UPS's vs surge protectors in thunderstorms

Phil2008

Phil2008

Phil2008

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17 Dec 2004
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So there has been a good few storms due to the heat this week and was wondering who has had damage to their pc's due to the storms? This got me thinking which is better the UPS or Surge protector during thunderstorms?

I have had UPS's for quite a few years now and I think a UPS will protect you from a storm much better then a surge protector would. Because the mains power can be all over the place during a storm, and the UPS will do its best to keep the power flowing constant and stable.

But a UPS or no other device, accept maybe a lightning rod will protect you from a full blown lightning strike. But then again, you have to be really unlucky to have a lightning strike directly on your house..

So in my way of thinking UPS's are better then surge protectors during thunderstorns, plus I dont wrorry too much if a storm kicks off if Im not around to unplug everything. (famous last words:D)
 
Rroff said:
If I'm around - as our power here comes on overhead poles - I unplug everything and switch over to battery power for what I am using.
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We get the tail end of storms nowadays and havent had to unplug my stuff since the windows XP days. But I have noticed a few seconds before a large crack of thunder our power goes off for whatever reason, causing the UPS to switch over to battery power. I have no dea why the power goes off before a large crack of thunder, but its kind of good as it protecting stuff, thats if the power goes off before the lightning gets to the power lines.
 
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EsaT said:
You sure it's some few seconds and not precise delay between flash of light and sound?

Next higher voltage than 240V power line could have spark gap protectors, which shunt voltage to ground when voltage exceeds certain level.
Like when lightning hits the power line.
(guess similar could be used on 240V "end user" line)
That causes short power cut.
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I dont really know, but its usually a good few seconds before the bang, then the power comes back about 5-10 secs after. The power never use to go off, it would either trip the switch or stay on.

chrcoluk said:
surge protectors wont do anything from a lightning strike. They not really designed for that. They more so for power surges.
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No, but you still see surge protectors and UPS's claiming to protect from lightning,, and that totally wrong, because if lightning close by, got in to the main power line it would take out anything.

But I did read somewhere that as lightning/surges travel down the power line, they do get quite weak by the time they are in your home, depending how far away when they strike.
 
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So with my power going off and on during bad storms, will this make stuff safer to use during a storm? Im guessing things connected to the UPS will be the safest as it will keep the stuff running when the power goes off.

Apparently we are getting more storms today, but there's none about atm............

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You need a large wattage beefy UPS if you want it to last a decent amount of time, so your putting a nice light load on the UPS.. Like my UPS is 1800watt, but I put about a max load of 250-400watt, so the load is nice and low and I get a decent amount of runtime, about 90-120mins when running off battery power.

Thats the main reason I bought such a high wattage UPS was for the runtime, but even then I wanted a even longer runtime, so I then bought a generator for infinite runtime:cool:
 
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I had a belkin 1200va/670watt UPS before the Powerwalker and that was a really good UPS also, as it lasted round about 10yrs, had about 4 battery changes over the years and it never let me down.. I think it was about £130 and lasted about 20mins with the UPS at 150watt load...

chrcoluk said:
Rroff that wouldnt surprise me one bit, companies like panasonic for example have been known to use cheap manufacturers for low priced units and use their own factories for their premium models.
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I dont think I would buy a APC or a well known make of UPS, as you are getting far less for your money and probably not much more quality either.

I had my Powerwalker UPS apart when I first got it, changing the fans for quieter ones as they ran 24/7 and it looks like a beast inside.

I think that the only advantage with a well known branded UPS is that the batteries are nice and simple to change. With my Powerwalker you have to be careful that you dont short anything replacing the batteries.
 
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