Question Surge Protector recommendation for my PC ?

[Wrick Daz]

I am from India and I have a Deepcool DQ850M-V3L PSU 80+ gold and I am thinking of using a surge protector on it.

I have been using surge protectors for many years now on several electrical appliances and on one time some of them gave up their life to protect the appliances.

https://www.amazon.in/GM-Modular-3012-Travel-Universal/dp/B008LQOZ2E/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=N7UTK7O4Z76Y&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.v75waQq9r826Ciec6LMi74y0XrDz8G07jeNKGvzTid_LxUt5301X0PskejXkBISv7TrP4JE-bG-Ryy5mURbz-KaebBKh2uO2N1XxXtlIrx5lAeic9yrG_cw9ksp9kLstBeR3wioZi364k086b5Z4GTUJ8jEWowAYKFziO7NCBSyxaeI9PmFo2czcQVrYYlIGMI34_teNhyledpFHuAc_n85-S5ce7GqMsWSl9iysffhEnhYZgF0ee9X6cw_1PducgQWKU22958NG1g6J1BWU6BQWQ_NMlWCs5eNsBg5ntFo.La-_mHmfn1uphEvaptVU0JWcOAD_n8C-7-i_I3D3xD8&dib_tag=se&keywords=gm+3012&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1747682900&sprefix=gm+,aps,455&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

In india, the usual voltage is 220V-240V. On the backside of this product it is written 10A 240V.. So my question is can I use this surge protector on the mentioned PSU (considering I am running it at full load and it consuming 750-800W)?

 

[Lutfij]

https://www.deepcool.com/download/pdf/DQ_M_V3L.pdf
Page 6

Edit; You're going to be fine, considering your country operates at 220~240v.

 

[BFG-9000]

MOVs are not digital devices so there would be some slope to their clamping--think about how speaker crossovers can be 6, 12 or 24dB/octave describing how sharply their cutoff works.

If you open up surge protectors, you will usually find the recommended 340v clamp rating across 120v, or a 595v rating across 240v lines printed on the MOVs themselves, in order to preserve the life of the MOVs from being wasted unnecessarily. Any real-name-brand surge protector is probably going to be engineered correctly but the random alphabet letter Chinese brands with no support website may not be and may even cause a fire.

 

[Wrick Daz]

MOVs are not digital devices so there would be some slope to their clamping--think about how speaker crossovers can be 6, 12 or 24dB/octave describing how sharply their cutoff works.

If you open up surge protectors, you will usually find the recommended 340v clamp rating across 120v, or a 595v rating across 240v lines printed on the MOVs themselves, in order to preserve the life of the MOVs from being wasted unnecessarily. Any real-name-brand surge protector is probably going to be engineered correctly but the random alphabet letter Chinese brands with no support website may not be and may even cause a fire.

Actually I have been using the above mentioned product for a few years now and they have been ON continuously for several days at a stretch..
Once there was an incident in our area where suddenly there was a rush of current and voltage due to cutting a tree on the lines and these had been a livesaver protecting many of my equipments. So from then on, I use these on almost all of my electrical appliances.
Also, I checked today and the input power cable to my PSU is a 250V 6A cable.. and on this product it is written 10A 240V. So I was asking whether it will be safe to use this surge protector on the computer.

 

[Wrick Daz]

https://www.deepcool.com/download/pdf/DQ_M_V3L.pdf
Page 6

Edit; You're going to be fine, considering your country operates at 220~240v.

I checked today and the input power cable to my PSU is a 250V 6A cable.. and on this product it is written 10A 240V. So I was asking whether it will be safe to use this surge protector on the computer ?

I saw the document you have given and there for the 850Watt PSU, it is written on page 12,
Input: 100-240Vac 12A-6A 50-60Hz
200-240Vac 6A (followed by something in other language) 50Hz

Can you pls explain what this is?..

 

[Misgar]

In india, the usual voltage is 220V-240V.

I hope your AC mains is as stable as implied by the above statement. I've measured all kinds of wonderful mains voltages in the region. In Leh (Ladakh) the town mains generators (diesel) ramped down at 10:30pm in a series of 20V steps spaced roughly 15 seconds apart (220V, 200V, 180V, 160V, 140V, off). Bizarre.

In remote valleys with microhydel schemes, I've seen 50V on nominal 110V AC supplies and 70V on nominal 220V AC supplies during peak time brownouts (evenings). When fluorescent and LED bulbs go out, but Tungsten bulbs glow weakly, you know the mains is low.

In two hotels I've measured 300V (big diesel gen incorrectly set) and 330V AC (small petrol gen with broken speed governor). In both cases the hotel room lights exploded.

I was asking whether it will be safe to use this surge protector on the computer.

Unless spectacularly badly designed, it should be safe to use a surge protector on your PC, but all they do is clamp voltage spikes. They won't cope with all the other fluctuations (power loss, brown outs) you might experience.

You'd get better protection from a good quality UPS, possibly with an big AVR preceding it (as used with many hotel room air conditioning units in India).

I keep a cheap AC Voltmeter plugged into a mains distribution block when charging laptops or camera batteries on vacation. It might be an idea to spend a small sum of money and monitor your own mains. If it drops below 100V, unplug all switched mode PSUs. They're normally rated 100 to 240V AC.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007449015481.html?aem_p4p_detail=202505200649184949925022859400000889873&algo_exp_id=9ecb6d7b-9627-42e3-b728-b43e840ae166-15&pdp_ext_f={"order":"5","eval":"1"}&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:&search_p4p_id=202505200649184949925022859400000889873_4

 

[Zerk2012]

I checked today and the input power cable to my PSU is a 250V 6A cable.. and on this product it is written 10A 240V. So I was asking whether it will be safe to use this surge protector on the computer ?

I saw the document you have given and there for the 850Watt PSU, it is written on page 12,
Input: 100-240Vac 12A-6A 50-60Hz
200-240Vac 6A (followed by something in other language) 50Hz

Can you pls explain what this is?..

10A 240V is 2400 watts.

 

[Wrick Daz]

I hope your AC mains is as stable as implied by the above statement. I've measured all kinds of wonderful mains voltages in the region. In Leh (Ladakh) the town mains generators (diesel) ramped down at 10:30pm in a series of 20V steps spaced roughly 15 seconds apart (220V, 200V, 180V, 160V, 140V, off). Bizarre.

In remote valleys with microhydel schemes, I've seen 50V on nominal 110V AC supplies and 70V on nominal 220V AC supplies during peak time brownouts (evenings). When fluorescent and LED bulbs go out, but Tungsten bulbs glow weakly, you know the mains is low.

In two hotels I've measured 300V (big diesel gen incorrectly set) and 330V AC (small petrol gen with broken speed governor). In both cases the hotel room lights exploded.



Unless spectacularly badly designed, it should be safe to use a surge protector on your PC, but all they do is clamp voltage spikes. They won't cope with all the other fluctuations (power loss, brown outs) you might experience.

You'd get better protection from a good quality UPS, possibly with an big AVR preceding it (as used with many hotel room air conditioning units in India).

I keep a cheap AC Voltmeter plugged into a mains distribution block when charging laptops or camera batteries on vacation. It might be an idea to spend a small sum of money and monitor your own mains. If it drops below 100V, unplug all switched mode PSUs. They're normally rated 100 to 240V AC.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007449015481.html?aem_p4p_detail=202505200649184949925022859400000889873&algo_exp_id=9ecb6d7b-9627-42e3-b728-b43e840ae166-15&pdp_ext_f={"order":"5","eval":"1"}&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:&search_p4p_id=202505200649184949925022859400000889873_4

Thanks for the knowledge... I will be getting one of these digital voltmeter.. seems useful..
1. Also, can you suggest a good UPS?.. I am hardly finding any UPS which is rated for 850W.. I will also be using a monitor there..
2. The surge protector has written 10A 240V and the wire that I had been using for the PSU is rated 250V 6A.. So I guess the Ampere here won't be problem right?
3. Also what happens if there is more than 240V and less than 240V during fluctuations?

 

[BFG-9000]

Actually I have been using the above mentioned product for a few years now and they have been ON continuously for several days at a stretch..

Are you saying that product is actually a random alphabet letter Chinese brand, yet works? Because I am not familiar with that brand and see no other reason for you to quote me.

can you suggest a good UPS?.. I am hardly finding any UPS which is rated for 850W.. I will also be using a monitor there..

Typically UPSes are rated in apparent power or VA, and most brands will use 0.7 as the power-factor. So 850/0.7 means you should be shopping for at least a 1250VA model since you will be running near full load and adding a monitor. Keep in mind this size means only 5-7 minutes of runtime when the batteries are relatively new, so you may want to choose larger.

Big name brands worldwide include APC or Eaton/Tripp-Lite (both generally considered much better than CyberPower) but there may be some good brands made in India.

 

[Wrick Daz]

Are you saying that product is actually a random alphabet letter Chinese brand, yet works? Because I am not familiar with that brand and see no other reason for you to quote me.

Typically UPSes are rated in apparent power or VA, and most brands will use 0.7 as the power-factor. So 850/0.7 means you should be shopping for at least a 1250VA model since you will be running near full load and adding a monitor. Keep in mind this size means only 5-7 minutes of runtime when the batteries are relatively new, so you may want to choose larger.

Big name brands worldwide include APC or Eaton/Tripp-Lite (both generally considered much better than CyberPower) but there may be some good brands made in India.

In India, GM Modular is a household brand and their products and accessories have been used in many buildings.

At one time, Once there was an incident in our area where suddenly there was a rush of current and high voltage due to cutting of a tree which fell on the lines. I heard popping noises in several houses because of what I think is appliances going kaboom.. I had 2 or 3 of these bursting in my home but the appliances it was used on remained unharmed.. So these had been a livesaver protecting many of my appliances. So from then on, I use these on almost all of my electrical appliances except the high wattage ones..

 

[Misgar]

The surge protector has written 10A 240V and the wire that I had been using for the PSU is rated 250V 6A.. So I guess the Ampere here won't be problem right?

If the surge protector strip has several outlets, the combined maximum sustained current it can supply is 10A.

If the mains cable for your PSU is rated at 6A, then it's good for 1500W (250V x 6A).

The standard IEC mains plug (type C14) on most ATX PSUs is rated at 10A (International) and 15A (North America). Similarly, the associated mains lead (type C13 socket) is rated at the same level. I've just checked one of my IEC C13 leads and it's rated 10A 250V.
https://www.stayonline.com/product-resources/reference-iec320.asp

Your 6A lead sounds a bit "lightweight" to me, but your Deepcool DQ850M-V3L PSU is unlikely to pull more than 1000W (taking into account ATX PSUs are not 100% efficient). For normal operation, your computer is probably consuming 100 to 400W.

Also what happens if there is more than 240V and less than 240V during fluctuations?

Although most "universal" switched mode PSUs used in computers and laptops are labelled for operation over the continuous range 100V to 240V 50/60Hz AC, they will survive slightly higher voltages.

In the U.K. the maximum permitted voltage is 253V (240V + 6%) but I have measured higher voltages at a remote location, fed by an 11kV to 240V transformer with the tap set too high. When asked, the utility company reduced the transformer tap by one step, but the voltage still exceeds 250V sometimes. It just wears out old fluorescent light tubes faster.

Brief periods of higher voltage over 253V are permitted, provided they don't last more than 10% of the time over 24 hours (I think that's correct).

If your mains supply exceeds 270V (rough figure) I'd be worried about small explosions and dead PSUs.

If your mains supply drops below 75V (rough estimate) the increased current above the design rating might cause PSU failure.

As mains voltage drops, switched mode PSU current rises, to maintain the required output power. Too much current through a MOSFET is as bad as too much voltage across a bulk capacitor.

I'm happy with 90 to 253V when operating my gear, but unplug if voltage goes outside these notional limits.