Computer Troubleshooters

It’s that time of year again when thunderstorms and lightning strikes are frequent.  This post is about surge protectors and ways on how to try and protect your electrical components from surges of power and how they don’t always work for lightning strikes.

Surge protectors come in all different shapes and sizes, but some don’t function very well as surge protectors at all they are more like an extension cord with a power strip attached to it.  I’ll delve into more detail on how to make sure you find a good surge protector later.

A surge protector works by taking any “surge” of voltage over a specified voltage that lasts more than 3 nanoseconds, which are billionths of a second, and dissipating it through different methods.  One of these methods is to send that surge back to the ground line through different components inside the surge protector and then let the ground line carry it out from there.  Another method is storing the extra energy into a series of circuits that let the energy back into the main line slowly so as not to disrupt the ground line and maybe cause more problems.  Lastly there is usually a fuse installed in the main line as well as a kind of last line of defense, if the fuse blows than nothing will work.

Surges can from just about anywhere or anything that can cause a surge in electricity in the power lines.  The most people are familiar with is lightning strikes, although these are not the most common forms of power surges.  Lightning strikes nearby on power lines are the leading cause to burnt out electrical components including computer hardware.  The problem with these lightning strike surges are that they cause such a huge surge of voltage that it overpowers just about all the surge protectors made.  The best guarantee to protect yourself from this surge is the unplug your computer during a thunderstorm/lightning strike.

What to look for in a good surge protector:

• Price: As a rule of thumb the higher the price the better the quality.
• Underwriters Laboratories (UL): Only buy surge protectors with a UL listed sticker on it and make sure it says Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor.
• Clamping Voltage: This is the voltage at which the surge protector will dissipate the surge.  The lower the number the better. EX: 400 V is good.
• Energy absorption/dissipation: This is given in Joules and it states how much energy it can absorb before it fails completely.  The higher the number the better. EX: 200 to 400 Joules is good.  600 and higher is Excellent.
• Response Time: This is how fast the surge protector responds to the surge.  Look for one under 1 nanosecond

With these facts in mind you should be able to find yourself a good surge protector from any store that sells them.  Some surge protectors come with a guarantee that they will protect your electronic equipment from burning out or they will replace them, but these are usually more expensive.  If you have any questions about where to buy a good surge protector or if you already have a good one, contact us at Computer Troubleshooters.  Also for more information and how the nitty gritty details of a surge portector works go to this website:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/surge-protector.htm