Am I Blowing Things Up?

So I have kind of a wired mess under my desk. I try to keep things as organized as I can, but it's a small space. I manage things from getting tangled by using zip ties and it works well. But I run out of outlet space pretty fast. Which leads to my problem (maybe).

So I only have one wall plug under my desk. I have my primary 7 outlet surge protector plugged into that (1600 joules by Inland). I have my main stuff like my monitors and PC on this one. The last two ports I run two additional surge protectors off of. These are smaller (and cheaper) Inland protectors at only 200 joules a piece. But I simply have no other plugs and need tons of them for all my equipment.

My question is this. My second monitor recently blew out the power chord. Could that have been related to daisy chaining all the other surge protectors together? The monitor runs directly off the primary, not one of the other smaller ones. Is my hardware still being protected from surges, as long as they are all run through my primary (even if the smaller ones aren't as good)?

I think my monitor chord may have just died due to factory defect, but just making sure it and my other equipment is ok. We get lots of surges around here.

 

It generally is not advisable to daisy change surge protectors - this is due in part to the second (and so on) protectors may not see a "clean" power signal.

And frankly, it should be noted surge and spike protectors are little more than fancy and expensive extension cords as they do nothing for low voltage events like dips (opposite of spikes), sags (opposite of surges) or brownouts (long duration sags). And for excessive surges and spikes, they simply shut off power (if working properly), crashing your computer - never good.

I recommend all computers be on a "good" UPS with AVR. But is is common to run out of outlets space there too - especially with large AC-DC power blocks. So I use spider extension cords.

Note it is no likely what you did damaged your monitor's supply.

 

I prefer to use this.
Each socket outlet is switched.

In your scenario I would consider installing a second electrical socket outlet on it's own circuit breaker.

 

Thanks to for the info from both of you.

@Digerati - I like those spider extensions, but I'm wondering how plugging those spider cables into one of my primary surge protector free spots (like my other two surge protectors are currently connected to) would differ from my current setup. Are those chords some how made differently, thus better? Of were you meaning I should run spider cables from the wall outlet?

 

The spider extensions are NOT surge and spike protectors. So it is not daisy chaining surge and spike protectors, which generally is not recommended. You only need one surge and spike protection device in the circuit.

No. You plug the spider cord into your surge and spike protector. This gives you room to plug 4 devices into one surge and spike protector outlet. Now you obviously would not plug 4 1500W space heaters into them, but certainly they would work fine to power your modem, router, monitor and perhaps a USB drive - 4 low-wattage devices that might use large power blocks.

So clearly, you must not overload the wall outlet, regardless how the connected devices are connected to it.

These are not necessarily going to make your rat's nest of cables behind your desk less a rat's nest, but they will make it easier to manage.

 

When buying a surge protector or uninterruptible power supply (UPS) it's important to look at its joule rating - the higher the number the better the protection. Quoting CNET: "Think of this like a reservoir of protection. If a product has 1,000 joules of protection, that means it can take ten 100 joule hits, or one 1,000 joule hit. Generally, the more joules the better."

Living in one of the severe thunderstorm capitols of the world, my minimum recommendation for a surge protector is 1,000 joules. The ones in my house are all over 2,000 joules.

Digerati's advice about investing in a UPS is good. Although better ones may set you back between $80 and $200, they also protect your operating system and data from voltage drops (brownouts) and unexpected hard shutdowns. If everything else is turned off, a large one may run your cable modem/WiFi for up to a few hours allowing you Internet access for your notebook PC and Internet based phone service (Vonage, Xfinity, etc.).

Here's the link to the article on CNET you may find interesting: https://www.cnet.com/news/9-things-you-should-know-about-surge-protectors/

 

Kinda, sorta, but not always.

For a surge and spike protector, the joule rating can be a valuable rating to consider - but not all manufacturers do it the same way, or use MOVs rated the same. For one, time is one of the variables in calculating joules and if the reaction time is not fast enough, it does not matter how much energy a device can absorb. So reaction/response time is a critical specification to look for. Less than 1ns is what you want (sadly not often listed).

And also sadly, many makers let their marketing departments set the specs so the joule rating may indicate a value for an individual MOV device in the surge protection device (SPD), not of the entire SPD (the power strip).

Clamping voltage (AKA transient suppressed voltage) is a value to look for. But if you look at most SPDs, this is typically 330V or above. That's the threshold in which the MOVs will start to conduct the surge voltage to ground. Do you want your 110V power supply to get hit with 300V? I don't. And note that requires your outlet to be properly grounded to Earth ground too.

UPS with AVR are "intelligent" or "active" devices that work very differently from a surge and spike protector (which are "passive" devices). As such the joules rating is of little importance when it comes to an UPS with AVR. Note a UPS uses it intelligent circuit to monitor the incoming power. It should be noted that batteries are extremely robust devices. As such, they, along with their very heavy duty transformers (not found in SPDs) are able to absorb quick bursts (surges and spike) without harm. Another reason high joules ratings in UPS are not that important.

But also, because the UPS is constantly monitoring the power, the threshold for which it responds is much lower. On my APC, for example, it is 136VAC. That sounds much better than 330V to me.

In all cases, all a SPD does is chop off or "clamp" the tops of the sinewave leaving a not so pretty waveform for your power supplies to deal with. A "good" UPS with AVR will "shape" the waveform into a true or "approximated" sinewave which is much easier for power supplies to deal with.

And let's not forget what happens should a surge and spike protector receive an "extreme" surge or spike. If you are lucky, what will happen is a circuit breaker in the SPD device will kill the power to all your connected devices before the anomaly can reach them. But do you want the power suddenly yanked from your sensitive computing and networking devices? I don't. That's how data becomes corrupt.

And again, a surge and spike protector does absolutely nothing for low voltage anomalies like dips, sags, and brownouts while a "good" UPS can easily boost the voltage in those cases using the batteries to assist - in many cases without even flipping over to full battery power.

Another problem with SPDs is they wear out. Every time they take a hit from a surge or spike, that reduces their joule value. And the problem is, unless the device has an indicator (most do not!) there is no way to tell how much protection is left! What this means is a superior SPD with a lower joule rating may provide better protection, but may wear out and have to be replaced sooner. So again, not a lot of stock should be put in the joule rating alone.

A UPS, on the other hand, with its intelligent circuitry, does not wear out. While the batteries need to be replaced every 3 - 5 years, once replaced the UPS is as good as new again.

 

@Digerati, thanks for the info. Most informative.....

 

You're welcome.