Who makes quality surge protectors?

I'm in the middle of RMA'ing a mobo, PSU, an RAM. I believe the PSU is giving off intermittent surges or is failing to stop surges. So I waiting to receive my components. In the meantime I want to buy a quality surge protector to prevent it from happening again and was wondering who makes good surge protectors. The old one I had had not been replaced for years so I guess I had it coming.

 

Greetings, Outlawstar15a2...

APC, Belkin, CyberPower all make good suppressors: http://www.newegg.com/Surge-Suppressors/SubCategory/ID-535?Tpk=surge suppressor.

Be advised: for the most part a surge suppressor is a one-shot deal. Sure, it may stop that one big spike - but thereafter it's just a fancy outlet strip. For a few $$$ more, you could go after a battery backup/UPS that will give continued service and filtering.

Especially if you're going to be protecting some nice, new hardware.

 

Well I emailed Thermaltake to see if my PSU is compatible with simulated sine wave UPSs it's not. So asurge protector is th best I can do with the money I have. How reliable is the LED indicator lights on the protectors that have them? And do brownouts count as a surge toward the one shot thing?

Also surge protectors that claim to protect again x surges is that possible?

 

The two main things you want to look for on a surge protector are a reputable brand (as Caliban stated) and the specific model's "joule" rating.

Simply stated, the joule rating states how much of a hit the surge protector can block (think of it like the mile per hour rating before a car bumper suffers damage).

The higher the joule rating, the better. My general rule is to pick a unit with a minimum of 1500 joules. I live in one of the thunderstorm capitals of the US and believe there is no such thing as too much surge protection.

 

Maybe gman (or anyone else) can correct me or elaborate, but it's always been my impression that a quality surge suppressor can handle minor brownouts and small spikes up to a point - if a big hit is stopped, however (gman's 'car bumper'), then it's time to replace the unit.

 

Unlike a car bumper, it's pretty much impossible to measure either the number or severity of hits a surge protector has taken.

Brownouts are only covered by a UPS that can cover the gap in voltage. A basic surge protector can neither control nor be damaged by them.

I've heard the following statements from fellow geeks and sales reps; however I cannot verify the accuracy of them. They may only apply to certain brands or models:

* If the "on" (red light) built into the surge strip's power switch is flickering, it indicates the unit should be replaced.

* Some models will stop working (no power output) if the surge strip has lost its ability to protect. In this case, any "reset" button on the strip won't work.

Has anyone else heard these statements and know if they're true? :confused