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Surge Suppressors and Ratings
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 Re: Surge Suppressors and Ratings
Posted by Riven on Mon Jun 29th at 11:55pm 2009

Well, in preparing to re-build my desktop (again) with parts I RMA'd because A surge hit my computer through an already blown and too low rated surge protector, I have been looking at new surge protectors/suppressors for my computer's 850 Watt power supply (PSU). It was hooked up to a 350 Watt UPS (uninterrupted power supply) surge protector. And even though that surge protector wasn't high enough to protect it anyway it was also already tripped and blown (little did I know). But now I do know, and I also know that I'm going to need a much higher rated power supply. This would be easy, since I know my PSU is maxed @ 850 Watts, then all I should need to look for is a surge protector rated at 850 watts or higher. -Simple enough?

So I thought when going to look for some online this is what I should examine first. But things are not always that simple. Sure enough, everywhere I looked, all surge protectors are rated in Joules, not Watts. Now, I'm not lazy, I did my research (being someone not familiar with power issues). I know a Watt is 1 Joule/1 second. And conversely, 1 Joule = 1 Watt * 1 sec. But knowing this doesn't help me as assuming Watts written into the specifications of my PSU box are in 'Watt-Seconds' then that would make Watts and Joules equal, which doesn't make any sense, because 500 Joule surge protectors are considered low-end. So I can't be looking for an 850 Joule surge protector. From what I understand on the matter, an 850 Watt power supply is pretty high, and I would assume I'd need a similarly high-rated surge protector to, well... protect it.

I've looked high and low for answers on this. I'm told a good surge protector will have a delay time of 1 nanosecond or shorter. And I've examined that a 6000 Joule surge protector is pretty darn high. Perhaps this is the wrong place to be mentioning this, but I feel like I've hit a brick wall. I need to know what time relationship these Joule ratings are referring to in Watts or find a place where surge protectors are rated in Watts, not Joules.

Does anyone have any experience on this and could perhaps lay it all out for me?


Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202



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 Re: Surge Suppressors and Ratings
Posted by larchy on Tue Jun 30th at 7:02am 2009

You need to read this

The stated wattage ratings don't really mean anything if you're talking about MOV strips, and you need to replace them every 6-12 months or so depending on your AC supply.

The PSU wattage rating has nothing to do with any power filtering you have.

Usually cheapest most effective option is to get an UPS, even if it's just a low end one.



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 Re: Surge Suppressors and Ratings
Posted by Riven on Tue Jun 30th at 10:48pm 2009

So then what's the point in 'rating' them at all? -If they will all protect you against a spike or surge at least once, no matter what the wattage pulling through it is? What does the rating mean for me? -And if not for me, what does it mean at all?

I read the article a couple of times and realize what he's saying. I plan on getting a UPS Surge P. -But you're saying not to worry about the rating?

I'm a little bit more informed, but still somewhat confused, as this is flying in the face of what I've been researching thus far.


Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202




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