[SOLVED] Does anyone know of an Off-only surge protector?

[WoollyWorm]

Back around 1985, PC Magazine reviewed 34 surge protectors, and rated one particular set very highly - the DataShield S100 and its smaller brother the S75. Not only did these surge protectors clamp surges, but they also had a "rocker" breaker switch such that when power dropped, they would not come back on again without a manual reset of the rocker switch. Of course, this would perhaps be inconvenient for some applications, but my experience has always been that it is not the power drop, but the surge back of current that kills components.

I really liked these protectors, but since that time, Tripp Lite acquired DataShield, and phased these protectors out several years ago.

Does anyone know of a similar surge protector from any other manufacturer?

 

[Barty1884]

Not 100% clear what you're asking for here.... but I believe your question is whether there's still surge protectors that behave similarly to an electrical breaker you'd see in your average home.

Ie it 'trips', and won't work again until it's reset?

I'm almost certain those still exist, but haven't looked in a while - I'll take a look now.

 

[WoollyWorm]

Not 100% clear what you're asking for here.... but I believe your question is whether there's still surge protectors that behave similarly to an electrical breaker you'd see in your average home.

Ie it 'trips', and won't work again until it's reset?

I'm almost certain those still exist, but haven't looked in a while - I'll take a look now.

Yes - you are correct.

Similar, but in this case it should "trip" when the power drops below a certain voltage, not just when a large spike in current occurs.

I have one sitting beside me in my office right now, having recently died.

Pretty long lived.

Let me know if you find anything.

 

[Barty1884]

I think what was prominent in the S1000 and S75 was "filtered" outlets, which aren't mentioned much in marketing these days.

The actual 'reset' aspect has been fairly well automated... so most won't require you to manually reset.

Unfortunately, I can't find anything that specifically meets your needs. I would definitely suggest sticking with TrippLite though, as their LifeTime Insurance aspect is second to none, from what I hear/read. No first hand experience with filing a claim myself though.

 

[ko888]

The DataShield S100 used Gas Discharge Tubes (GDT) to perform the surge suppression.

Most surge suppressors these days use MOVs (Metal Oxide Varistors) to perform their surge suppression. MOVs are sacrificial devices and degrade with every voltage spike clamped and therefore have a shorter life span. GDTs don't suffer from that problem.

 

[doolittle]

A decent alternative may be to use something like the APC LE1200 Line-R 1200VA AVR, although it will not trip and stay down as you want but it should not pass out-of-spec line anomalies to your gear.