surge protectors

Lakeland · 20 Feb 2006 at 23:32

i need a 10 way extension to plug all my gear into, and i was wundering,

if i buy a normal 10 way extension, and a single plug surge protector will this work the same as buying a 10 way extension with built in surge protection?

semi-pro waster · 21 Feb 2006 at 10:41

It ought to work but the chances are that you will be overloading the single plug that you are plugging it into and will probably void the makers insurance that they offer. I got a 2x4 way pack of Belkin surge protectors about 4 years ago for £20 or so and it offers to replace items up to £2,000 which seemed fair enough to me.

Lakeland · 21 Feb 2006 at 10:53

ive got two turntables, two cd decks, one mixer, two active speakers, pc, monitor and my tele going through one socket, i didnt think this would be an issue?

semi-pro waster · 21 Feb 2006 at 11:13

I'm not an electrical expert by any means but your average plug contains a 13A fuse at the maximum and you are proposing to put 10 plugs with varying fuses through this surge protector with a 13A fuse. I'm pretty sure that counts as overloading it but wait for more opinions on it. Maybe if you are not using all of them at once it won't matter so much but I'd still prefer to split it out myself.

badbob · 21 Feb 2006 at 11:46

You won't have any problems at all. I have a 8 way block, with a another 6 way attached to that. 8 poweramps, TV, CD, 2 DVD player, HT processor, pre-amp, DAC, tuner. Never tripped the mains fuse.

The fuses are only there to protect the device in a worse case scenario. A CD player does not use 3A of current, for example.

steinooo · 9 May 2006 at 11:03

are surge protectors worth getting?

I have a 6 plug Belkin one, but I want anohter one for my PC, does brand matter either?

semi-pro waster · 9 May 2006 at 11:23

stokefan said:
are surge protectors worth getting?

I have a 6 plug Belkin one, but I want anohter one for my PC, does brand matter either?

I prefer to have them for the peace of mind even if it doesn't actually do all that much. I don't know if brand matters hugely but Belkin offer various levels of insurance for their products, my two pack of four way adapters came with £2,000 insurance for connected products so that is worth checking out to see if they all have similar provisions.

Grimgoth · 9 May 2006 at 12:00

wow, reading all this makes me feel slightly safer at home- i thought I was being bad, some of you are definately worse

anyhows, I recall that there was an offer on, and I got a belkin ups thing for less than £20, it was on offer here on ocuk too:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Un_Interruptable_Power_Supplies_55.html
the belkin power series, i see its going for about £35.

but in addition to the overload protection (the thing complains when i plug 2 computers + laptop onto it), you get about 3-5 min worth of back up time too.
definately a plus. £40k connected equip waranty, and enough ins and outs for surge protection of modem, av, etc.

and since it complains of being overloaded with 2 comps and a lappy, i've since put in another extension from elsewhere, and feel slightly safer. sides, the lappy has its own backup battery.....

Cyanide · 9 May 2006 at 12:45

The electrical supply industry (known as "we" or "us" from now on

) do our best to prevent surges with our own high tech kit (a couple of metal rods with a gap in-between

) but surges can still happen, mainly during harsh weather conditions. Your kit would probably be safe from most things with a normal fuse, but if you want to get a surge protector it won't do any harm and at least you'd be protected if the worst did happen

earlyflash · 9 May 2006 at 13:11

You can also do your own Surge protectors with components from large well known electrical component places.

I did this on a normal 8 way switch and it was sweet as a nut - just wire in the bits and pieces into the wall plug for the 8 way, easy and a damn sight cheaper!

Ladforce · 9 May 2006 at 13:18

add up all the power ratings of every piece of equipment plugged into the block. the maximum a wall socket can provide is 13A x 230V = 2990W with a small margin of maybe 100-200W. If the wall block has 2 sockets next to each other they are running on the same wire so include anything connected to the second outlet to. if you exceed this the fuse/circuit breaker in your house will trip.

the person who says hes running 8 power amps...i highly doubt it either that or they are not powerful at all. my 1 stereo power amp draws 2kW from the mains. try connecting 8 of them to the wall and see what happens.

pcoltrane · 9 May 2006 at 13:24

I have a couple of belkin 8 way pure av and surgepro protectors. Both look good, compensate if components get damaged by a surge - and have added protection for ethernet and AV connections (depending which one you go for)

The only thing i don't like is that the on off switch on the unit is quite easy to flick by accident. I have found that sometimes the plugs (particularly power bricks) don't quit go in properly which can cause horrible crackly electrical noises and then the surge protector cuts the power. I'm not sure if that is unique to my one or a build qualty issue

Skullbones · 9 May 2006 at 15:22

badbob said:
You won't have any problems at all. I have a 8 way block, with a another 6 way attached to that. 8 poweramps, TV, CD, 2 DVD player, HT processor, pre-amp, DAC, tuner. Never tripped the mains fuse.

The fuses are only there to protect the device in a worse case scenario. A CD player does not use 3A of current, for example.

scary! for local assistance with fire call 999

Find me an electrician who thinks that's ok!

MadMatty · 9 May 2006 at 16:47

marc mercer said:
I have a couple of belkin 8 way pure av and surgepro protectors. Both look good, compensate if components get damaged by a surge - and have added protection for ethernet and AV connections (depending which one you go for)

The only thing i don't like is that the on off switch on the unit is quite easy to flick by accident. I have found that sometimes the plugs (particularly power bricks) don't quit go in properly which can cause horrible crackly electrical noises and then the surge protector cuts the power. I'm not sure if that is unique to my one or a build qualty issue

I havent any trouble with plugs, but i baught the 8 way pure av issolator mainly for my pc setup and the Z5500 speaker set. Wasnt particuarly cheap issolator, but it doesnt prevent those nasty clicks and pops any better then my previous cheapo 6 way anti surge :/ Mine also makes an odd vibration type sound when you switch it on, is that normal ?

the z5500 speakers make a masive bang sound if I switch off the issolator before the speakers too. Im not entirly impressed with it.

Energize · 9 May 2006 at 16:59

stokefan said:
are surge protectors worth getting?

I have a 6 plug Belkin one, but I want anohter one for my PC, does brand matter either?

As long as you dont get belkin, brand doesnt matter that much.