wain 879 Posted April 9, 2018 Report Share Posted April 9, 2018 I imagine you all do this anyway, I always have...anyway today sat at PC working (allegedly) and I heard a 'pop' and the tower shut down...very strange monitor still ' live' I thought....Looked at my SP and it was now blown, did it's job very well....Just thought I would post this as a reminder to anyone that thinks they are a waste of money, without mine I would have maybe had some damage to the PC which could have meant an expensive replacement...... Cheers Wayne Link to post Share on other sites
Quickmarch 488 Posted April 9, 2018 Report Share Posted April 9, 2018 Any clue as to the source of the spike? Local T'Stm? Where I live in the PNW thunderbumpers are a rare and unusual thing. Still, every year we hear at least one. Toronto was a different world. You should see the CN Tower during a summer thunderstorm, especially at night. Gives a whole new meaning to "grounding". Still, great advice on the SP. We have them plugged in to all outlets that supply power to electronics. Haven't lost anything yet (knock on wood). Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted April 9, 2018 Report Share Posted April 9, 2018 Florida is supposedly the thunderstorm capital of the world and we do get our share along with someone else's share too. Have never lost anything that I know of to surges (thunderstorms are not necessarily the only source), but at this house we had the option to have whole-house surge protection installed by the power company for a small fee per month. It's a ring they install behind the meter and the power to the whole house goes through it. We have local protectors on some of the other outlets too but don't feel too compelled to do that in every case. John Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,316 Posted April 9, 2018 Report Share Posted April 9, 2018 Better safe than sorry but I find they conk out more often due to internal failure than because of any surge. Link to post Share on other sites
Quickmarch 488 Posted April 10, 2018 Report Share Posted April 10, 2018 How do you know that? Inquiring minds must know. Seems to me that the surge protection itself is an internal "failure". Link to post Share on other sites
wain 879 Posted April 10, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2018 reading up on SP causes, it's usually the utility company but can also be caused by an aircon unit starting or even a fridge placing more demand on the home supply..../only have them on PC / PS4 and downstairs have one on the TV / SAT / ROUTER / Wii...... @allardjd sounds like a good deal having that protection built in........ I just figured that I have spent all that money and time building my rig that I want to protect it, we run a family cleaning business and I am always surprised how many businesses have loads of very cheap extension leads plugged in overloading sockets, but reading what John wrote they may have protection built in somewhere..... Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,316 Posted April 10, 2018 Report Share Posted April 10, 2018 17 hours ago, Quickmarch said: How do you know that? Inquiring minds must know. Seems to me that the surge protection itself is an internal "failure". I use them for many areas throughout my home but you would think a surge would blow them all out at one time as they all draw power but it seems only one goes out at any one time. So it was a guess that internal failure was the cause and not a surge. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted April 10, 2018 Report Share Posted April 10, 2018 I think the varactor, which is the active protection component, is subject to aging and failure in normal use. John EDIT: My mistake, it's a varistor, not a varactor, which is an entirely different animal. From Wiki: "MOVs [metal oxide varistors] have finite life expectancy and "degrade" when exposed to a few large transients, or many small transients." John Link to post Share on other sites
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