Crest 4x Socket Surge-Protector $15 (60% off) @ Mighty Ape

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Lnoshopping on 16/06/2016 - 05:22 mightyape.com.au (420 clicks)
Last edited 17/06/2016 - 02:20 by 2 other users

I have been spending some time researching surge boards recently and it seems a board I like has come on SALE (60% OFF).

What Is a Surge?
A surge is a sudden, quick increase in voltage. Though usually small and unnoticed by you, over time these surges can damage sensitive electronic equipment. In an average home, these small surges can occur many times a day.

What is a Surge protector?
Surge protectors offer protection in amounts called joules. 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.**

These are my opinions:
You can tell a surge board quality by how detailed the specs are. If they hide the specs, the board is questionable. Best board is without a doubt Thor (highest level protection) but they cost a fortune. A 4 socket Thor retails for around $100+, then next best is Crest in terms of joules protection, listed specs and Australian made quality. I had previously used Belkin but all their new models are below par! The Amazon reviews all show some models to be fire risks and their joule protection is limited (e.g. below 500j). However, I like Crest boards. This 4 socket has 1836 joule protection. No other 1,2,4 socket board has higher except the Thors. They also feature a Patented FireProof Ceramic (MOV), so in the event something bad happens, you won't get a nasty fire, like this http://dangerousprototypes.com/blog/2012/12/24/metal-oxide-v… (An example of why using cheap surge boards come at great risk)

Good Guys sell these boards for $39.95, during the 20% off it was $31.96, Bing Lee RRP them for $49. These boards are going for $15! So it is effectively more than 60% OFF!

For those who have WHOLE HOUSE surge arrestors, remember that only stops outside surges coming into the house.
80% of surge power issues comes from INSIDE of house! e.g. when u turn on/off air conditioner, etc.

Note: Surge protectors will not protect against direct lightening. No consumer board will ever do that. Their purpose is to simply "filter" bad electricity. Think of it as suncream. Overtime, your devices fail due to the constant surges occurring every day within the power grid. A $15 investment seems cheap compared to thousands in lost equipment. Of course, suncream is cheap too, but people take their chances all the time, only to pay dearly for it later on via medical treatment.

These crest surge boards feature:

CH SPECS:
• 710V clamping voltage
• 6,000V maximum spike voltage
• 72,000A maximum amp current
• <1 nanosecond response time
• 1836 joule protection <- most boards you get at Bunnings are around 250 joules protection. The new belkins are less than 500j.
• 10A overload protection
• 10 year product & connected appliance warranty
• Power cord length: 1.8m
• Designed & tested to Australian Standards
• Comes with $75,000 equipment warranty
• Ceramic fire proof MOVs

Source:
* https://www.firstenergycorp.com/content/customer/help/safety…
"According to a study by the Electric Power Research Institute, as many as 80% of all power disturbances originate inside the home or business."
"Most disturbances are caused by the day-to-day operation of ordinary household equipment and appliances. Among the biggest culprits are electrical devices with motors and/or compressors that cycle on and off throughout the day. These include heating and air conditioning systems, refrigerators, washing machines, pumps, fans and the like."

** http://www.cnet.com/au/news/9-things-you-should-know-about-s…

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• 

  [Deactivated] on 16/06/2016 - 05:39

  Cool write-up. But I don't think I have ever lost any equipment due to a surge. How frequently does it happen? Are some places more at risk than others?

  • 

    noshopping on 16/06/2016 - 05:43

    +1

    You've never one day turned on an equipment to find it no longer works or doesn't function properly? Most people have this assumption that a surge happens during a storm, but don't realize it happens all the time. E.g. when you turn on an AC or fan, you could cause a surge within 10m of that vicinity. Furthermore, all devices have some sort of surge protection inbuilt. Your PSU has some form of protection, they are designed to take some hits. Some can take much more pounding than others. Generally the sensitive devices have less surge protection. Some things like your Fridge or garage door opener will take a serious pounding before it just "fails".

    • 

      xsacha on 16/06/2016 - 08:57

      Honestly never happened to me. A lot of my stuff like TV, Fridge are about 10 years old and never died. No surge protector either.

      • 

        llama on 16/06/2016 - 09:38

        +2

        Of course not. Your devices already have surge protection inside them.

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 16/06/2016 - 10:44

      I honestly don't recall anything just not working one day. I do have some stuff connected to surge protected boards and my PC and NAS is connected to a UPS.

      Sometimes when my AC kicks into 'high gear' or I switch the kettle on the lights might flicker for a split second but that is about as close as I have come to a surge.

• 

  asausas on 16/06/2016 - 05:57

  Great stuff…hi-5! Well researched and written up, OP.
  Detailed post appreciated.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 16/06/2016 - 06:47

  Showing as out of stock for me. It was probably a clearance sale considering the price compared to other retailers.

• 

  bargainshooter on 16/06/2016 - 07:53

  Price error?

• 

  AlphaXiRho on 16/06/2016 - 08:50

  Very well written. Detailed research appreciated.

  I am looking for a good surge protection board, with co-axial (i.e. antenna) protection included. Since this item is now out of stock, if anyone sees another deal, please post it. Thanks!

• 

  llama on 16/06/2016 - 09:37

  A lot of the information posted by OP is deliberately selected and somewhat misleading, published as scaremongering to promote the brand that they are… ahem… suggesting is a good deal.

  In Australia, all products that are plugged into powerboards must be, by law, safety tested, approved and certified. One of the tests is guess what? Ability to safely survive surge voltages!

  And guess what is included inside certified devices? Surge protection!

  Surge protection like in this powerboards doesn't really absorb the surge (no power board could possibly absorb a high voltage that was powered by a power station or distribution transformer or lightning or whatever). They work by "clamping" the voltage for a fraction of a second, causing a short circuit… that deliberate short circuit blows the closest fuse or circuit breaker, which disconnects the power.

  The surges that these powerboards absorb is basically the same as what the devices must handle anyway. The difference is that the power board needs a minimum 10A circuit breaker or it would trip under normal use. The smaller connected devices will all have smaller fuses or circuit breakers, and hence they don't need to have such large MOVS in them to absorb such high currents that would be needed to trip a 10A breaker.

  The power board clamps and absorbs enough energy to trip a 10A circuit breaker at a quoted 710V clamping voltage - however all the devices plugged into it will need to ALREADY have dealt with a surge to trip 1A or 2A worth at (normally) 275V clamping volts. If the downstream devices didn't have their own protection, they would be damaged well before the power board clamps and trips.

  So whilst the quoted "Protection joules" and volts and other stuff sounds mighty impressive, the bottom line is that none of it counts for much. The protection offered is minimal.

  The sales of these devices involves a certain degree of snake oil salesmanship. There's lots of technical info and pseudo facts from the manufacturers, but it omits more info than it informs. The easiest way of seeing through the bullshit is to consider how many devices you own that have been damaged by "surges" (usually none)… and then considering how many of those failures were caused by surges that a powerboard would protect against (usually none).

  Do these powerboards actually do anything? A tiny bit, perhaps.
  Are they necessary? No.
  Will they harm anything? Not really.
  Do they reduce the chance of fires? Not really.
  Do they increase the chance of fires? Slightly.

  The above is general information, and nor intended to be a full scientific explanation about the subject. I post it as a "heads up", and recommend that you should do your own research about the subject. Just be VERY careful that the info that you are reading is impartial, as a lot of what's online (as regurgitated by the OP) as 'facts' is actually just propoganda produced by the manufacturers of these devices.

  • 

    llama on 16/06/2016 - 09:59

    For the record, all approved MOVS are "Fire proof".

    A 710V clamping voltage is almost useless to "protect" connected consumer devices. They usually contain 275V MOVs, and are tested for safety at sustained voltages of just 10% over rated voltage (264V). They are also tested to safely survive a short duration 1000V surge anyway.

    Surge prototectors don't "filter" the power.

    Surges "produced inside the house" are pretty much irrelevant, and electrical devices are specifically designed to handle such voltages anyway. Typical non-issue propoganda.

    Information from Amazon is irrelevant, as USA uses a completely different electrical system to us. Powerboards sold there (eg the Belkin that the OP talks about) are completely different products to what we need here.

    If yoi want to improve safety and decrease failures, spend your money on proper safety-approved and certifiex consumer devices. You are FAR more likely to get problems from a dodgy non-approved chinese mains powered device that you saw on Ozbargain than you will prevent with a so-called "surge protected" powerboard.

  • 

    noshopping on 16/06/2016 - 10:45

    As a consumer, I cannot pretend and say that I'm an expert in this field. The only tools available to me are Google. I have read various articles regarding surge protection. Specifically this article whereby an electrical engineer (http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-surge-protector/) has put his name and reputation on line to run detailed tests against many brands to see if their claims are valid.

    I have also read counter arguments where people say surge protectors are gimmicks. However, all of these have been from PEOPLE POSTING ON FORUMS (e.g. anonymous), there's one guy by the handle "Westom" who claims surge boards are bogus and he is featured in nearly every surge protector thread on the internet. Search "westom surge" and you will see what I mean. I have YET to find an electrical engineer who is willing to put his credibility on the line by stating that surge protectors are scams.

    Furthermore IEEE has recommended that surge protectors (e.g. not powerstrips — which is what you said are sufficient), be used in all homes.

    The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is the world's largest association of technical professionals with more than 400,000 members in chapters around the world. Its objectives are the educational and technical advancement of electrical and electronic engineering, telecommunications, computer engineering and allied disciplines.
    * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_Electrical_and_El…

    Unless you can show me an article from a reputable source that tells me why surge protectors are scams, I'll go by the view that they are beneficial. Again, I don't want to start any wars, I just want to see real credible engineers coming out from the woodwork telling us surge boards are scams.

    If joules are marketing gimmicks as you say they are, why wouldn't all the budget powerstrips at say, Bunnings add the highest joules protection so they can sell more? Even the most budget brands will state their joules. Why not add 4000 joule protection, sell those boards for $10 and make a killing — since they are aware that most consumers look at this sort of information before purchasing a "surge" board.

    Regarding your post about how all extension boards have surge as it is mandatory. I believe that to be false because I recently bought some cheap power strips (before researching about them) from Bunnings and on the back it specifically said something on the lines of "THIS IS NOT A SURGE BOARD AND DOES NOT OFFER SURGE PROTECTION." I later found out it was a powerstrip… so it goes against your claim that all boards have surge protection.

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 16/06/2016 - 11:52

      +1

      Nicely constructed rebuttal.

      If people think they are protected from lightning strike or similar they'll get a shock(!), but surge boards can help with transient fluctuations from what I've read.

      I have a couple around the house (a Belkin and a Cabac, neither was particularly expensive) which came with performance "guarantees" so maybe I've been seduced by advertising also but this is a reasonable summary I suspect:

      If you live in an area with a stable power grid and a mild climate, you can probably skip the surge protector without too much risk. That’s what Nick Platsis, product manager at Anthem AV does, and Anthem makes receivers that can cost into the five figures. Ultimately though, the low cost of surge protectors makes them worthwhile for a vast majority of people looking to stave off this one type of catastrophe.

      http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-surge-protector/#all-a…

      • 

        llama on 16/06/2016 - 20:20

        Irrespective of how well surge protectors might or might not work as isolated devices, the bottom line is that domestic appliances survive perfectly fine without surge protected powerboards.

        See, it's not about how good the surge protection is. It is whether it DOES ANYTHING. Does it add value?

        The wirecutter is an AMERICAN site. They wire things differently there, they have a different voltage, and their domestic equipment needs to meet completely different standards to the equipment for Australian standards.

        Nothing about the products in that article is relevant to Australia. NONE of it.

        However the technical discussion right at the end will basically confirm what I was saying:

        http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-surge-protector/#all-a…

        Go ahead and buy it if you like. If it makes you feel good, then buy it. But you don't need it.

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 16/06/2016 - 20:56

        @llama: Appliances survive primarily because big "surges" rarely reach your house and even if they do they even more rarely penetrate it.

        I'm not sure that your comment re protection on individual devices is true (there are references to slow electronic equipment death due to power fluctuations over time), but I know for sure in some cases it's simplistic. For example, one layer of protection in my last DVD player was a hard-wired fuse. It commonly "failed" from what I was told. Depending on the age of the unit electronics repairers considered it a write-off because the repair cost was more than the unit's worth. This is pretty much what karnage was pointing out. I took my DVD player to recycling and bought a new model.

      • 

        llama on 16/06/2016 - 21:00

        @Possumbly:

        I'm not sure that your comment re protection on individual devices is true

        Read my other posts - our company sells MOVs (surge protectors) to the manufacturers.

        For example, one layer of protection in my last DVD player was a hard-wired fuse. It commonly "failed" from what I was told.

        Yep - it's done that way for a reason. To pass standards.

        electronics repairers considered it a write-off because the repair cost was more than the unit's worth. This is pretty much what karnage was pointing out.

        Yep, and what I am saying (see below) is that this powerboard wouldn't save that device from failing.

        Anyway, it's too technical a subject to discuss here. If people want to buy surge protectors to "protect" their TV or fridge or whatever, then I don't care. The devices won't care. The powerboard manufacturer certainly will appreciate it.

    • 

      llama on 16/06/2016 - 20:11

      -1

      Unless you can show me an article from a reputable source that tells me why surge protectors are scams, I'll go by the view that they are beneficial.

      You miss the point. It's not that they are scams (as such)… the science is, in theory, correct and valid.

      Surge protected powerboards don't really hurt anything… but they don't do anything much either.

      If joules are marketing gimmicks as you say they are, why wouldn't all the budget powerstrips at say, Bunnings add the highest joules protection so they can sell more?

      Once again, you miss the point. Because it costs money to add extra Joules of MOVs to absorb more energy.

      Furthermore, the Clamping Voltage is most important. It's useless to have a clamping voltage of (say) 1000V which can absorb 10,000 Joules, if your device is damaged at 600V.

      Regarding your post about how all extension boards have surge as it is mandatory

      I never said anything of the sort. Read again.

      Pretty much all your Australian electronic devices have surge protection. Built in. As standard.

  • 

    karnage1020 on 16/06/2016 - 15:48

    +1

    I have no idea about surge protection etc, but if all our devices have surge protection built-in, then what happens when they stop working after experiencing a surge?

    Is it just a fuse that blows and simply replacing the fuse will make it work again? If that is the case, then for me personally, it's easier to hit a reset switch on a powerboard (or even replace a powerboard) than try and replace fuses etc. on the internals of each piece of equipment.

    Just putting a different view out there for the benefits of surge protected powerboards.

    • 

      llama on 16/06/2016 - 20:41

      -1

      Is it just a fuse that blows and simply replacing the fuse will make it work again?

      Depends on the device. If the device has a fuse or circuit breaker, then you can reset it. Cheap devices usually have non-replaceable fuses.

      If that is the case, then for me personally, it's easier to hit a reset switch on a powerboard (or even replace a powerboard) than try and replace fuses etc. on the internals of each piece of equipment.

      That is a good point. However the point that I was trying to explain is that just because there is a surge protection on the powerboard DOES NOT mean that the internal fuse on the device will not blow.

      Take the powerboard in this deal… 710V clamping voltage

      The MOV inside almost all domestic appliances is a 471K - 300V clamping voltage. They usually use 10mm (94 Joules), 14mm (175 Joules) or 20mm (350 Joules).

      It doesn't matter if this powerboard can absorb 200 or 2000 or even 20 million Joules - that only comes into play some 410 Volts HIGHER than the surge protection inside the devices that it is supposed to "protect".

      So, up to 710V, this powerboard does nothing to protect the devices plugged into it. They protect themselves at 300 Volts.

      So, as the surge begins and the voltage rises… the MOV inside will conduct at 300V and pop the fuse. After that, the domestic appliance is no longer drawing power anyway, it's disconnected itself.

      Anyway, as I said before, if you think that buying a powerboard with surge protection is a good idea, then buy them. You don't really need them, but it won't really hurt you to use one. They work very much like the Placebo effect in medicine.

      DISCLOSURE: The company that I work for sells electronic components on an international scale, to manufacturers of appliances, etc. One of our largest sales volumes is MOVs, the blue "surge protectors". That's what we sell, we know what they do and how they work, and most importantly we know why they are inside domestic appliances.

      The MOVs exist in Australian and European devices because it's the cheapest way to make the appliance pass the mandatory 1000V surge test… our standards state that the 1000V surge must not cause a safety risk, but the device does NOT need to continue operating afterwards. So, use a 300V MOV to blow a fuse, which disconnects the device from the 1000V.

      America - they don't test the same way. I don't know the details of how they test over there, but the mains voltages are much lower and the currents are much higher…. so it's completely different situation anyway.

      So, ignore American articles - read European ones if you must.

      • 

        noshopping on 17/06/2016 - 00:29

        Fair points, however I believe the reputable USA ones have UL certification which go through strict requirements. It is true that lower clamping voltages are important, the Thor surge boards all have 275V clamping voltages but they are very dear at $100+ each (4 socket) going up to $299 for the 8 socket boards. I have read that surge boards using 275V are more likely to die out faster because of their more strict conditions for surge protection, now let me ask you a question regarding this article from CNET written by their technical editor:

        "Surge protectors offer protection in amounts called joules. 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.**"

        If you get hits of 100 joules, there would be no reason to clamp or trip the circuit breaker in your house? As the CNET author writes and many other credible electrical guidelines around the web state, daily surges happen all the time, over time they breakdown your equipment. You guys sell these MOVs to device makers and tell us surge protection is generally built into all electrical devices sold in Australia. Now lets say the MOVs in the power unit inside my $4000 AVR receiver wears out from all these surges over the years, say four years has passed and the surge protection is gone in my AVR unit.. The next surge it receives will toast my AVR. I now have to return the unit for a warranty job, but oops! warranty only covers 2 years! Unless I can source a replacement PSU unit — most consumers would have no idea why their devices "stopped" working and assume it's just "broken", it'd be a write off since most repairs cost as much as a brand new unit. I think it would make more sense replacing a "surge" board that is no longer effective due to all the surges it has absorbed over the years. Surge boards can be replaced easily. Inbuilt MOV protection in all devices are not. Now as you have come out of the woodwork it sort of makes your statements somewhat biased?

        As a seller of MOVs around the world, it makes sense to tell people NOT to use external surge boards because people's devices would last longer and they wouldn't need to keep replacing them when it breaks down. Once those little MOVs you guys supply in all electrical devices are toasted, the next incoming surge will break down that device — thus requiring a new purchase, which ultimately leads to more demand from your suppliers = job stability for you.

        Now, this might be all hokey pokey tinhat foil stuff, but I just don't understand why you keep stating that surge boards are next to USELESS (e.g. placebo effect), when you guys MANUFACTURE these MOVs and tell us their role is for inbuilt surge protection? Surge boards use MOVs too… So are you implying that what your company does, in effect is supplying consumers with placebo effects? But it gets more weird because you also state that to pass strict Australian standards, all devices have to past a set of standards, which includes surge protection… so you are basically confirming that surge boards have a purpose… lol

      • 

        llama on 17/06/2016 - 09:56

        -1

        @overshopper:

        UL listing and testing is totally irrellevant outside the USA. The products you are reading about are NOT the same products as would be used elsewhere in the world. Their electrical system isn't even remotely similar to the rest of the world. Why can't you grasp that?

        You are not understanding that the consumer equipment in the USA is designed differently to the rest of the world. It may not even have MOVs inside it, or maybe the safety requirements are different, who knows and who cares? Perhaps in the USA they might need surge protected powerboards more than we need them. I don't know, but it doesn't matter because it is totally irrelevant.

        The stuff written in CNET USA is irrelevant. The stuff about Thor powerboards is irrelevant. The stuff about 275V clamping voltages is irrelevant. Nothing relating to American products is relevant. Nothing written by Americans is relevant.

        However EVEN IF it was relevant, that doesn't really count for much because the Austrslian consumer equipment (that's plugged into the powerboards) is ALL SURGE PROTECTED ANYWAY.

        And furthermore, these surges are very rare and ALMOST NEVER cause problems or equipment failures. It is not a significant problem in Australia!

        And furthermore, the inherent design of the powerboards is such that the so-called protection that they offer isn't generally of ANY use in saving the downstream devices anyway. It doesn't even make the device's internal surge protection last longer because most if these powerboard let through all the common surges that might damage the device's surge protectors.

        And furthermore, whilst the surge protection in consumer devices certainly does wear out when exposed to surges, it doesn't matter because of redundancy that is DESIGNED INTO the equipment. So the surge protection (which is not just MOVs) will generally last the life of the equipment. Equipment that is more susceptable to surges will be designed accordingly to survive without needing additional any add-on equipment like special powerboards.

        So, in general terms equipment in Australia doesn't NEED additional surge protection. The standard consumer products survive just fine without it. The equipment won't generally last longer or work better if plugged into a surge protected powerboard.

        Your $4000 AVR Receiver is specifically designed to work perfectly well and survive being plugged into the Australian mains without any need for a special powerboard. In fact, a high value device like that will have far better inherent protection, so it will have even less need for add-on devices than a $20 AM radio.

        So the fact that a $200 powerboard gives twice better protection than a $20 powerboard doesn't matter because even the $20 one isn't needed. So the $200 powerboard is twice as much not needed.
        - Does that make sense?

        Surges are a NON PROBLEM. You are concerning yourself with the relative merit of add-on devices that by design cannot protect the consumer devices effectively. And this so-called protection that gets offered isn't needed because surges are very rare, surges don't really cause problems anyway, and consumer devices already have inbuilt surge protection that is designed to do what is required.

        This topic is something like somebody reading online reviews and comparing "facts" about something like a ghost detector. The fact that people haven't seen any ghosts since buying one does not mean that the devices work!

        How can I simplify it? How sbout this… You don't need a surge protected powerboard.

        You aren't understanding what I am trying to tell you, but there is no value in me explaining it to you. You don't want to learn, as you are convinced that this is something you know everything about.

        If you reckon that you need Surge Protected powerboards, then go buy them.

        I work in the industry of supplying surge protection devices on a worldwide market and because of my knowledge I know that I don't need to buy so-called "surge protection" powerboards. I have access to them for free and I have a grand total of zero surge protection devices in my own home. And despite having access to samples and demo units from the companies that we supply, there is a grand total of zero surge protection devices in any of our offices either.

        Yet despite all of that, guess how many pieces of our equipment gets damaged by surges… none.

      • 

        noshopping on 18/06/2016 - 19:19

        @llama: not totally convinced but appreciate your detailed reply. This is sort of a grey area like vitamins. Some studies say they work, some say they don't.. sigh…

      • 

        llama on 19/06/2016 - 01:43

        @overshopper:

        not totally convinced but appreciate your detailed reply

        You have been convinced by a hell of a lot less science than I have provided here LOL

        Some studies say they work, some say they don't..

        The studies that I've seen that say "they work" are one or more of the following:

        a) testing the powerboard, but not whether connected equipment is saved from failing.

        b) ccnducted by manufacturers of the powerboards.

        c) conducted by non-technical organisations.

        c) related to American products that have absolutely no relevance here. Please trust me on this - the electrical system and safety approvals they use are completely different to Australia's.

        The effectiveness of these things is easily proven, but I have never seen a "study" that does so using scientific methods. That wirecutter article is a complete farce. The only realistic msthod is to test the SURVIVAL of connected devices, over a long period of time, both with and without the powerboard. The surges needs to be typical ones that are experienced in normal homes. Got to get back to the fundamentals, which is to test whether the powerboards make connected devices last longer or not.

        The thing is - connected devices DO NOT generally fail from surges. Think about the billions (trillions?) of electronic devices that are plugged into powerpoints all over Australia… they aren't dying like flies. The main failure mode of the electronic devices is Capacitor Failure, not overvoltage from surges.

        So, surge-protecting powerboards are basically a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist. Yeah sure, your devices won't fail from surges when they are plugged into a surge-protecting powerboard…. but that's primarily because they don't fail from surges anyway.

        The reason that the devices don't commonly fail from surges is primarily because surges are not a problem, and all sensitive electronic devices have surge protection in them anyway.