A question for engineers. Do home surge protectors work and worth buying?
I have a few Belkin SurgeCubes at home. Couple of weeks ago my laptop adapter died after power came back from an outage. Nothing else is plugged into the Cube. The Cube continues to be operational after the event.
Surge Protectors for Home
dreamerman on 05/02/2025 - 11:54
Last edited 05/02/2025 - 13:26 by 1 other user
Last edited 05/02/2025 - 13:26 by 1 other user
Comments
No Engineers on Ozbargain.
Stay classy ozbargain.
Certainly not a mechanical engineer.
How about "train engineers"?
.
Couple of weeks ago my laptop adapter died after power came back from an outage
Could it just be a coincidence it died after a power outage? Was there anything else connected that also died? or just the laptop supply?
Only engineers are to reply
Depending on how many and how big surges are in your area, they can last for up to 5 years before they offer no protection at all. (ie in a bad area, you might only get 12 months)
The active component (MOV) that absorbs the surge will eventually fail and they fail circuit closed so there is no indication of failure. The powerboard will still work, just like a $5 board with no protection.https://www.leitaispd.com/how-does-the-lifespan-of-a-surge-p…
well that sounds like a dumb design
Correct.
Surge protectors continue to deliver power after they have absorbed a surge. But they don't absorb the next surge. It goes straight through. Belkin SurgeCubes have a green indicator on them telling you whether you are (still) protected. If the light is on your outage was probably just an outage, and the power adapter failed for its own reasons which had nothing to do with a surge.
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/how-do-surge-protectors-wor…
Is a surge protector worth the money. Yes if it manages a spike; no if the spike defeats it.
I was looking into this yesterday. The Belkin now offer a 2 year warranty. I found this : This surge protection strip comes with a Connected Equipment Warranty, which means we will repair or replace electronic equipment damaged by an electrical surge or lightning strike while properly connected to the strip, up to $20,000.
The Monster power boards offer a three year warranty. Unknown if they offer any money towards the damaged goods.
I did find this from Belkin about the life time warranty they use to have- determined that the reasonable life span of this product [was] 5 years from the date of [the consumer’s] purchase of the product’
https://www.belkin.com/au/legal/lifetime-warranty-corrective…The Monster power boards offer a three year warranty. Unknown if they offer any money towards the damaged goods.
Usually known as an indemnity warranty.
I knew somebody, that had a business selling these items, and intially these items were quite good.
IE
'Lifetime Warranty – We are dedicated to delivering consistently high-quality products and proudly stand behind our Lifetime Warranty.'
'Connected Equipment Warranty – Gain added peace of mind with our marketing-leading Connected Equipment Warranty, offering coverage ranging from $5,000 to $100,000*.'
Part of the the connected Warranty deal if the device failed, was to send it for evaluation (Not sure what the case has been for several years though)However over the years, I have noticed that some products such as the surge guards sold thru Aldi or CyberPower state they cover higher surge hits, yet his products did not really change in design, and were a HN/DM/JM exclusive for 20 years. I have @ 10 of these items (that were gifts :) ).
However I did buy some CyberPower Boards as they 'offered a higher protection rating', as well as one from Aldi, that protected the Antenna signal. however, no indemnity warrantyBack in the 90's and 2000's, after a lightning storm, there would be so many Computers and Modems come in for evaluation that were dead, which was mostly due to coming through Copper Phone lines.
These days, I think that suffering damage from a power surge is less likely, as most people don't use Telephone lines or Antenna cables.
However, better to be safe than sorry. ;)
@BewareOfThe Dog I remember that they use to say not to use your landline during a lightning storm
@koplik8: Yes. I remember 60 minutes had a report on how Telstra made a shortcut on their handsets (TF200?) in the 80s or 90s, and how people could get a shock, when on the phone. Issue could have been minimised with a 50c part I recall.
I like the SPD built into meter box
RCBO is not a surge protector. You want an SPD https://www.clipsal.com/products/circuit-protection/surge-pr…
should have both :)
Do you only have 1?
@Boioioioi: Sorry i meant 1 in the meter box. I have most devices protected, but we had a lightnung hit which took out the solar inverter, enphase, and solar panels.
@BewareOfThe Dog: Thats rough mate sorry to hear. I think even with something like this there is not much you can do in the case of a direct hit…
My house has 3 phase power, it has 3 of these one for each phase.
However they do get used up over time, we had to replace it recently. They turn from green to red when used up. I think they get used up from surges, lightning etc.
@Boioioioi: All good. We were going to buy a new inverter. Company #1 said when did this happen, was it oct ##?
Possibly
Oh good, the damage is consistent with a lightning strike. Speak to insurance.
Insurance says, we need to send another company out who, then gets a contractor. He says same thing, but solar panels are also an issue.
So by insurance company not accepting original report, has cost them double.
Good result, but we have been without solar since october. They paid us out, as we want to deal with original company 1, and pay slightly more, as they are a long term company.We have 2 batteries, but they are low capacity. They suggested getting rid of them. Then
1 taking advantage of a govt grant
2 waiting till v2g gets approved and cheaper (we have a byd atto3)
Just grabbed a fresh 6 outlet black one for use a couple of days ago, 2 BNIB left
.
I wouldn’t waste my money on anything that uses MOV technology, if I really did need a surge protector that plugs into an outlet I would choose series mode surge protection/suppression, it’s a better technology than MOV tech.
Pretty sure engineers will have no idea how to answer your question.