Could anyone recommend to me a good surge suppressor/line filter?
I'm looking between the Tripp Lite HT1010SAT3 and the Belkin F9A833-10. Any others I should consider?

I have an APCC LE1200. It's been on my Sammy DLP for over a year and has done a great job of surge suppression and line regulating. It's better than a regular surge suppressor in that if it gets a surge you just reset the switch. No capacitors to burn out like plain surge suppressors. The only limitations are there are only 4 outlets and it has no battery back up. Otherwise, I highly recommend it.

http://www.apcc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=LE1200&tab=documentation

Actually, it likely uses MOVs just like any other surge suppressor, and you should hope that it does. The fact that it shuts off the power when it exceeds or drops below a certain voltage does not mean you have beeter surge protection. The response time of relays is many times slower than the clamping of MOVs. This unit, like many, has inferior surge suppression and does not protect all lines into the system, such as cable, sat, phone, or antenna. This is a good example of why I recommend to people to use a good basic surge suppressor rather than a UPS or other voltage refulation device.

Some better surge suppresors also disconnect when high or low voltages are present, BTW.

An example of far superior protection without over/under shutoff is

http://www.cyberpowersystems.com/1090.asp which Newegg sells for about $21.

If you want shutoff for over/under voltage look at the Panamax products. the TripLite unit mentioned above is also fine.

Icaillo, I have read your other posts and think you know your stuff so I am posting a description of my LE1200's specs for clarification (mine). Please comment if you still feel there is a problem with it for my use:

Product Description
The Line-R is a microprocessor controlled tap changing power conditioner, which automatically corrects brownouts and overvoltages, and stabilizes chronic line voltage variation. Line-R also provides multi-stage surge suppression and full-time EMI/RFI filters to handle all the problems your equipment is likely to face. A voltage meter on the Line-R's front panel displays the relative input voltage level and alerts you to low or high voltage conditions. A front panel surge protection integrity light indicates the health of the circuitry. In addition, an audible alarm alerts you to extreme input voltages that cannot be corrected to within the normal output voltage regulation band. Line-R automatically performs self-tests, and its "adaptive mode" also senses and corrects frequent tap changing, thereby reducing wear on the relays for a longer life span and quiet operation.

What do you think?

Actually, it likely uses MOVs ...I recommend to people to use a good basic surge suppressor rather than a UPS or other voltage refulation device.


Uh, Leonard I value your posts both here and on the newsgroup, but please speak English. What is an MOV?

And since I live in the country with frequent short blackouts and brownouts I found a surge suppressor hopeless. I could have several shutdowns an hour in stormy weather, which is certainly not what my TV manufacturer recommends, plus my satellite receiver would lock up repeatedly. Since I installed my UPS the system just sails through such episodes.

This is a description and sales hype. Look at the specs and compare them to the units that I recommended. Then re-read my comments. They were based on comparing the actual specified performance.

In my experience this kind of unit is not a good choice for the reasons that I described above.

Empower/SurgeX deserve consideration. They don't use sacrificial MOV's and will continue protecting ad-infinitem no matter how many incidents they endure.

Empower/SurgeX deserve consideration. They don't use sacrificial MOV's and will continue protecting ad-infinitem no matter how many incidents they endure.

OK, how much would one of these units, say the SurgeX SA1810 cost? Over $300, right? And what about the cable, sat, or phone lines that it is not protecting? Yes, it does not use "sacrificial" MOVs, but what happens to those windings in a large surge. Oh, it has a 10 year warranty, but that $21 CyberPower 1090 has a lifetime warranty, as do teh Panamax units.

I see the results of lightning damage all the time. Lots of it comes in on satellite, cable or phone lines. You can't protect a system completely and just cover the a.c. lines. There is nothing wrong with the series/filter based units, but they are often not cost effective and incomplete. For the cost of one of them you could protect everysystem in your home with cheap MOV based units and also install a whole house suppressor.

There is always someone recommending this kind of unit, but for the price and complete protection, it is hard to beat MOVs. They work well in the real world and are very cost effective.

I noticed this thread is active tonight and I've got a problem I need desperate help with. So, I probably over paid and under bought, but at that point I wanted to be done. I have the Moster Power HTS 1600. Everything has been fine since last May. Tonight, voltage is at 132 and unit reads, "abnormal voltage" and it shut everything down. Never happened before. I switched outlets from my dedicated line to another and it worked at 129 for a bit now back up and off. So, I'm assuming this is what it is supposed to do. Voltage is normally in the 120s. Little information in manual. I don't know anything about this stuff but I thought it was supposed to regulate/suppress the voltage for me. What would cause the voltage to go up? How do I get the voltage down? Seems redundant, but would purchasing the cyberpower strip and plugging into that work? Is 130+ that bad? Should I be contacting my electric company or an electrician? Please help. I'm in Chicago and SuperBowl Sunday approaches. Thanks!

Uh, Leonard I value your posts both here and on the newsgroup, but please speak English. What is an MOV?

(snip)
MOV is a Metal Oxide Varistor. It is a component part in a Surge Suppressor unit, that changes it's resistance when voltage is applied to it. At normal operating voltage it's resistance is high. But a voltage surge will cause it to quickly (very quickly) lower it's resistance and absorb the surge.

I noticed this thread is active tonight and I've got a problem I need desperate help with. So, I probably over paid and under bought, but at that point I wanted to be done. I have the Moster Power HTS 1600. Everything has been fine since last May. Tonight, voltage is at 132 and unit reads, "abnormal voltage" and it shut everything down. Never happened before. I switched outlets from my dedicated line to another and it worked at 129 for a bit now back up and off. So, I'm assuming this is what it is supposed to do. Voltage is normally in the 120s. Little information in manual. I don't know anything about this stuff but I thought it was supposed to regulate/suppress the voltage for me. What would cause the voltage to go up? How do I get the voltage down? Seems redundant, but would purchasing the cyberpower strip and plugging into that work? Is 130+ that bad? Should I be contacting my electric company or an electrician? Please help. I'm in Chicago and SuperBowl Sunday approaches. Thanks!

If your line voltage is that high there is nothing you can do but contact your provider or install a device that actively regulates the voltage. A surge suppressor with do nothing to reduce line voltage that is in this range. Most power supplies will deal with it fine and it will not create a problem for most. So, if you need a short term fix, just use a surge suppressor with no overvoltage cutoff or use none at all. Extended use at these voltages might cuase some overheating in some units, but most will not be bothered.

My Panamax 4300 is doing a wonderful job for my Sammy 5087. =)

[/QUOTE]There is always someone recommending this kind of unit, but for the price and complete protection, it is hard to beat MOVs. They work well in the real world and are very cost effective.[/QUOTE]

MOVs are fine as long as you have some way of knowing when they've been compromised. A lot of units on the market give no indication of how many MOVs are still viable after one or more incidents.

As for other electrical systems offering unprotected entry points, the best bet is to put a utility box version of the Empower/SurgeX in line between mains and the media room AC outlets. Yes you may have to pay an electrician for an hour's work, but then you're done and you have the peace of mind knowing that power supplies are being protected -- no matter how many surges may occur.

There is always someone recommending this kind of unit, but for the price and complete protection, it is hard to beat MOVs. They work well in the real world and are very cost effective.[/QUOTE]

MOVs are fine as long as you have some way of knowing when they've been compromised. A lot of units on the market give no indication of how many MOVs are still viable after one or more incidents.

As for other electrical systems offering unprotected entry points, the best bet is to put a utility box version of the Empower/SurgeX in line between mains and the media room AC outlets. Yes you may have to pay an electrician for an hour's work, but then you're done and you have the peace of mind knowing that power supplies are being protected -- no matter how many surges may occur.[/QUOTE]

OK, let's consider how MOVs work and fail. When they work properly they conduct. When they fail, they short. I have never heard of one failing in a manner that resulted in a ope circuit. Usually they go leaky or dead short. So let's assume one takes some surges and is failing. The very next surge is going to cause it to short. This is what MOVs do to protect. Only this time it won't recover. So the breaker in the SS or the breaker in the electrical panel goes when the current is sustained. Now you either have the unit replaced under warranty or throw it away. No lack of protection occurs unless the MOV decides to fail as an open circuit, which would be very unusual.

Now as for the unprotected lines, are you saying that SurgeX has a unit that covers satellite, cable, antennae, phone, and ethernet connections? I was not aware that they did. Can you provide a link and a price? How do you justify the price difference?

If your line voltage is that high there is nothing you can do but contact your provider or install a device that actively regulates the voltage. A surge suppressor with do nothing to reduce line voltage that is in this range. Most power supplies will deal with it fine and it will not create a problem for most. So, if you need a short term fix, just use a surge suppressor with no overvoltage cutoff or use none at all. Extended use at these voltages might cuase some overheating in some units, but most will not be bothered.

I followed up with ComEd. They came out next day, "Checked voltage 127/127 259. Voltage high but not over limit. GE gets plus or minus 10% of of 120. 110-130." Not sure what all that means or what my next step is. It only went over 130 this once; but if it is an issue, I might 86 the $300 Monster for that strip you mentioned. I don't want it shutting down, say, on Superbowl Sunday and having to crawl back and re-connect everything. Is it worth getting an electrician out? Could he do anything anyway? What do you consider extended use? I've got way than enough power in my receiver and amp that it's not being taxed, but cable, dvd player, pj I have no idea. Is this why I keep having to replace lightbulbs in certain fixtures every few months, even though they are in the recommended wattage? Thanks for the insight.

lcaillo, I've been trying to make sense of the world of surge suppression, and I've learned that although MOVs are an essential part of any suppressor under $250, there can be a lot of additional components that are of use as well. Without getting into anything outside of AC surge suppression, MOVs can be used with choke coils, inductors, capacitors, diodes, and even gas tubes. However, I've found little luck getting information on what products contain which components or circuitry. Specifications like joules or clamping voltages will range wildly because there's no enforced standard in how to measure these. The best news perhaps is that anything that meets UL1449 in the last 8 years meets some decent standards for MOV durability, thermal fusing, and suppression on all three lines (instead of just hot). Would you disagree with any of this?

I followed up with ComEd. They came out next day, "Checked voltage 127/127 259. Voltage high but not over limit. GE gets plus or minus 10% of of 120. 110-130." Not sure what all that means or what my next step is. It only went over 130 this once; but if it is an issue, I might 86 the $300 Monster for that strip you mentioned. I don't want it shutting down, say, on Superbowl Sunday and having to crawl back and re-connect everything. Is it worth getting an electrician out? Could he do anything anyway? What do you consider extended use? I've got way than enough power in my receiver and amp that it's not being taxed, but cable, dvd player, pj I have no idea. Is this why I keep having to replace lightbulbs in certain fixtures every few months, even though they are in the recommended wattage? Thanks for the insight.

Just a reminder to anyone reading, that despite this threads title, this problem has nothing to do with surge suppression. It would seem this is a combination of higher than average (but not necessarily wrong) voltage and a very sensitive cutoff in your Monster power device. In any case, if you wanted to run a steady 120 with or without the Monster you should consider an AVR (automatic voltage regulator). It doesn't surprise me the electrician didn't think there was anything wrong.

http://apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=67
http://www.tripplite.com/products/conditioners/index.cfm

I need a recommendation. I just purchased a 50" Plasma (pioneer elite 1140). I would like to purchase a good surge suppressor. Ideally, I would like to be able to plug my stereo components into it as well, but the primary function would be to protect the TV. Currently it is not hanging on the wall, so space is not as much an issue. Also, I have read that some reduce noise and improve picture and audio. This sounds great, although I am not sure if it is a noticeable improvement. I am willing to spend up to $200, but would prefer to pay around $100. I am not opposed to any brand, including Monster if the price is justified. Can you all make a few suggestions? Thanks!

lcaillo, I've been trying to make sense of the world of surge suppression, and I've learned that although MOVs are an essential part of any suppressor under $250, there can be a lot of additional components that are of use as well. Without getting into anything outside of AC surge suppression, MOVs can be used with choke coils, inductors, capacitors, diodes, and even gas tubes. However, I've found little luck getting information on what products contain which components or circuitry. Specifications like joules or clamping voltages will range wildly because there's no enforced standard in how to measure these. The best news perhaps is that anything that meets UL1449 in the last 8 years meets some decent standards for MOV durability, thermal fusing, and suppression on all three lines (instead of just hot). Would you disagree with any of this?

That is all pretty much correct. The MOV is the only part that matters much in a.c. line suppression, as that is the component that clamps the voltage and conducts the current. The other devices are typically for noise filtering, which on most systems is not much of a benefit in my experience and investigations. Now other lines, such as cable, antenna, sat, phone, or ethernet may use diodes or gas dischage tubes in their suppression. The details are rarely published.

Panamax has the most complete specs on performance that I have noted. They also seem rather conservative in Joule ratings. Apparently others add up the energy that all of the devices in the unit could theoretically dissipate. The problem with that is you could never have al of the devices in most units clamping at the same time if they have all combinations of the a.c. line protected.

I gave the example in one of the threads here of the Panamax vs the CyberPower 1090. The CP has a joule rating of about twice the Panamax, but the MOV complement is essentially the same (other than the brand of MOVs) and the board layout is not that different. No way it dissipates twice the energy. In fact, the Panamax may have bette parts in it. Just comparing the spec of Joules, however, one would assume that the CP is a lot better. Probably more like they are similar in protection, at least on the a.c. line. I use both, and the CP can be had for less than half of what you can get the Panamax for.

Your conclusion regarding the UL1449 certification is astute. This is one thing that lots of people miss, and it is surprising how many units don't have it, likely because the clamping voltage is not low enough.

MOV is a Metal Oxide Varistor. It is a component part in a Surge Suppressor unit, that changes it's resistance when voltage is applied to it. At normal operating voltage it's resistance is high. But a voltage surge will cause it to quickly (very quickly) lower it's resistance and absorb the surge.

Thanks Kevin. This forum is a great educational tool.