Which surge protector actually works?

[Joe_182]

Hey There,

Had a bunch of storms this year and lost my power a few times in this last one. I have some cheap $20 Belkin 12 outlet surge protectors for all of my stuff. (Imac, Gaming PC, Projector, etc). They did the trick, and nothing was damaged, but it got me thinking and the more i researched the more i realized these might not be so great.

Is there like a gold standard surge protector out there that would be good for protecting my stuff from outages? i am not worried about direct lightning strikes or anything, and i have no use for a UPS, unless they somehow are better than a surge protector at actually protecting the hardware.

I was looking into the tripp lite isobars and also the tripp lite 12 outlet TLP1208TEL which has an auto shutoff when the protection wears out.

Any advice is greatly appreciated, invested a ton in my gear and would hate to lose any of it because of something stupid.

Thanks a bunch

 

[JalYt_Justin]

The TLP1208TEL, and TLP1008TEL for that matter, are both very good surge protectors.

 

[Joe_182]

The TLP1208TEL, and TLP1008TEL for that matter, are both very good surge protectors.

Thanks! Yeah that is what i figured. I am using these belkins below. I am just trying to decide if it is worth buying 3 of the Tripp Lites to replace all the belkins. I just want to be sure my expensive hardware doesn't get fried! Got kind of paranoid after this last storm lol The auto shut off is a nice feature so it is always protected, but wasn't sure if i was wasting my money and the belkins were good enough for the job. Thanks again

https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BE112230-08-12-Outlet-Power-Protector/dp/B000J2EN4S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1520730477&sr=8-3&keywords=belkin+surge+protectors

 

[InvalidError]

What 'works' is grounding/surge-protecting all inputs/outputs that go or come from devices outside your immediate computer equipment to the same point. If you have stuff grounded or surge-protected at different places, differences in ground potential during surges can cause current between data/signal wires that may kill seemingly unrelated hardware.

For regular power line surges and noise, the isobar is the best option under $100 that I know of.

 

[JalYt_Justin]

The TLP1208TEL, and TLP1008TEL for that matter, are both very good surge protectors.

Thanks! Yeah that is what i figured. I am using these belkins below. I am just trying to decide if it is worth buying 3 of the Tripp Lites to replace all the belkins. I just want to be sure my expensive hardware doesn't get fried! Got kind of paranoid after this last storm lol The auto shut off is a nice feature so it is always protected, but wasn't sure if i was wasting my money and the belkins were good enough for the job. Thanks again

https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BE112230-08-12-Outlet-Power-Protector/dp/B000J2EN4S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1520730477&sr=8-3&keywords=belkin+surge+protectors

It is fairly rare for surge protectors to stop working. I wouldn't be TOO worried about it but obviously knowing that your protection is not working is nice. To be honest it's all up to you if you think it's worth spending another $60 to get that feature.