How often do replace your surge protectors?

[DrRod]

We have fairly dirty electricity at our cabin. Last week the power and/or internet were out several times. Late in the week my computer refused to come on at all. Could be any number of causes [not worth the money to find out] but being fried electrically is a possibility. A tech support guy said it wouldn't hurt to replace my old [10 years] power strip/surge protector. Two people at Micro Center [a really good store] independently said they replace theirs annually.

Do any of you do this or have an opinion?

Thanks

 

[oosik]

I would guess that the electricity is a lot "cleaner" here. The TV/stereo are on a power strip/surge protector that is going on nine years and still functions correctly. My computer is on an APC brand UPS and it gets replaced about every 5-6 years because a new unit is usually the same cost as a replacement battery.

I would say that if you truthfully need to replace your power strip/surge protector annually - then I would look to something with a lot more "staying power".

You need something that will trip and reset not "blow" once and provide no further protection.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Surge protectors normally have a status LED that tells you if the varistor has fried. They are good until a major surge fries the varistor, then they do nothing.

Surge Protector: A Simple Mechanism Description - Hardware

 

[CreekyB]

Surge protectors are rated in joules, that rating is a cumulative figure. It will take that amount of joules in surges once, or over time. There is an indicator light on them that is supposed to indicate when it is no longer working. That does not always work, even with the really pricey ones. There are some really good test results out there on them. Even the ones that have fault indication that does work it does not work all the time.

Most modern household electronics of any decent quality will have some surge protection built in. It is the #1 cause of power supply failure. To protect the protected power supply use a surge protector. They are way cheaper than buying a new power supply for your LED TV and way way cheaper than paying someone to put a power supply in your LED TV.

Another option is using decent UPS systems as the good ones have surge protection built in and they are power conditioners by nature of their function. You can get some really good ones these days for what I consider to be a decent price. I have them on my main PC and on the living room entertainment system. Which is several computers and a nice TV.

So, how often? It really depends on how many surges/micro surges they take.

I replace all of mine every 3 years, and sometimes on the pricey stuff after storms that have close strikes. I often will take the old ones out to the garage to use as power strips until they finally give up the ghost.

 

[ArlyA]

Your problem might be voltage variation (spikes and lows) into your systems which can fry or cook systems without ever activating a surge protector. This causes software problems as well. You also need surge protection on your phone line which are notorious for spikes.. After we learned about all these problems caused by power variation from our IT buddies some years ago, we've since ran power conditioner/battery-backup/phone line protection for all our computers. Since then, we've had far less software and hardware grief. In fact close to none. Many battery backups do note have power conditioning.

Hope that helps.

 

[techman]

I gave up on protector strips. Most are not worth the money you pay. The varistors (surge protectors) are way too small in them to protect much of anything. Your best bet is to buy a good UPS (battery backup), like a good APC. They do a much better job of protection and give you some additional time to shut your PC down if the power goes out.

paul

 

[dmccarty]

I don't replace our surge protectors but we just are using them as power strips for the most part. They should be replaced though since they do have a finite ability to protect devices.

We do have quite a few UPS units we have acquire over the years. Ironically, with with our switch over to laptops we don't use the UPSes for the systems but we do have our network modems, routers and main TV on UPS to protect the devices and keep everything up when we have a power blib. I do need to go buy a replacement battery for a UPS and put in in use on another TV....

I have been buying UPS replacement batteries from one of the battery stores.

Later,
Dan

 

[radioman]

i havent replaced any of mine.. but i do take the oldest ones and put it in the garage for xmas lights and power tools for outside work. the newer ones stays inside but .. i gotta admit i havent thought about them for last ummmm errr 10 years. SO that being said might be time to revisit all of my strips

 

[CCWKen]

I don't use surge protectors (SPs) on anything but cheap bedside radios and the phone land-lines. All other electronic equipment get UPS devices. If the surge protector is working, it's probably good for one event. After that it's just a power strip. And most of the cheap SPs don't let you know reliably when they've made the conversion.

 

[TractorGuy]

Only ones I replaced were due to this recall.
IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL | APC by Schneider Electric

 

[JRobyn]

I'm running one of these in each load center..... wonder if they have a better life expectancy?

Amazon.com: Square D by Schneider Electric QO2175SB QO SurgeBreaker Surge Protective Device Takes 2 Load Center Spaces: Home Improvement

 

[tjkubota93]

A varistor just breaks over to ground over a certain voltage to protect from "surges" or high voltage-namely lightning. Your power company probably won't get high enough to cause a problem that a surge protector would help.

Your problems are more than likely low voltage from being at the end of a circuit. Like others said, a ups would be more help, protecting your stuff from low voltage.

 

[zzvyb6]

Take a look at this: I just bought a FLIR/ONE thermal imaging attachment to my Samsung Smartphone. $250

One of the first images I point to is my surge protector for my computer stuff. It indicates a very HOT spot inside the surge protector box that must be a transformer or variator or omething. Its not a plug outlet. None of my other surge protectrs are showing this indication, so I just ordered two brand new ones. This situation would make for a highly possible fire in the wall where the plug is if the protector melted down.

This FLIR/ONE consistes of two cameras: one for the infrared and one for subdued visible so you can see an outline of the object(s) you are 'seeing' in heat. Its pretty 'cool', actually...

 

[Copperhead]

I outgrew surge protectors years ago and now keep all my sensitive stuff on uninterruptible power supplies. Acts as surge protector, clean line filter, and power for the stuff when we get power offs occasionally. We can take a power hit and I hardly notice it.

 

[Ford850]

Take a look at this: I just bought a FLIR/ONE thermal imaging attachment to my Samsung Smartphone. $250

One of the first images I point to is my surge protector for my computer stuff. It indicates a very HOT spot inside the surge protector box that must be a transformer or variator or omething. Its not a plug outlet. None of my other surge protectrs are showing this indication, so I just ordered two brand new ones. This situation would make for a highly possible fire in the wall where the plug is if the protector melted down.

This FLIR/ONE consistes of two cameras: one for the infrared and one for subdued visible so you can see an outline of the object(s) you are 'seeing' in heat. Its pretty 'cool', actually...

Good catch. My dad got a box of free energy saving bulbs, etc, from the electric company a couple years ago. A surge protector was included. He swapped out his old surge protector at his desk with this new one. A few months later, it smoked and melted, nearly starting a fire before he pulled the plug on the smoldering mess.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Man, I hate that term "Surge". Anything goes wrong with a computer device and it's said to have been caused by a "surge". I have an electrical/electronics background, and don't even know what a surge is.

There are spikes, harmonics, hi voltage, low voltage. A simple MOV equiped power bar is really only good to supress high voltage spikes, that's it. But that device should last for years. And yes, the better ones have indicators.

I use whole panel MOV type protectors and a good APC Inteligent UPS on anything I really care about.

I think too often "surges" are blamed for poor or cheap power supply design.