First, the surge protector does not even claim to stop,
block, absorb, or filter destructive surges. Will it stop
what miles of non-conductive air could not? Of course not.
But that is the myth: that a surge protector will sit between
transistor and surge - to protect transistor.
2) A surge protector is only as effective as its earth
ground. That is all it does. A surge protector is not surge
protection. A surge protector is only effective when it makes
a less than 10 foot connection to surge protection. To sell
their overpriced, ineffective products, the plug-in protector
forgets to mention earthing - the one and only essential
component in a surge protection system.
3) Your appliances already contain effective protection.
Any protection that works at the appliance is already inside
that appliance. If those $0.10 components inside a $20 or $50
power strip were effective, then those components are already
inside that appliance.
But internal protection is predicated on a principle that
destructive surges will be earthed before they enter a
building. Its called 'whole house' protectors. If not earthed
at the service entrance, then destructive surges will
overwhelm protection already inside the appliance. Effective
protectors connect less than 10 feet to central earth ground -
and are called 'whole house' protectors. That is protection
at less than $1 per protected appliance - that actually
provides protection. Compare that to $10 and $40 per
appliance for ineffective plug-in protectors.
4) Another has properly noted a problem with any power strip
protector on the UPS output. When in battery backup mode,
plug-in UPSes output sine waves that really are more like
noisy square waves. For example, this UPS outputs two 200
volt square waves with a spike of up to 270 volts between
those square waves. That is called 120 VAC to a computer. No
problem for electronics because electronic power supplies are
so resilient - contain substantial internal protection.
But a spiky UPS will either damage the UPS when in battery
backup mode (when the electricity is far dirtier), or will
slowly degrade MOVs inside that power strip into degradation.
It is why surge protectors must not be on UPS outputs. Again
the power strip surge protector does nothing more than enrich
its manufacturer - in part because they routinely forget to
mention much of what is posted here. If they mentioned
earthing, then sales would decrease. Better to lie by not
telling the 'whole' truth.
5) Most important feature in every acceptable power strip is
the 15 amp circuit breaker. That circuit breaker means
multiple items may be plugged into one power strip - safely.
Too much current draw will trip the breaker - the essential
safety feature. Such power strip sell for as little as $3 in
Walmart and Home Depot. However ineffective surge protectors
often remove that circuit breaker, install some $0.10
components, then sell for $10 or $40. They remove an
essential protector in any power strip - the circuit breaker?
Yes. And again, this is forgotten by those who recommend
those ineffective products.
Wall receptacles for the most common 120 VAC plug is 15
amps. Often powered by 20 amp circuit breakers. No problem
if only one appliance is plugged into that 15 amp receptacle.
But when multiple appliances share the same plug, then a power
distribution strip should have that all so important 15 amp
circuit breaker - so that the receptacle is not overloaded.
6) Neither plug-in UPS nor power strip even claims
protection from destructive surges. So that you don't ask
embarrassing questions, don't mention which types of surges
they protection from, AND avoid all mention of the most
important feature - earth ground. No mention of earthing
implies a surge protector is not claiming effective
protection. No earth ground means no effective protection.
Technical concepts underlying these principles were
discussed in a previous newsgroup alt.certification.a-plus
entitled "Opinions on Surge Protectors?" on 7 Jul 2003 or at
http://tinyurl.com/l3m9
Effective 'whole house' protectors are sold even in Home
Depot as Intermatic EG240RC and IG1240RC or Siemens QSA2020.
No earth ground means no effective protection. By chaining
power strip surge protectors together, you are only making the
problem worse - adding more length to an already too long
connection to earth ground. Furthermore, consider other
incoming surge paths as discussed previously in that above
newsgroup. A surge protector is only as effective as its
earth ground - which undersized, ineffective plug-in
protectors must have you not learn to sell their overpriced
product.
