It's also important to note here the difference between sacrificial and non-sacrificial surge protectors. Most lower-cost/entry-level surge protectors "sacrifice" themselves in order to save your equipment in the event of a large surge or spike. Once they have done that, they are spent and must be replaced. These are usually your surge protectors that typically range in price from $25 to about $200. Non-sacrificial surge protectors (often paired up and combined with line conditioners) can be reset when they experience a surge or a spike and do not have to "sacrifice" themselves in order to save your equipment. These are typically found in the price range of $300 to $3,000. Although higher price does not guarantee higher performance, you do generally get what you pay for with respect to this type of product. As with all things though in the world of electronics, your mileage may vary. You are always wise to do your homework first before making any type of a surge protector purchase so you know exactly what it is that you are buying - and know exactly what it is that you are actually getting for your money.
The reason most surge protectors degrade over time is because they have a thing in them called a MOV. This is the device that routes high voltage to ground. The MOV is absorbing transient voltages very often and you don't even know it. $10 surge strips are for the day to day surges which degrade the MOV over time. If you want a surge protector that will not degrade over time, silicon avalanche diode technology is a great option, though it is more expensive.
Thank you for this video. I watched your other videos, very informative. I am a field technician for a major telecommunications company in Canada and the atrocity I come across customers setups. Using dollar store extension cords, old yellowed what was a surge protector from 1994. One customer had a ground prong cut on their surge protector because it didn't fit onto their extention cord?? Yes as bug eyed as I was they seem to not be bothered by it but have a 65" TV running on it and cannot understand why it kept shutting off. I will show this video to the next customer should I come across a fire hazard.
So why can't these electronics wizards making surge protectors design one that will no longer send power to its outlets instead of only providing a green light that apparently doesn't really guarantee anything? At least then you would know your surge protector served its purpose.
Cheap surge protectors, like cheap extension chords, are dangerous and should be banned. The former will fail eventually, but most people will continue to use them thinking that they're still working--assuming that they ever worked to begin with--and the latter are often overloaded and serious fire hazards. Another problem is that people often mistake surge protection, even on good units, for overload protection, thinking that if they plug too many devices that draw too much power into one of these, it'll shut off and protect them from meltdowns and fires. But that's not what surge protection does. It protects devices from sudden surges, not overloads. To protect against that requires a circuit breaker built into the power strip in addition to surge protection, ideally a resettable one. Then there's GFCI, AFCI, undervoltage protection, overvoltage protection, and so on. If you value your equipment, property, home and life, do some research into all this before buying and using these things. Yeah, it's boring and annoying, but the potential alternative is far worse.
After 40 years as an industrial power computer and drives engineer. I can say if you can see the MOV it must look pristine, no swelling, cracks, blisters or other distortions. If it is not pristine it is dead. The other telling thing is if it smells of rotten eggs it is dead.
Excellent! This was going to be my question. I have a seven year old Furman PTS-8 and I'm going to move it to the desktop PC/audio setup and get a non-sacrificial for my living room setup. I wanted to know if I open it up and inspect the MOV's , what am I looking for in order to evaluate it's integrity. Thanks very much for the comment. Cheers.
Jonah, I just want to mention that the power surge could have also come through to the cable box via the Coaxial wire. Even if the cable box was plugged into the surge, if the surge protector did not have coaxial in/out surge protection as well, it still could have traveled up the HDMI and fried the TV if lightning had struck the cable line. Some surge protectors have coaxial connections for this reason as well.
LOL so I guess my power bar with surge protector is no longer doing its job. I've had it since 2004 I used it on my very first rig ddr1 444 megahertz 1.1 gigahertz AMD CPU🤣🤣🤣🤣 and I'm using it on my current system now. I'm currently doing a rebuild AMD b550 I don't believe I'll be using it for that system it's time for it to be retired😅
Let's say I want to try to preserve the useful life of the surge protector when I'm not using my devices... Will switching the protector off with its own switch preserve the remaining energy it will divert? Or do I just have to unplug it entirely?
Both TV's I've recently gotten are 2 prong, but I have EVERYTHING in my apartment on actual surge strips, but I've never remembered too many of them having lights that work. I always thought if the light came on it was working. 🤪 I know they do have dates on the bottom that look like little dials, I just can't see them all that good 👀 Maybe you could explain what those are. Expiration date maybe? I know carseats have them and my aunt said WTF? Do they think they're gonna spoil!? 🤣😂😆
This is a great helpful content and that really need people, but there no good content about it. I would like to see more content that really help people. Thanks.
Well, there are still old houses around that have "knob and tube wiring". Purchasing one of those testers that plug into a receptacle and shows you whether your outlet is properly wired would be a good idea. Or if you know how to use a multimeter. Just because your outlets may have a GROUND doesn't mean they are grounded, and the tester will indicate that. Old "knob and tube wiring" never had a ground and i believe some insurance companies won't even insure if that old "knob and tube" wiring is not replaced.
My surge protector somehow surged itself and fried my tv busted my old phones charging port too. I was lucky that was the only things fried. Went to test the protector on a low voltage device on the GFCI outlet and the GFCI went off immediately after plugging in my small test light. I’m taking that as a lesson to use a good protector. The one I was using was a very high quality protector but it was over 20 years old and I think the age is what made it give out.
I live in an old house that only has two prong outlets. Frequent power outages when there are storms. Lights flicker when running appliances. I have never had any electronics fail ever. Am I saying the whole power surge thing is pretty much a myth? Except for a direct lightening strike on your home, yeah pretty much.
I was literally wondering the same thing. Looking at getting that exact model, like I don't have enough to consider while currently stuck in "research" mode with all the "do they work", and "they're just snake oil" conversations out there, now I have this to consider.
@@diesel50011 yeah I went and got it anyway. Had a brownout the day before and the panamax mr4300 work it protect my equipment and still working so I'd say go for it man.
@@dwj3005 Did you have any line noise prior to getting it, or was it mostly for the protection? Did you notice any difference in sound quality at all? Curious about restricted current flow and the filtering, as that seems to be the biggest debate out there.
I've had a 450-watt UPS for 15 years. It has a circuit breaker on it, and it has never been tripped to this day. My question is, if it were to be hit by a surge, would the circuit breaker trip? I've had a LOT of power surges over the years, and I have no idea if it was ever hit, nor do I know if it's still protecting my equipment.
A circuit breaker doesn't have anything to do with protecting against an incoming surge. That is only to meant to trip if for some reason your UPS was drawing more current than whatever the circuit breaker is rated for. Does your UPS definitely have surge protection built in because in the video it sounds like all don't? He said some do.
@@KStewart-th4sk Yeah, mine has surge protection, and I know that a circuit breaker won't protect against a lightning strike, but if a lightning strike does get into your ups, at least you'll know it because the circuit breaker will be tripped.
If anyone has a recommendation for a surge protector for home use I would appreciate it. PC, router and modem protection. Nothing too extreme in price.
Man Jonah after an F-1 flying threw Milan Indiana last week your putting my mind at ease with this new information on this surge protection. Thanks for the info bro!!
I've had black screen crashes for 2 years with ny 5700xt. Replaced every part minus surge protector and the case. My APC surge is definitely 5+ years. Hopefully this help, since 5700xt has transient spikes, idk if the surge would help already have a nice psu
I recently seen the ETL word; it seems to has the same function as UL. Good investment for me. Curious to know what joule protects a surge from a power generator? camping, emergency outage, party? Thanks!
It's also important to note here the difference between sacrificial and non-sacrificial surge protectors. Most lower-cost/entry-level surge protectors "sacrifice" themselves in order to save your equipment in the event of a large surge or spike. Once they have done that, they are spent and must be replaced. These are usually your surge protectors that typically range in price from $25 to about $200. Non-sacrificial surge protectors (often paired up and combined with line conditioners) can be reset when they experience a surge or a spike and do not have to "sacrifice" themselves in order to save your equipment. These are typically found in the price range of $300 to $3,000. Although higher price does not guarantee higher performance, you do generally get what you pay for with respect to this type of product. As with all things though in the world of electronics, your mileage may vary. You are always wise to do your homework first before making any type of a surge protector purchase so you know exactly what it is that you are buying - and know exactly what it is that you are actually getting for your money.
It certainly has gotten a lot better now than it was years ago.
The reason most surge protectors degrade over time is because they have a thing in them called a MOV. This is the device that routes high voltage to ground. The MOV is absorbing transient voltages very often and you don't even know it. $10 surge strips are for the day to day surges which degrade the MOV over time. If you want a surge protector that will not degrade over time, silicon avalanche diode technology is a great option, though it is more expensive.
Thank you for this video. I watched your other videos, very informative. I am a field technician for a major telecommunications company in Canada and the atrocity I come across customers setups. Using dollar store extension cords, old yellowed what was a surge protector from 1994. One customer had a ground prong cut on their surge protector because it didn't fit onto their extention cord?? Yes as bug eyed as I was they seem to not be bothered by it but have a 65" TV running on it and cannot understand why it kept shutting off. I will show this video to the next customer should I come across a fire hazard.
So why can't these electronics wizards making surge protectors design one that will no longer send power to its outlets instead of only providing a green light that apparently doesn't really guarantee anything? At least then you would know your surge protector served its purpose.
Cheap surge protectors, like cheap extension chords, are dangerous and should be banned. The former will fail eventually, but most people will continue to use them thinking that they're still working--assuming that they ever worked to begin with--and the latter are often overloaded and serious fire hazards.
Another problem is that people often mistake surge protection, even on good units, for overload protection, thinking that if they plug too many devices that draw too much power into one of these, it'll shut off and protect them from meltdowns and fires. But that's not what surge protection does. It protects devices from sudden surges, not overloads. To protect against that requires a circuit breaker built into the power strip in addition to surge protection, ideally a resettable one.
Then there's GFCI, AFCI, undervoltage protection, overvoltage protection, and so on. If you value your equipment, property, home and life, do some research into all this before buying and using these things. Yeah, it's boring and annoying, but the potential alternative is far worse.
What if you connect a second surge protector in series and only use that one - would you get double protection??
Ok, you are definitely reading my mind before shooting the videos. Again, exactly the video I need minutes after I start my research. Thank you!
After 40 years as an industrial power computer and drives engineer. I can say if you can see the MOV it must look pristine, no swelling, cracks, blisters or other distortions. If it is not pristine it is dead. The other telling thing is if it smells of rotten eggs it is dead.
Excellent! This was going to be my question. I have a seven year old Furman PTS-8 and I'm going to move it to the desktop PC/audio setup and get a non-sacrificial for my living room setup. I wanted to know if I open it up and inspect the MOV's , what am I looking for in order to evaluate it's integrity. Thanks very much for the comment. Cheers.
Jonah, I just want to mention that the power surge could have also come through to the cable box via the Coaxial wire. Even if the cable box was plugged into the surge, if the surge protector did not have coaxial in/out surge protection as well, it still could have traveled up the HDMI and fried the TV if lightning had struck the cable line. Some surge protectors have coaxial connections for this reason as well.
I disagree about joules being most important, the lowest clamping voltage is most important. Warranty is worthless.
No, the ground wire does not go to the ground. Also surge protectors pass the surges between any of the prongs.
I still got an old Radio Shack single outlet surge protector from 1990. Led light is very dim. I guess I should replace it.
That’s older than me. April 16,1991 is my dob
@austindycha1345 I threw it in the garbage but I have other electronic things to remember Radio Shack.
@austindycha1345which model please? Do yo have a link?
@@actioncamera1284 I don't want to be that guy, but please recycle
LOL so I guess my power bar with surge protector is no longer doing its job. I've had it since 2004 I used it on my very first rig ddr1 444 megahertz 1.1 gigahertz AMD CPU🤣🤣🤣🤣 and I'm using it on my current system now. I'm currently doing a rebuild AMD b550 I don't believe I'll be using it for that system it's time for it to be retired😅
I got one from 2002. So I’m with you.
There’s nothing boring about saving me money. Thanks bro!
I only buy APC and Belkin. I replace the mov's every few years because I know how to solder. I only buy protectors that you can open up
Let's say I want to try to preserve the useful life of the surge protector when I'm not using my devices... Will switching the protector off with its own switch preserve the remaining energy it will divert? Or do I just have to unplug it entirely?
Unplung it even in the storm
Very informative and good education for non techies when it comes to understaning electrical current surges.
This video is extremely helpful and informative... great job:)
Both TV's I've recently gotten are 2 prong, but I have EVERYTHING in my apartment on actual surge strips, but I've never remembered too many of them having lights that work. I always thought if the light came on it was working. 🤪 I know they do have dates on the bottom that look like little dials, I just can't see them all that good 👀 Maybe you could explain what those are. Expiration date maybe? I know carseats have them and my aunt said WTF? Do they think they're gonna spoil!? 🤣😂😆
Those dials signify the date the plastic was molded.
I need more things to worry about.
This is a great helpful content and that really need people, but there no good content about it. I would like to see more content that really help people.
Thanks.
Very good info on Surge protectors. They are very important. Thanks.
I have my line of Playstations 1-5, HDMI switch, router, soundbar and 65in Tv hooked into 2 Wandofo 700J surge protectors... I'm in danger.
Gosh, didn't know any of that. Afraid my old, old house is going to burn up when using appliances. What to do?
Well, there are still old houses around that have "knob and tube wiring". Purchasing one of those testers that plug into a receptacle and shows you whether your outlet is properly wired would be a good idea. Or if you know how to use a multimeter. Just because your outlets may have a GROUND doesn't mean they are grounded, and the tester will indicate that. Old "knob and tube wiring" never had a ground and i believe some insurance companies won't even insure if that old "knob and tube" wiring is not replaced.
My surge protector somehow surged itself and fried my tv busted my old phones charging port too. I was lucky that was the only things fried. Went to test the protector on a low voltage device on the GFCI outlet and the GFCI went off immediately after plugging in my small test light. I’m taking that as a lesson to use a good protector. The one I was using was a very high quality protector but it was over 20 years old and I think the age is what made it give out.
I would think there was a power surge that the surge protector failed to do its job with, rather than it "somehow surged itself".
@@KStewart-th4sk Maybe. But there was nothing that should have caused it.
My Samsung 50” UHD TV from 2015 has a 2 prong power cord. Does adding a surge protector help make up for that? Why only a 2 prong power cord?
Absolutely! Not sure why they decided to only use 2 prongs, I’m starting to see that more and more with TVs.
All the more to use a good surge protector for this TV where the surging voltage gets clamped at the surge protector and not to TV.
That's why I have a power station with UPS with surge protection.
I live in an old house that only has two prong outlets. Frequent power outages when there are storms. Lights flicker when running appliances. I have never had any electronics fail ever. Am I saying the whole power surge thing is pretty much a myth? Except for a direct lightening strike on your home, yeah pretty much.
Very helpful video.
How long does the panamax Mr4300 last should I replace that every few years.
I was literally wondering the same thing. Looking at getting that exact model, like I don't have enough to consider while currently stuck in "research" mode with all the "do they work", and "they're just snake oil" conversations out there, now I have this to consider.
@@diesel50011 yeah I went and got it anyway. Had a brownout the day before and the panamax mr4300 work it protect my equipment and still working so I'd say go for it man.
@@dwj3005 Did you have any line noise prior to getting it, or was it mostly for the protection? Did you notice any difference in sound quality at all? Curious about restricted current flow and the filtering, as that seems to be the biggest debate out there.
@@diesel50011 it sounds a little better compared to a regular power strip. I was impressed with the panamax.
Austere VII Series 8 Outlet with Omniport USB and 45W USB-C PD Port (7SPS8US1) your thoughts about this surge protector...cheers from canada
Where are the ones with EXTERNAL FUSES?
Can a power conditioner be plugged to a power surge? Or its a kill?
(*Crowd call @ Kurt Angle WWE*)
Compare to a house surge protector in your circuit breaker box?
Thank you ...I got more educated in this issue.
What if you connected the extension cord into a surge protector?
what brand can you recommend??
Thanks a lot for the video Very informative video! :)
I love PANAMAX. Hands down.
Good luck getting that 'warranty' honored!
I found a good one that has 1700 Joules with a 10 A 110-220V 3 USB ports(2000 wats) but my question is what’s the difference between 10A and 15A?
The difference 10 amp and 15 amp the power it can handle without overloading
10A*240v =2400w 15A*240V=3600W
I've had a 450-watt UPS for 15 years. It has a circuit breaker on it, and it has never been tripped to this day. My question is, if it were to be hit by a surge, would the circuit breaker trip? I've had a LOT of power surges over the years, and I have no idea if it was ever hit, nor do I know if it's still protecting my equipment.
A circuit breaker doesn't have anything to do with protecting against an incoming surge. That is only to meant to trip if for some reason your UPS was drawing more current than whatever the circuit breaker is rated for. Does your UPS definitely have surge protection built in because in the video it sounds like all don't? He said some do.
@@KStewart-th4sk Yeah, mine has surge protection, and I know that a circuit breaker won't protect against a lightning strike, but if a lightning strike does get into your ups, at least you'll know it because the circuit breaker will be tripped.
Thank you. Well said sir.
😂hey don’t disrespect my 3 brown cable that has been through hell and back with me
They don't make em like that anymore
If anyone has a recommendation for a surge protector for home use I would appreciate it. PC, router and modem protection. Nothing too extreme in price.
It also depends on, do you have power outages. Or lightning strikes hits your house?
Man Jonah after an F-1 flying threw Milan Indiana last week your putting my mind at ease with this new information on this surge protection. Thanks for the info bro!!
I've had black screen crashes for 2 years with ny 5700xt. Replaced every part minus surge protector and the case.
My APC surge is definitely 5+ years. Hopefully this help, since 5700xt has transient spikes, idk if the surge would help already have a nice psu
I recently seen the ETL word; it seems to has the same function as UL. Good investment for me.
Curious to know what joule protects a surge from a power generator? camping, emergency outage, party? Thanks!