Surge Protectors – Pros and Cons
I was just sitting there, working on something, when I heard a loud BZZZT and immediately I smelled smoke. I couldn’t tell where the burning smell was coming from. I became concerned to the point of panic that there would be a fire breaking out any second. I couldn’t see any smoke, but after several minutes of sniffing, I managed to track down the source of the smell. It was a surge protector under the desk, and I immediately unplugged it and took it apart. There in pieces inside, all burnt and blackened, was the MOV (metal oxide varistor), which is the part that is supposed to protect against surges. It had failed catastrophically, and burned and blackened the inside of the power strip. Fortunately the power strip case was made out of metal, not cheap plastic like most power strips are made nowadays. I think that if it had been plastic, it might have caught on fire.
This is not the first surge protector that I’ve seen burn up by itself, with no reason other than it just failed on its own. I opened up another power strip that had also burned up, and in that case, no one was around at the time. Fortunately it didn’t catch on fire. One lesson to be learned from this is to always buy a surge protector that has a case made of metal, so it won’t catch on fire. This will probably add considerably to the cost, but after I tell you the rest of the story, you may change your mind.
Surge protectors have been around since the early days of the telephone, over a hundred years. Only in the last few decades have they been widely introduced in power strips. If you go to the store such as Radio Shack or Best Buy, you may see a regular power strip for less than ten dollars (U,S,), but you look at the surge protector power strips and they’re $19.95 or more, on up to over a hundred dollars. Think about this: the two or three MOVs that they add to a regular power strip cost less than a dollar, and the difference in labor to add them is probably even less. Then why do they charge so much for the surge protector? It’s because the sales droids convince the uneducated customer that their TV, stereo, PC or whatever will burn out if they don’t buy a surge protector. Manufacturers do not recommend that their equipment must be connected to a surge protector. The stores sell TVs, etc., at razor thin profit margin, and then they make back millions of dollars selling the accessories such as surge protectors, batteries and USB cables at a thousand percent markup. Just say NO to crook stores and sales persons.
If you look at the surge protector package, you might read some rating number that’s in the thousands of Joules. This number is supposed to give some information to the consumer about how well the surge protector is supposed to protect. I shall tell you how the surge protector is supposed to work. Have you noticed how I have been using the phrase ‘supposed to work’ instead of ‘works’? I’ll explain this as I go on.
The surge protector has the MOV connected across the wires. Each MOV is about the size of a nickel. This device is supposed to act like a short when the voltage gets too high, and let the surge pass through itself, while absorbing the Joules of energy in the surge. Well, it’s only the size of a nickel, and if the surge is too powerful, then the MOV will fail, and could burn up with the same smoke and results that I described above. When this happens, the MOV does not protect any more. It has died, and your surge protector is now worthless, but it still functions as a power strip. If the surge happened when you were not around (most likely it did), then you don’t know that the surge protector is worthless.
By the way, I should add that the surge protector does nothing to protect against sags or brownouts, which can damage your equipment, too.
But how big are the surges? Will they always be less than that number they gave you on the package? Probably not; they will most likely far exceed that. Most of the electrical damage is cause by very powerful surges caused by lightning during a thunderstorm. These need to be eliminated by a surge protector that is built into the power lines where they come into the building. That location has a good ground to allow the surge to travel into the earth. When the surge protector was introduced to the telephone system, they were installed at the point where the telephone enters the building. This point is an important point to remember. That point has a good ground, connected to a stake driven into the ground or a metal cold water pipe.
Socket To Me – Most surge protectors are plugged into a socket that is dozens of feet from a good ground, and this causes the surge protector to become less effective. In fact, some houses used to have two pronged outlets, and the outlets were removed and replaced with three pronged grounded outlets, and they then have a poor or nonexistent ground. You have an expensive surge protector that can’t do its job because of the adverse conditions that it is in. And the good ground connection is the most important part of surge protection. I saw a house where the electric meter and breaker panel at the main entrance used a cold water pipe for the ground. But the old house had metal pipe that corroded and was replaced by plastic pipe. Now the house has either a poor ground or no ground.
One other important item. The manufacturers of TVs, PCs and other devices powered from the electric system have done testing on their products and in general they do not sell equipment that is vulnerable to surges. Take for instance the typical PC power supply. The power input to the power supply has extensive filtering to not just keep out surges, but to keep the interference generated inside the power supply from getting out into the rest of the electrical system. If you read the label on the equipment, you may see a rating such as “100 – 275 VAC”, which means that the TV or PC can handle more than double the standard voltage of 120 volts AC that is found in the U.S. If you put 275 volts AC on a surge protector, it will fail.
Read the Fine Print – I have read some of the fine print on the packages of surge protectors. Often they warranty that their surge protector will protect, and pay some sum to repair or replace the equipment that is damaged. What the fine print does is make the conditions so restrictive that it is doubtful that the consumer will be able to collect on the insurance. The important thing here is to read the fine print before you buy a surge protector, or suffer the consequences.
Other alternatives – The surge protector is just a minor method of protecting your equipment. There are other ways of protecting, such as a UPS, uninterruptible power supply. This UPS generates power when the electrical system goes dead.
Another way to protect is to route the electrical power through a transformer. These typically have filtering to reduce any incoming interference, spikes in the electric supply. But they do not protect against sags or brownouts. These other methods are of higher technology than a cheap surge protector, do a better job, and consequently they cost more.
Conclusion – This all boils down to my opinion: I am not an anti-surge strip fanatic, I’m just telling the truth: surge protectors are not what they are made out to be. I recommend you don’t buy a surge protector power strip. Use a regular power strip instead. If you must buy one, never, ever buy it from a retail store.
Update Aug 25 – My ex co-worker asked me “So what does one do? Unplug the TV?”
If you’re going to unplug anything, unplug the surge protector. Assuming that you have the TV plugged into it. That way, the TV and the surge protector won’t burn up if there’s a surge.
I know what I am doing. I learned from the School of Hard Knocks – Experience. I don’t use a surge protector because of the fire hazard, and if the TV or anything else goes out on account of a surge, I’ll just replace it (or more likely repair it if I can get the parts. Most likely the fuse on the circuit board is blown and it will cost less than a dollar for the fuse. At least there will be no surge protector to catch fire and burn down the house.
The other choice I would make is to have an electrician install a surge protector at the main breaker panel where it can be properly grounded. This can cost hundreds or even more than a thousand dollars. That’s why most people think it’s better to buy a surge protector power strip. Better, at least in the short term, for their wallet. Just make sure they read the fine print on the surge protector’s warranty. And make sure their homeowners insurance is paid up.
