surge protectors
+9
hickton
sparks
Kiri
Intercasa
CanuckBob
David
Zedinmexico
dcampbell757
Canada_Mike
13 posters
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surge protectors
Hi,
I was going to buy a couple of surge protectors before I came down this January but waited too long, and now they can't be delivered before I depart. Please, what are my options at Lakeside?
Canada Mike
I was going to buy a couple of surge protectors before I came down this January but waited too long, and now they can't be delivered before I depart. Please, what are my options at Lakeside?
Canada Mike
Re: surge protectors
Many options from Walmart to local hardware and electrical stores.
dcampbell757- Share Holder
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Re: surge protectors
Local is fine.
Zedinmexico- Share Holder
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Re: surge protectors
Steren store, across the road from Walmart. BTW, they cost less down here!
David- Share Holder
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Re: surge protectors
I'm not sure how effective those consumer grade surge protectors are anyhow. If you really want protection you need voltage regulators.
Re: surge protectors
You need both CB. A surge protector stops spikes while a voltage regulator adjusts voltage. Some voltage regulators have some surge protection built into them but many don't or have too small amount of protection. You measure the ability to suppress surges by the term Joules. Anything less than five hundred is junk. I just looked at the manuals for two of my voltage regulators and they are both under 100 joules rating for surge protection thus pretty useless. Your mileage may vary if you buy better equipment. I would buy a surge protector and plug into valid grounded three prong outlet than plug voltage regulator into surge protector. Your cable, sat, or phone cables can be plugged into many surge protectors that have this feature and protect from surges also.
Z
Z
Zedinmexico- Share Holder
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Re: surge protectors
And of course the other problem is many houses don't even have grounded circuits. I had my dryer on a consumer grade surge protector and it was blowing motherboards. The electrician told me it was useless and to get a voltage regulator. I put it on a voltage regulator (which probably has built in surge) and no more problems.
Re: surge protectors
You nailed that one CB. Folks don't assume when you see three prong sockets in a wall that the ground is even hooked up. No valid ground no protection. Many surge protectors have a light on them to indicate a valid ground. Another problem is MOV based surge protector will still work as a power strip after a hit that destroys the MOVs and you can't tell thus good surge protectors have a protection light which means most of the time that your MOVs are OK. Actually for us in Ajijic the AC is pretty good and high surges above 140V are rare. Dropped phases or low voltage phases are more common so half your house may work and the other half won't or the lights will be dim.
Z
Z
Zedinmexico- Share Holder
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Re: surge protectors
Best to get UPS units up north, I have had people bring me down the larger 2 battery units with digital read outs, computers can keep going for over an hour with the power out. Plenty of time to keep working.
Intercasa- Share Holder
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Re: surge protectors
Zedinmexico wrote:You nailed that one CB. Folks don't assume when you see three prong sockets in a wall that the ground is even hooked up. No valid ground no protection. Many surge protectors have a light on them to indicate a valid ground. Another problem is MOV based surge protector will still work as a power strip after a hit that destroys the MOVs and you can't tell thus good surge protectors have a protection light which means most of the time that your MOVs are OK. Actually for us in Ajijic the AC is pretty good and high surges above 140V are rare. Dropped phases or low voltage phases are more common so half your house may work and the other half won't or the lights will be dim.
Z
Check the ground with a tester as shown above...
Kiri- Share Holder
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Re: surge protectors
I second a UPS. I bought one at Walmart and another at Office Depot. Expensive but have an isolation transformer inside
Re: surge protectors
It stands for uninterrupted power supply. IMO, only really necessary for computer and server applications for those that can't have them go down during a power failure.
Re: surge protectors
Thx. I belive I can survive without my computer for a black out.
So it sounds like I'll be all right with a decent surge protector bar provided I check my grounding, eh?
So it sounds like I'll be all right with a decent surge protector bar provided I check my grounding, eh?
Re: surge protectors
I guess so as long as they protect for at least 500 joules like Zed pointed out above. Personally I don't use them for anything other than my temperamental Frigidaire dryer and like I was saying the "surge protectors" didn't protect it. I had to get a proper voltage regulator as the problems seem to be a constantly fluctuating voltage which the surge protector didn't help with.
Re: surge protectors
A voltage regulator can be as simple as a big transistor looking thing
An isolation transformer is two separate coils of wire truly isolated
An isolation transformer is two separate coils of wire truly isolated
Re: surge protectors
This is what I use. It is specifically for large appliances (washers, dryers, refrigerators, microwaves etc.). It comes with a 5 year protection guarantee.
http://www.homedepot.com.mx/comprar/es/torres/regulador-para-refrigeracion-2500-va
http://www.homedepot.com.mx/comprar/es/torres/regulador-para-refrigeracion-2500-va
Re: surge protectors
so those strip plugs with a red light that walmart have are not worth sweet f.a. ?
hickton- Share Holder
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Re: surge protectors
Canada_Mike wrote:Thx. I belive I can survive without my computer for a black out.
So it sounds like I'll be all right with a decent surge protector bar provided I check my grounding, eh?
You'll be better off with a good voltage regulator that includes surge protection. We have more occurrences of high and low voltage than surges, which occur primarily during the rainy season.
David- Share Holder
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Re: surge protectors
CB's is very similar to the ones I was intending to bring down. Does Home Depot deliver?
Re: surge protectors
hickton wrote:so those strip plugs with a red light that walmart have are not worth sweet f.a. ?
They are good for allowing more things to be plugged into the same outlet.......
Re: surge protectors
Here is what I have been buying to protect my equipment from surges and fluctuations
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBK3QK?ie=UTF8&ref_=de_a_smtd&showDetailTechData=1#technical-data
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBK3QK?ie=UTF8&ref_=de_a_smtd&showDetailTechData=1#technical-data
Intercasa- Share Holder
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