Your Old Surge Protector Probably Isn't Working...

Surge protectors are an extremely important part of any system with expensive electronics. Surge protectors can easily save you a ton of money by saving your equipment from potential power surges.

However, the main issue is that people will use the same surge protector for 5+ years fully thinking that their electronics are protected. Unfortunately, surge protectors do go bad after they have absorbed a certain amount of electricity. However, most surge protectors do not accurately display whether or not the surge protection capability is depleted or not.

Recommended Surge Protectors:

[michaelbeckerman]

It's also important to note here the difference between sacrificial and non-sacrificial surge protectors. Most lower-cost/entry-level surge protectors "sacrifice" themselves in order to save your equipment in the event of a large surge or spike. Once they have done that, they are spent and must be replaced. These are usually your surge protectors that typically range in price from $25 to about $200. Non-sacrificial surge protectors (often paired up and combined with line conditioners) can be reset when they experience a surge or a spike and do not have to "sacrifice" themselves in order to save your equipment. These are typically found in the price range of $300 to $3, 000. Although higher price does not guarantee higher performance, you do generally get what you pay for with respect to this type of product. As with all things though in the world of electronics, your mileage may vary. You are always wise to do your homework first before making any type of a surge protector purchase so you know exactly what it is that you are buying - and know exactly what it is that you are actually getting for your money.

[VerisonMember]

Jonah, I just want to mention that the power surge could have also come through to the cable box via the Coaxial wire. Even if the cable box was plugged into the surge, if the surge protector did not have coaxial in/out surge protection as well, it still could have traveled up the HDMI and fried the TV if lightning had struck the cable line. Some surge protectors have coaxial connections for this reason as well.

[selfawareness]

There’s nothing boring about saving me money. Thanks bro!

[batslog]

Ok, you are definitely reading my mind before shooting the videos. Again, exactly the video I need minutes after I start my research. Thank you!

[gdi]

Thank you for this video. I watched your other videos, very informative. I am a field technician for a major telecommunications company in Canada and the atrocity I come across customers setups. Using dollar store extension cords, old yellowed what was a surge protector from 1994. One customer had a ground prong cut on their surge protector because it didn't fit onto their extention cord?? Yes as bug eyed as I was they seem to not be bothered by it but have a 65" TV running on it and cannot understand why it kept shutting off. I will show this video to the next customer should I come across a fire hazard.

[Redneck_Ed]

The reason most surge protectors degrade over time is because they have a thing in them called a MOV. This is the device that routes high voltage to ground. The MOV is absorbing transient voltages very often and you don't even know it. $10 surge strips are for the day to day surges which degrade the MOV over time. If you want a surge protector that will not degrade over time, silicon avalanche diode technology is a great option, though it is more expensive.

[KarmaIGY]

Very informative and good education for non techies when it comes to understaning electrical current surges.

[actioncamera]

I still got an old Radio Shack single outlet surge protector from 1990. Led light is very dim. I guess I should replace it.

[James_Bowie]

Good luck getting that 'warranty' honored!

[harryspence]

After 40 years as an industrial power computer and drives engineer. I can say if you can see the MOV it must look pristine, no swelling, cracks, blisters or other distortions. If it is not pristine it is dead. The other telling thing is if it smells of rotten eggs it is dead.

[antoniosampedro]

Thank you ...I got more educated in this issue.

[Garysopinion]

What if you connect a second surge protector in series and only use that one - would you get double protection??

[yoursureshotphotographypra]

Very good info on Surge protectors. They are very important. Thanks.

[Steve-mpby]

I only buy APC and Belkin. I replace the mov's every few years because I know how to solder. I only buy protectors that you can open up

[galenatures]

This video is extremely helpful and informative... great job:)

[nasrt]

This is a great helpful content and that really need people, but there no good content about it. I would like to see more content that really help people.
Thanks.

[HabaneroTi]

Cheap surge protectors, like cheap extension chords, are dangerous and should be banned. The former will fail eventually, but most people will continue to use them thinking that they're still working--assuming that they ever worked to begin with--and the latter are often overloaded and serious fire hazards.

Another problem is that people often mistake surge protection, even on good units, for overload protection, thinking that if they plug too many devices that draw too much power into one of these, it'll shut off and protect them from meltdowns and fires. But that's not what surge protection does. It protects devices from sudden surges, not overloads. To protect against that requires a circuit breaker built into the power strip in addition to surge protection, ideally a resettable one.

Then there's GFCI, AFCI, undervoltage protection, overvoltage protection, and so on. If you value your equipment, property, home and life, do some research into all this before buying and using these things. Yeah, it's boring and annoying, but the potential alternative is far worse.

[ItalianStallion]

Let's say I want to try to preserve the useful life of the surge protector when I'm not using my devices... Will switching the protector off with its own switch preserve the remaining energy it will divert? Or do I just have to unplug it entirely?

[Crazyguy_MC]

My surge protector somehow surged itself and fried my tv busted my old phones charging port too. I was lucky that was the only things fried. Went to test the protector on a low voltage device on the GFCI outlet and the GFCI went off immediately after plugging in my small test light. I’m taking that as a lesson to use a good protector. The one I was using was a very high quality protector but it was over 20 years old and I think the age is what made it give out.

[Chris_P_Bacon]

I've had a 450-watt UPS for 15 years. It has a circuit breaker on it, and it has never been tripped to this day. My question is, if it were to be hit by a surge, would the circuit breaker trip? I've had a LOT of power surges over the years, and I have no idea if it was ever hit, nor do I know if it's still protecting my equipment.