:
Okay, perhaps I used the wrong terminology. However, there are definitely a lot of power fluctuations and power cuts in my house. The lights flicker a lot, and there are quite often what seem to be "dips" in power, not complete cuts, where everything is still running, but monitors / TVs will dim for a few seconds, computer fans will slow down a considerable amount, fridges will power down and up again, yet nothing resets itself... You get the idea.

Is this power variation due to appliances power cycling inside the house? Is so, you may have a major human safety problem. If anything inside the house is causing dimming wires, you stop everything now and get an electrician. The possible danger is that great.

You describe brownouts - not surges. Lower voltage. Something maybe generated by the AC utility such as a failing transformer or wind blown and shorting wires.

View numbers on the protector box. It does nothing - remains inert - until AC voltage exceeds something like 500 volts. And then still does nothing or does something if connecting energy to earth ground.

Brownouts do not damage electronics. Sometimes electronics intentionally and internally create a brownout to increase life expectancy. Low voltage is harmful to motorized appliances - ie refrigerator, furnace. Those would need that UPS.

Now, if you want surge protection, then you want protectors that actually do protection. That means the protector must be where wires enter the building AND must connect short (ie 'less than 3 meters') to earth ground. Keison and ABB are two sources for responsible solutions. Belkin, Monster, etc are on the scam list.

You have no idea why anything is damage until the autopsy (or something equivalent) is performed. Making wild speculation is how to be scammed. You describe brownouts. And your building earth ground may be defective - another failure that is also a human safety threat. Always learn what the problem is before fixing it. Never (as you are suggesting) shotgun solutions to only cure symptoms.

If brownouts are so low as to cause a bulb to dim significantly, then fix the AC power problem. Don't cure symptoms with a UPS. What might also be a human safety threat. Do not cure low voltages with ineffective and obscenely profitable surge protectors (that do nothing for low voltages).