Surge Protector Talk - by Lou Lyons
I have had many questions recently regarding surge protectors.
Here is the information you need to make an informed choice for youself.
I am not an expert on surge protectors, so what I’m going to do is define some terms
for you, tell you what my web searches have turned up, tell you what I do,
and then you can make your own decision.
Definitions
- Volt: a unit of electrical pressure (equivalent to pounds per square inch in your water pipes
- Amp or Ampere: Amount of electricity (equivalent to gallons per minute
flowing in your water pipe). An amp is 6 1/2 million
million electrons flowing past a given point in 1
second.
- Ohm: A measure of electrical resistance (equivalent to how much gunk
is in your water pipe.
- Watt: A measure of electrical work potential (equivalent to horsepower
in your car)
- Joule: A measure of actual (not potential) electrical work. It is the
equivalent of 1 amp passing through 1 ohm for 1 second (sort
of like the kilowatt hour that you see on your electric bill).
That’s why the ones you see for sale at places like Staples are
rated in Joules, the higher, the better.
Now the issue, and most of the questions I’ve gotten, is, "should I ever turn my surge protector off?" Here’s my view of things. You should never use your surge protector to turn your system on and off because the surge protector should ALWAYS be on!
Here’s why. There are 2 separate parts to a surge protector. The first part is designed to handle high amperage surges and is nothing more than a fuse or circuit breaker. It works whether the surge protector is on or off,although it may work faster if the power is on.
The second part, however, is designed to handle high voltage, low amperage surges, and requires special circuitry to enable it to respond very quickly, and that circuitry requires power to operate.
Most high end surge protectors don’t even have on/off switches.
The cheaper ones do because it is recognized by the manufacturers that many people use them as an easy way to turn their systems on or off with one action, and take advantage of most folks lack of technical knowledge.
The only exception is if you are going to be away for an extended period.
Then the safest thing to do is simply unplug everything, including the surge protector and your modem cord, from the wall.
That’s it in a nutshell. I always leave my own surge protector on and insist that the RASCAL surge protectors be left always on. Now you can decide for yourself, or do some more research on your own for more information.
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