Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Surge Protector
- Thread starter Dark Void
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I have a pretty old Belkin Isolator that's served me well for a long time. I've also been using one of the 8-outlet models that's a bit flatter than most and has a cord wrap loop near the top. It sells for somewhere around $20. I've had mine for about a year, and it's also caused no problems.
thanks for the input. i'll probably look at what local retail has and then go from there, and i will look out for Belkin.
Another vote for APC. Only brand I have that I trust. Yes, they may be pricey at regular stores but check out Costco. I always see them there for just under $20.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I use APC as my UPS and surge protection for my two desktop computers but I also use Belkin for other equipment with good results.
Many people, including me, use APC for their dependability at home and in the enterprise environment. I have a couple of their UPS's that are about 10+ years old that I need to recycle, but they lasted at least 5 or so years before I had problems with the batteries, which is the normal life cycle of a lead acid battery. I have some Belkin power saver units at home that have a remote switch for turning off most of the outlets via switch or timer on my less critical stuff, but most of the surge protects are APC. All of the UPS's at home are APC.
Read what they did not say. Invisible protectors on the furnace, air conditioner, dishwasher, every dimmer switch, bathroom GFCI, and door bell also did same protection for so much less money.
Best protection adjacent to any appliance is already inside the appliance. Often a surge too tiny to overwhelm that protection easily destroys the ineffective protector. Design that way. Failure gets the majority to recommend a grossly undersized protector that costs tens or 100 times more money per appliance.
In any facility that can never suffer damage, those protectors (that also have a rare history of creating building fires) are not used. Any facility that must never have surge damage uses one 'whole house' protector connected short (ie 'less than 10 feet') to the only item that does surge protection. Single point earth ground. Rated to even earth direct lightning strikes without failure. And yes, costs about $1 per protected appliance.
Protection is always about where energy dissipates. Therefore neither APC nor Belkin will discuss energy dissipation or what is always required for protection - earth ground. Destructive surges are hundreds of thousands of joules. How many joules does that APC or Belkin claim to absorb?
Best solutions are many invisible protectors or one 'whole house' protector. Invisible protectors will not protect that Belkin or APC. A 'whole house' protector does protect ineffective protectors. Then superior protection already inside every appliance is not overwhelmed.
Protection is always about where energy dissipates. Where is any APC or Belkin spec number that defines protection from each type of surge? Does not exist. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.
lol, thanks for the info, but i'm simply looking for something that provides multiple outlets, as i'd rather use that then plugging my stuff into a wall.
the reason i am looking for brands is because i want a quality build as opposed to specs in dealing with surge protection.
the reason i am looking for brands is because i want a quality build as opposed to specs in dealing with surge protection.
Best power strip is one without any protector parts inside that have a history of creating house fires. Essential on any power strip is one item - its circuit breaker.
A $4 or $7 power strip claims protection equivalent to a $25 or $60 power strip protector. And does not have a potential fire threat that occurs rarely but is a major danger. For example, Edward suffered a fire last April from a protector adjacent to his aquarium:
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?108814-Pump-malfunction-power-strip-fire
Best power strip does not contain grossly undersized protector parts. Grossly undersized to fail even on surges too small to harm appliances. That failure gets many to recommend that undersized protector. Sometimes protector parts do not disconnect fast enough; fire can result.
i'll just be going for a regular old surge protector. you can find them anywhere.
I highly recommend a Brickwall Filter. It's the best surge protection out there. It's not cheap at about $235 (they do on sale often) for the least expensive model, but it's well worth the price as far as I'm concerned. I own 6 of the audio grade models and couldn't be happier. Check out this website and read why MOV surge protection is worthless and a possible fire hazard..
http://www.brickwall.com/
http://www.brickwall.com/
Last edited:
thanks a lot for the suggestions but that is way out of my price range. i'm looking for something quite affordable (about $20 or so) that has good build quality.
probably just going to go down to a retail store like i said, and keep my eyes out for belkin mainly. seems like that is what a lot of people use & recommend and is the most affordable of everything mentioned here. thanks everyone.
The cheapo parts are called MOVs, metal oxide varisters. They are very cheap and all they are is voltage switches, that wear out over time, and when have high current through them, become light bulbs and can start fires. Now the reason why they aren't very good is that they don't block and or absorb the surge energy, all they do is shunt it to the ground in most cases. Now this isn't necessarily good because when the surge goes to ground, it makes your electronic devices "grounded" case have a high potential voltage, so you can get arcs between the case and internal components. I have enough friends who had major surges that the protectors did nothing. SO, that forced me to research the heck out of the topic and I found, what I think are the best surge suppressors made that can be acquired here http://www.sellcom.com/brickwall.html I do not work for the company but I am a believer based on my experience with them. They use a different method of surge suppression which uses large high quality components in comparison to the crap that APC, Belkin, Monster and many others use to keep costs down. The site has more explanation on why and how they work, but the bottom line is that they STOP surges, by using a combination of capacitors and a large toroidal "surge reactor" that converts any slip through current into heat, but its big enough to absorb a lot of that energy. Now the best benefit is this also acts as a line filter...how much does monster and many other companies charge for stand alone line filters? Well with this you get true surge stopping and excellent filtering. I am a professional videographer and I have high quality audio monitoring (Apogee Rosetta, and Blue Sky monitors, for those in the know), and I procured one of the 8 plug audiophile (each outlet is isolated from the others) units to plug my speakers and a/d converter into and what a difference! I almost fell out of my chair it sounded so much better. For my computer equipment, I bought special request, 2-plug 20A units with standard plugs to connect my APC 1500 RS battery backups into, thus feeding clean surge free power to those units...which should make them last longer too. They aren't cheap, if you buy 5 or more you get a nice discount, but they range from about $160 to $250 each. If this makes you go hmmm, remember how much you invested in your TV, stereo, computer, etc and its insurance that once paid for will remove worry for many years to come that power issues are messing up your electronics. Heck get a few folks to buy in with you so you can get the bulk discount... Best investment I have made. Good luck!
Ah, I just saw someone else recommended Brickwall too...amen! They are worth every cent! You can even have your home wired with their OEM units.
Ah, I just saw someone else recommended Brickwall too...amen! They are worth every cent! You can even have your home wired with their OEM units.
i read your post and appreciate the info, but again that is just way out of my price range. although, i'm sure you get what you pay for : )
should be going to the store sometime next week, hopefully they have some nice affordable belkin models in stock. i think that is what i will be going for.
should be going to the store sometime next week, hopefully they have some nice affordable belkin models in stock. i think that is what i will be going for.
Brickwall and its competitors are superb noise filters. But noise and transients are two completely different anomalies.
Nothing stops what three miles of sky could not. Especially not a Brickwall for so many reasons. For example, the Brickwall (and Belkin) must have a wire that connects the surge directly to electronics. Bypassing best protection in that appliance's superior protection circuits.
Neither the Brickwall nor Belkin even claim surge protection in manufacturer specifications.
One can buy a Monster for as much as $150, a Belkin for $60, or the equivalent circuit in a supermarket for $7. Why so many prices for what are equivalent? Each makes same claims in numeric spec sheets. Monster has a long history of identifying scams. Then selling an equivalent product for even higher profits. And all have a history of sometimes making appliance damage easier.
The only solution used in any facility that cannot have damage is the '$1 per protected appliance' solution. Provided by more responsible companies including General Electric, ABB, Siemens, Leviton, Square D, and Intermatic. The Cutler-Hammer solution sells in both Lowes and Home Depot for less than $50. Is the only solution when even direct lightning strikes cause no damage ... including rocket launching facilities and munitions dumps.
A least expensive solution is also the most effective. Unfortunately, it requires a homeowner to learn completely new concepts that also happen to be well proven for over 100 years.
i understand where you are coming from (or probably not), but i'm just looking for something to provide some outlets. it's not really about specs claims or the reality of the surge protection. currently i have a cheap one that doesn't have enough outlets. i'm just looking for something that has 8-12 well spaced outlets with a good, well built design. that's all.
Then look at power strips for $4, $8, or even a high priced $12. Not a power strip that sells for $30 or $80 with a potential human safety problem.
One feature that must be part of a power strip is a 15 amp circuit breaker. Important for human safety.
I bought a monster green power surge protector for 27 bucks on the walmart website. Its $44 if you go to a walmart store. There one in best buy that looks almost identical for $70.
I went with this because it was kind of cheap 23 for the one with less outletts and $27 with a couple more. Monster is also a brand name I have heard of and was only a couple more than the belkin. It also tells you if the thing is on its last legs.
I am happy with my purchase
I went with this because it was kind of cheap 23 for the one with less outletts and $27 with a couple more. Monster is also a brand name I have heard of and was only a couple more than the belkin. It also tells you if the thing is on its last legs.
I am happy with my purchase
will do, thank you for all of the information.
@crzdcolombian: nice deal you caught there it seems, i will keep an eye out for those as well. thanks for the reply.