[SPEC ME] A surge protector.

Doctor McNinja

Doctor McNinja

Doctor McNinja

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Joined
8 Jul 2010
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Location
Staffordshire
As the title says, I'm looking for a surge protector, mainly to give me that extra little bit of piece of mind (as I've just bought a new rig). My requirements are-

  • A minimum of six sockets
  • A lifetime warranty
  • Insurance to cover possible damage
  • A power cable of at least two meters
  • No more than £50
  • Remote power off (not 100% essential but it'd be a bonus)
 
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First off, I have a surge protector myself, but should the relay in the house not be enough, and does PSUs not also have protection inside?
I just wonder if it is not a bit overcautious?
But if needing more sockets to hook up things... I guess you might as well get surge protection too..
 
Curious said:
First off, I have a surge protector myself, but should the relay in the house not be enough, and does PSUs not also have protection inside?
I just wonder if it is not a bit overcautious?
But if needing more sockets to hook up things... I guess you might as well get surge protection too..
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It would serve the dual purpose of replacing my current extension lead (that doesn't have surge protection) and giving that little bit more protection and peace of mind.
 
And just to be clear :) I was not going against your decision, as I have done just the same, I was just wondering :D
 
I use one mainly as a precaution tbh... say you do get a power surge and the house electrics don't deal with it and the PSU doesn't catch on quick enough, you can fry your whole system!
 
More a peace of mind than anything to be honest, if your machines going to fry it's not very likely the surge protector will save it. But at the same time, having one just makes you feel a lot safer running all that expensive kit.
 
Curious said:
And just to be clear :) I was not going against your decision, as I have done just the same, I was just wondering :D
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Part of the reason I started this thread was to be second guessed so you did me a favor. Now I've just got to figure out the difference between these... other than the price. The second one is an "AV" version but I can't see a difference in the features list.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=UP-047-BE

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=UP-009-BE
 
I have 1 of the 8 socket belkin surgemasters atm as well as an older version that's a grapitey colour, same design. And a 6 socket of the older one for my bro. Both have been fine. Not much to say really.

I actually split mayhems pastel coolant in one of the sockets of my old 8 socket one. Silly me. Stayed on fine though. I panicked it would blow up my speakers, they're rubbish but I cba to buy better ones..
 
moogle said:
The AV one has RF connections for protecting that, probably that's the difference.
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Don't know how I missed that. Cheers for pointing it out.

OptimaLnrg said:
I have 1 of the 8 socket belkin surgemasters atm as well as an older version that's a grapitey colour, same design. And a 6 socket of the older one for my bro. Both have been fine. Not much to say really.

I actually split mayhems pastel coolant in one of the sockets of my old 8 socket one. Silly me. Stayed on fine though. I panicked it would blow up my speakers, they're rubbish but I cba to buy better ones..
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I guess it goes to show the value of coolant being non-conductive.
 
Zaruz said:
More a peace of mind than anything to be honest, if your machines going to fry it's not very likely the surge protector will save it.
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A protector adjacent to electronics can only do two things. Either it blocks a surge. Or absorbs that energy. Read the Belkin specifications.

How many hundred joules? Destructive surges area hundreds of thousands of joules. The thermal fuse exists to disconnect protector parts as fast as possible from the surge to avert a house fire. Where is the protection? It is near zero.

How does its 2 centimeter part stop what three kilometers of sky could not? It doesn't.

Already inside each appliance is superior protection. Most surges are made irrelevant because all appliances contain that protection. A rare and destructive surge occurs maybe once every seven years. Probably less often in your venue. So, yes, its real job is peace of mind as long as it does not do one rare type of failure.

Being so grossly undersized, some strip protectors have created house fires. Locate it where fire risk is less. Or earth only one 'whole house' protector to even protect that power strip.
 
CyberCrow said:
As where i live we tend to get a few power cuts an these bad boys work great.
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Power cuts do not harm appliances. Why would protectors that ignore voltages below 500 volts do something for power cuts - a voltage dropping to zero? Power cuts are not even destructive. So what did those bad boys do besides separate you from so much money?
 
You have two options.

1/ Buy a really expensive one and enjoy the peace of mind it provides

2/ Find out how the surge protectors work, at which point they will never again provide you with peace of mind

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
 
JonJ678 said:
You have two options.
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1/ Buy a really expensive one and enjoy replacing lots of new and expensive toys.

2/ Find out how the surge protectors work, spend tens or 100 times less money, never again have surges, forget you even have protection, stop worrying about the resulting house fires, and never worry about replacing expensive protectors every year or three years.

Option one means plenty of excitement. Option two is boring.
 
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OptimaLnrg said:
I'm not sure if mayhems pastel is non-conductive in the bottle tbh, although I'm sure it becomes conductive once in the loop.

I think it's easier to say I'm a jammy bugger.
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I mean't electrically non-conductive (like mineral oil).




Totally off subject but...

So much for playing Bioshock!

I've just spent what little time I had fixing the most moronic computer problem I've ever come across!

I use Caps Lock to toggle run. Out of the blue, a pop-up starts appearing telling me I've pressed Caps Lock. This results in Bioshock reverting to windowed mode. I've been using the Caps Lock key to toggle run in various games for a week or more on my new rig and this is the first time I've had this problem.
I went through all the acceptability options, Windows' keyboard settings and SetPoint's, Windows' display settings and Nvidia's.... It was the damn Bluetooth!!!

Why the hell is the bluetooth driver telling me when I've pressed Caps Lock?

/Rant
 
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