This was posted 5 years 3 months 13 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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½ Price Crest Surge Protection Powerboards $8 - $20 @ Big W

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This deal is on again. Credit to headphonejack for description;

½ Price Crest Surge Protection Powerboards @ Big W

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BIG W

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  • +11

    Insert generic argument here about whether these or the Xiaomi are more likely to set your house on fire.

    • +1

      When I comes to electrical I think anything's possible going by my experience, although that was when I was living in a third world country where they never run earth.

      Would insurance cover any damages caused by fire as this board is Australian standard?

    • +1

      That's irrelevant to anyone's point, ever

      The point is whether you will be adequately be covered by liability insurance if a non-certified component causes or contributes to a fire in your home (and overloaded powerboards are almost always blamed for fire)

      • Correct. With Australian standards and Australian retailers, you will have multiple courses of action. The manufacturer of the power board, the retailer for selling a defective product etc.

        With imported Xiaomi products, it would be difficult to substantiate any claim in the unlikely event of an accident

        • Of course no one has been able to prove you're not covered with Xiaomi yet.

          Comparing this to a Xiaomi isn't fair anyway as the Xiaomi served a different function these can't do.

          • @Clear: Just wondering how the insurer would even know ?

            If it did burn down your house the evidence would be burned along with it and you could have bought it 10+ years ago with no proof of purchase. They’d have to prove it was a non compliant board, which wouldn’t be worth their time.

            I had the mesh on a goose neck tap split which caused a significant flood (ran for 1 hour) and the insurer didn’t even ask if the tap was from Australia. They just assessed the damage paid out the claim.

            • @StonedWizard: Depends on the amount of loss and therefore the amount of investigation they do.

              Professional fire investigators used in significant claims are incredibly adept at finding these types of things.

              • +1

                @isthisreallife22: @kcbworth not disputing that, but they'd have to prove the extension board/device wasn't an Australian spec one which is going to be hard if thats the thing which caught on fire.

                I'm not saying it can't be done, but the insurer would have a harder time proving that.

      • The point is whether you will be adequately be covered by liability insurance if a non-certified component causes or contributes to a fire in your home

        Yes you are.

        There is nothing in any law that prevents you using an imported, non compliant electrical device.

        The laws in place after there to ensure that any devices sold by Australian stores meet our standards.

        • Is there anything in law that says an insurer has to cover you?

  • +5

    175 joules surge protection, quite low

  • What are these like at charging smart phones and ipads via the USB?

    • +1

      •2 x USB outlet: 5V DC 2.4A maximum total output

      Slow if charging two devices at once.

      • I guess it's good for permantly on devices like Google Homes/Echos and Wifi cams

      • +3

        Or, "perfect if charging overnight".

        Fast Charge when you're not going to use it in a hurry is just mean to the battery.

  • Aw no wifi or energy monitoring like the set your house on fire xiaomi smart boards

    • Xiaomi have energy monitoring smart boards? really?

      This is news to me.

      The only energy monitoring device I am aware of is the HS110 TP-Link smart switches that only have one socket/outlet/port.

  • +14

    Surge protectors that are rated for xxx Joules use electronic components called Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs). MOVs are clever little buggers that do a good job of absorbing energy (surges, for example) until their capacity is exceeded. Once the MOV has failed, you still have a very useful power board - but no more protection.

    There's usually a little LED that will tell whether the protection is still ok - but a big power board is usually under the bed or behind a cupboard. (Sometimes light on = protected, sometimes light on = not protected - so you have to look carefully.)

    I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest a quick straw poll of OzB members: have a check of your installed 'surge protector' power boards and then report back as to how many are still protecting. I'm pretty confident we'll all be surprised how many are NOT still doing the job.

    At my place, 2/2 are no longer protecting. That's 100% unprotected, for the stat-minded.

    • +1

      All mine are fine but I check fairly often because I've twice replaced powerboards because the varistor was sacrificed.

    • I check daily.
      1 is still A-OK after 10 years (the old DSE media boards), 3 have failed.

      I've been replacing them with PlugBoss boards, which are plugged into cheap 'no promised rating' surge protectors.

      So:

      Wall Socket > literally the cheapest single Surge Protector at Bunnings ( http://www.arlec.com.au/detail-2/?de=DA14 ) > 350Joule rated Power Board.

      Add onto that, basically everything I own runs on a switch mode power supply; almost nothing actually uses a full 240v anymore, so there's an AWFUL lot of stuff to blow to take out my goodies.

      That said, I need a new UPS for my modem and server…..

      • +3

        Would that be like using two condoms at the same time?

        • You only use one?

        • for your best protection use 3 :-)

      • +1

        so technically, i can just buy this $6 arlec plug and then plug the powerboard on the plug, then anything attached on the powerboard is protected?

  • Surge Protected 175 Joules

    = nothing

    • depends if they fail open or fail closed.

      It's either "useless" or "Fragile".

      That said, 175Joules isn't really useless….. I used to have these help frequently according to my UPS logs, when my father would use power tools or Arc welders.

      • Useful surge protection starts around 2000 joules upwards. Clamping time is also important.
        Your UPS might be logging tiny transients but they are fairly inconsequential
        The 'surge protection' part of these is very dubious

  • I have these back in 2016 and even take them overseas.

    Works good.

  • -2

    Crest? Crap

  • This is going to be a popular bargain.

  • Thanks OP! Great stuff :)

  • I bought 7 of the blue ones lasttime on sale from top ryde. Dirt cheap for individually switched sockets. All working well and very happy with the purchase. cheap stocking stuffer for parents and siblings

  • …>_< bought 4x belkin 8 socket surge @40 each last month.

  • Thanks.

  • Just got a refund e-mail because of no stock (6 port + 2 USB)

  • Bought the 4 plug version, one by one three of the plugs stopped working. Still using the remaining plug plus usb ports.

  • which stores have stock?
    None in my area.

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