Power Strips

For the record, a power strip is NOT a surge protector.

A power strip is an accessory that breaks one power outlet into many, most commonly six. Inside a power strip, there are no power filters and no surge protection. All of the nasty power in your home goes right through, as well as nearly all surges and dips in power. Most of them do include a 15-amp circuit breaker, but don't rely on that to protect your coveted goods from smaller power surges.

Power strips can be useful. If you need additional outlets, plugging a power strip into a surge protector will give you more outlets that are filtered from outside noise (not inside noise) and protected from surges.

If this is all that you have been using, read on to learn more about other types of power products that can protect you.

In-Series Devices

In-series devices are power protectors and filters that provide benefit to electronic devices directly plugged into them. Keep in mind that in-series devices must be hooked up properly, and connected to every incoming line, for them to work as claimed.

There are thousands of different in-series surge protectors out there. The majority of them help your system by filtering out EMI and RFI as well as providing some protection to surges and spikes in power. Some of them also provide protection against browning, which is when there is a severe drop in power delivery.

In-series surge protectors can be purchased in two forms. One form looks like a big power strip, the other looks like a component that sits with the rest of your gear. You can get quality protectors in both forms, but the really good ones usually look like components.

The differences you'll find in surge protectors will vary from unit to unit. One of the major differences between them is the level of filtration they provide. EMI an RFI noise can be tough to completely eliminate. Good surge protectors will do a good job cleaning up outside noise from the rest of devices in your home, like your microwave. The downfall here is that the devices within your system also create their own noise. The really good ones will eliminate noise between devices plugged in, ensuring that your system is EMI and RFI free.

Another difference between surge protectors is the level of power protection you get. To understand these differences, you'll need to know a little bit about how these devices protect your gear against surges and spikes.

Just about all in-series surge protectors use MOVs (metal-oxide varsitors) to protect your equipment. MOVs are great because they take excess electricity and dissipate it as heat. When a surge comes, the MOV dissipates

the excess current before it's all sent to your gear. However, MOVs won't last forever. MOVs can take a pounding but their ability to dissipate electricity diminishes they more they are used. This is why most in-series surge protectors are called "sacrificial." This means that they chug along until the "big-one" comes. When a major power surge occurs, it's like putting a car in front of a freight train. The car might derail the train, but the car will be destroyed. The destruction of the MOV should stop the surge long enough for the protector to shut down, sacrificing itself to save your gear.

Quality surge protectors will stack many MOVs in a row, allowing a longer service life and greater surge protection. The nice ones will also have a little LED light on them, telling you the status of the MOVs. If the light goes on, the MOVs have taken the "big-one," or enough little ones to no longer be able to adequately protect your equipment. Cheaper ones will use less MOVs, and have no status indication on them. Without indication, you may never know that the MOV(s) inside are still good. Surge protectors with spent MOVs can still pass electricity if the circuit is still complete, but offer no protection whatsoever.

There are also some surge protectors that are claimed as non-sacrificial, which means that when the "big-one" comes, the MOVs are supposed to throw the excess electricity to a fuse or breaker and disconnect the circuit or redirect surges out of the circuit through ground instead of destroying itself. These types of products could offer a greater service life. However, they will not last forever. The MOVs are still dissipating the smaller surges and spikes, which could render it useless over a longer period of time. How long depends on how many smaller surges it has to deal with.

On the packages of many surge protectors, they claim that they will protect you against lightning strikes. And they will, but not in the way most people think. Think realistically for a moment: no little box is going to stop a lightning strike. That would be like stopping a train with a Styrofoam cup. If your house is actually struck by lightning, electricity of that force is going to go right through that little box like it isn't even there, most likely melting the electronics inside. Manufacturers know this. They play the odds that you are not going to get struck by lightning, but will provide "financial protection" in case you do. So if you get hit by lightning, and your surge protector was connected properly, they will pay to repair or replace any connected equipment that gets blown up. So, if a guy tells you that it will stop a lightning strike, you can laugh at him and walk away!

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