# Recommendations on Power Surge Protectors



## Rory (Dec 10, 2020)

Not a sexy subject, but ... Are you using one? If so, which manufacturer and model, and do you recommend it?

I currently live in an old apartment building in a city (NY) that has wonky power. My main concern is my computer, monitor and peripherals that require their own power supply. I decided that I don't need a temporary power supply in the event of an outage, but do want surge protection.

I'll receive a Tripp Lite Isobar Ultra, six outlets, tomorrow (see screen capture). I chose it after looking at surge protectors made by Furman and other Tripp Lite units. It is rated for 3300 Joules, and the clamping voltage is 140. Price is US$56.

I plan to purchase additional surge protectors in the next few weeks. I'm interested in knowing what units others are using, and especially in comments from people who have found themselves in a situation where one made a difference, or didn't.

I should note that last January there was a thread on protecting professional studios. It touches a bit on surge protection, but that was not a significant focus: https://vi-control.net/community/threads/how-do-you-protect-your-studio.89320/


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## wst3 (Dec 11, 2020)

I have mentioned this before, but a power strip with Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs) is in many ways worse than no protection at all. 

MOVs dump the excess energy to ground. If your ground system can't sink that current quickly enough or thoroughly enough you may still get zapped. And even when there is no surge they are dumping noise onto your ground, which is going to make for noisy recordings.

Even worse, when an MOV fails it fails open, which means it can no longer protect your gear. It is possible that the diagnostic LEDs will warn you, but they might not, and if the strip is hidden away you may not see it.

The best surge suppression systems use something called Series Mode Suppression, instead of shunting energy to ground the absorb it. No contaminated grounds! And if they fail they also fail open, but in this case you will know because no current will flow.

These things are expensive, so you have to figure out if your equipment is worth protecting. It's a perfectly valid position that it isn't, especially if you are diligent about backups.

It will still be a hassle. Another option is to power things from an uninterruptible power supply that is always in-line. The batteries in the UPS will be a very effective surge suppressor. And you get the added benefit of being able to gracefully shut things down.


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## Publius (Jan 3, 2021)

I suggest looking for used surgex products on ebay.


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## khollister (Jan 3, 2021)

Brick Wall series mode surge protectors are basically a SurgeX in a plain black box - much cheaper. I have several I use throughout the house on computers, studio and AV gear. 





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## easyrider (Jan 3, 2021)

I use 
Tacima CS947​6-Way Mains Conditioner with Surge Protection into an APC UPS 700w​I have 3 Tacima CS947 for my studio desk...my home theatre and my guitar amps...

I would definitely use a UPS for your computer if it’s not a laptop....for graceful shutdowns due to power outage though.


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## Seabass001 (May 5, 2021)

Does anyone have experience with this one:


I have a Mac Mini M1 and can't find many reviews for the 600VA with the new M1 Macs, most reviews are of the 1000VA or bigger.

Any reason not to use this one? Will probably have the Mini and two external displays (older Acer LCDs) plugged in.

Thank you.


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## gsilbers (May 5, 2021)

Seabass001 said:


> Does anyone have experience with this one:
> 
> 
> I have a Mac Mini M1 and can't find many reviews for the 600VA with the new M1 Macs, most reviews are of the 1000VA or bigger.
> ...




i got the bigger one. Or I think it was the cyber power.
It’s hard to choose based on Amazon since most poeple won’t have our load. 

most will be fine and will give time to turn off the speakers and any other sensitive equipment in time.
Logic does auto saves so that’s something I don’t worry about anymore.


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## Double Helix (May 5, 2021)

In my little music hideaway I have two x 4-outlet Tripp Lite Isobars, which are running out of a Monster Power Reference Power Center HTS-3500 MKii.


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## Seabass001 (May 6, 2021)

gsilbers said:


> i got the bigger one. Or I think it was the cyber power.
> It’s hard to choose based on Amazon since most poeple won’t have our load.
> 
> most will be fine and will give time to turn off the speakers and any other sensitive equipment in time.
> Logic does auto saves so that’s something I don’t worry about anymore.


Now that I'm not on a laptop...think I'll go with that 600VA. It's affordable and should do the job.

Thanks!


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## khollister (May 7, 2021)

Most consumer level UPS's are poor surge protectors. The series mode device I and Bill mentioned earlier are the only robust solutions. a UPS is great at protecting against brownouts or power interruptions, but they are just simple MOV surge protectors typically. Run a series mode device and then a UPS after for the computer and other equipment that doesn't tolerate sudden power interruptions.


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## chimuelo (May 7, 2021)

Publius said:


> I suggest looking for used surgex products on ebay.


I use nothing but SurgeX.
Never ever get noise from lights or hot power.


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## khollister (May 7, 2021)

SurgeX, Zero Surge and Brickwall are all the same technology and quality. The Brickwall units are considerably cheaper due to being a plain black box rather than the fancy rack mount packages. I live in Central Florida (lightning capital of the world) and have computers, AV and Music gear all plugged into Brickwall protectors - never lost anything to lightning in the 25 years I have been using them.

When I was working as an electrical engineer, we always spec'd SurgeX (DOD - cost no object) due to the packaging.


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## mscp (May 7, 2021)

I always go with Furman.


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## wst3 (May 8, 2021)

The SurgeX patent on series mode protection expired a couple years ago, and Middle Atlantic was one of the first companies to take advantage of that. Zero Surge also made the leap. I believe Brickwall had a similar solution before the patent expired, and I do not know if they made changes when they could.

And of course if you ask SurgeX they will tell you that they have an even better solution now, the patent was still pending on that last time I asked.

Furman has their Series Multistage Protection, and it may be legit, I've not had a reason to check it out.

Bottom line - series mode protection that absorbs the surge is safer than MOV style protection that simply dumps the energy to ground.


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