# Surge protection-Which is best?



## mini1 (Jan 25, 2004)

I am in the market for a new surge protector for my new Home Theater set-up and would like any input as to which one is best from you all. What do have or use, what have you had good luck with? I need 6-8 outlets, isolator/clean power/power conditioner, dual or tri coax, and one phone line protection. does a Monster brand power strip work well, or are they too overpriced? know of any websites that rate and review surge protectors? thank you for your input on this issue!


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## boba (May 23, 2003)

You really are looking in the wrong place. You need to be looking at the insurance policies that the surge protector manufacturers carry. "No hassle, connected equipment Guarantee. Repair or replace any connected equipment, up to $25,000, damaged by power disturbances, including lightning, while connected to a functioning RCA SCTVXXXX surge suppressor." This is where your real protection is. Read the fine print and compare your out of pocket expenses.


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## olgeezer (Dec 5, 2003)

Monster works on power not on coax, Get a panamax or cheaper powermax. They work and have excellent warrantees.


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## JM Anthony (Nov 16, 2003)

I went with a Monster Power unit for my home theater. When my receiver gets powered up, other dependent components get powered up as well. If nothing else, it looks cool in the rack!


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

I have whole house surge protection provided by my power provider. Includes the power lines, coax, phone, everything. Something like $100,000 coverage. It costs me about $5 a month.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

I don't know exactly where to get it, but there is a surge protector that can be installed at the circuit breaker box that will protect the entire house. A little pricey, but worth it. Maybe I'll install one myself.


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## M Law (Jan 30, 2004)

You are asking for four different things:
1) Surge protection through the electrical line
2) Power conditioning for 'clean power' on the electrical line
3) Surge protection through the phone line
4) Surge protection through the coaxial cable from the satellite antenna

While there are devices that may possibly do all four, it would be questionable as to how well any one device can do everything, IMO. For that reason I have separate devices as needed.

1) For electrical surge protection I use a ZeroSurge 8R15W-TWR. It's an 15 amp, 8 outlet model. Won't waste time giving an explanation of why not to choose an MOV based suppressor, but I seriously suggest you go to their website and read for yourself their info on surge suppression. It might enlighten you.

2) Power conditioning is only necessary when you have true 'dirty' power. It is a waste of money unless you really have a problem. Before buying a power conditioner, really study whether you have a need. You will get lots of people who will give you all types of nonobjective statements of how much it improved their systems, but if you really look and listen, do you have a problem to begin with? With a video image, so often the real problem is not the power source, but with grounds and cable shields. Try improving your antenna ground and install new connectors on your coax (all low budget), before wasting time on power conditioning. There are lots of people who don't want to admit they wasted money on a power conditioner, believe me.

3) You can buy a phone line surge suppressor just about anywhere, they are all almost exactly the same. Another item not to waste a tone of money on.

4) Surge suppression on coax needs to be specific to your application. There are a few in-line suppressors that will do an adequate job. The most important point is to be sure the suppressor is rated to handle the high bandwidth of the satellite signal, and that it also pass DC. I am installing and testing a fairly new unit right now myself, Cable Innovations DLPS-SAT1. The good part of this unit is it protects in both directions, preventing damage to the LNB and to the receiver. It also functions as a ground block, eliminating another connection point.

Whatever you do, spent some time studying what's out there to find what fits your application best.


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## rdopso (Jan 26, 2004)

Check out the link below.

http://www.brickwall.com/

I have three of this type of surge protector for my computer and AV/Audio stuff (two are over ten years old). They are absolutely bullet proof and last forever.

For electronics recording equipment such as DVRs and PVRs, I strongly recommend APC-type protectors having battery back up (I have two of these for my two Dish PVRs -- use one per PVR to get maximum battery backup time, and never plug TVs into them because TVs draw way too much power to make them useful). The battrery backup eliminate the problem of lose of recording during power outages, as well as potential damage to hard disks from power surges as power is restored following outages.


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

Bogy said:


> I have whole house surge protection provided by my power provider. Includes the power lines, coax, phone, everything. Something like $100,000 coverage. It costs me about $5 a month.


If youa re talking about an insurance policy that sounds great. If youa re talking about a warranty associated with surge protection on your line it may be as all inclusive as you think.

That is great but it protects primarily against surgews from the outside not ones that occur within the home. I have the same protection bit still use surge protectors for valuable equipment.


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## mini1 (Jan 25, 2004)

any more ideas anyone? Thank you to everyone who has already posted!


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## ERSanders (Apr 24, 2002)

I picked up two APC 1400 Smart UPS's, one for the PC and related components and one for the 36" tv, Satellite receiver, VCR, DVD & switch box. The One on the PC regulates power and provides 35 minutes of backup. The one on the TV, etc. will keep things going for about one hour. 

I got them used and bought new batteries. Total investment about $110 each...almost the cost of a Monster(ously priced) power strip!

I need to get another for the upstairs TV setup since the Belkin that I have one it is too small to keep the TV running and is only a simple "battery backup" type UPS.


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## olgeezer (Dec 5, 2003)

http://www.panamax.com/products/productpage.asp?sname=pm8dbs3


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## FritzM (Feb 2, 2004)

Asked my electrical company about whole house surge protector and they'd gladly sell me one, with this caveat: it won't protect my sensitive electronics from each other. That is, if my microwave goes berserk, it could take down my computer. They recommend both, their surge supression, and then inidividual ones for the delicate electronic stuff.


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## Bogy (Mar 23, 2002)

I have the whole house surge protection, then I have an APC UPS on each computer.


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## Slordak (Dec 17, 2003)

As several people have stated above, for electrical protection, I too would recommend a non-MOV based surge protector. As noted, designs using a MOV contaminate ground when a surge occurs, and also silently fail to provide protection after a certain amount of surging. You can get a quality non-MOV power strip with 8 outlets for around $200 or $300. Consider Brickwall, Surgex, or Zerosurge.

Here's a URL describing "The Truth about MOVs":
http://www.zerosurge.com/HTML/movsres.html


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

For 'whole-house' info" www.premiumsurge.com is a part of Southern Company, but I'm sure power providers in most areas of the country offer a similar service.


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