Power Protection Question

a ups would be very expensive and isn't rated for too much power. plus it wouldn't last long. personally what i am going to use with my build is a really good surge protector. I'm going to use the panamax m8-av-pro. its a little pricey $150 but i got it from a store that was going out of business for $25 by me.
Its definitely worth it though. Surges can enter your computer through every external thing that goes into it. this surge protector protects tv cables, internet cords and 8 power outlets! it is guerenteed that everything plugged into it will be surge protected and you know its really good because if your components properly connected to the surge protector are damaged by any type of surge (even lightning which is impossible to protect from but very rare) they will pay to replace it.
(edit forgot the link ) http://www.panamax.com/Products/Floor-Models/M8-AV-PRO.aspx#tab_benefits

doubt you will have problems with your computer unless you happen to have a microwave or something like that on the same fuse. the only time i have blown a fuse was running the oven and microwave and toaster at once. so as long as you don't have something really power intensive on the same fuse like a space heater might blow it or might not. Its just good to know whats on the same fuse as your computer.

Edited by maxyme - 13 Oct 2010 at 10:50pm

It is my understanding that a large PC  power will absorb power spikes better than 99% of all strips.

Originally posted by justin.kerr It is my understanding that a large PC  power supply will absorb power spikes better than 99% of all strips.

Awesome, thanks for the information everyone, I had never cosidered the PSU having its own built in protection, but then again, I never thought much about the PSU beyond its wattage and efficiency. 

Originally posted by !ender_ the less direct you make the line between it and your household power, the less consistant your electric flow to your computer will be, and the less consistant your hardware will operate

Actually with a good power strip/UPS that functions as a voltage regulator the exact opposite is true. A lot of homes' power straight out of the wall isn't very clean (especially older homes) and has frequent voltage fluctuations. A good voltage regulator can ensure a steady 120 volts being supplied to whatever is connected to it.

While a good computer PSU can keep a steady level of power going to the components of your computer, it's not going to save your comp from a lightning strike. Also keep in mind that other things plugged into your comp (eg ethernet cables, printers, scanners, speakers) can transmit a power surge to your computer. In my opinion, if it in any way connects to your computer it should, at bare minimum, be connected to a surge suppressor.

Edited by JJJJ_Shabadoo - 14 Oct 2010 at 7:40pm

Surge protector at the panel is a good idea, the strips, I have had more problems with them not able to supply enough voltage, and causing way more problems than they are worth. Depends a lot, on the amount of draw your PC has.

Again, thanks for the multiple responses and links everyone, as always, you have proved very helpful.

At this point, it is looking like for my uses at home, I won't be needing a UPS. However, it does seem like I will be needing to invest in a good surge protector that protects all my lines of input.

The only issue I have with that, is that in the past, such a surge protector seemed to cause issues with introducing too much noise into my (already not so hot) DSL line. Though that was on an old protector, so I'm going to presume some of the newer ones allow for this?

One thing to keep in mind regarding Westorms advice is that most power surges aren't of the magnitude of a direct lightning strike and a good quality surge suppressor can handle them just fine.

Example: Many moons ago lightning struck a telephone pole near my house. Fried out several phones and one of my computers modem but thankfully wasn't powerful enough by the time it entered my house to fry out anything else in the comp. My other computer, which had the phone line routed through a surge suppressor, was untouched.

Originally posted by AndydViking    That's definitely true.  Most will be just fine with a typical surge protector to absorb the high "spikes" of electricity.  I feel that the protector at the breaker box gives that extra protection from 'line slap' down the road and just a bit of extra confidence in your surge protection.

   View numbers for a power strip protector.  Protection already inside every appliance makes a 'hundreds of joules' surge irrelevant.  For example, dimmer switches and bathroom GFCI are less robust than electronics.  And routinely survive small spikes.

 

  Surges that overwhelm appliance protection are typically hundreds of thousands of joules.  Where does any plug-in protector claim to protect from that type of transient?  Show me that manufacturer spec number.  Power strip protects from a surge that typically does no damage.

 

  Another reason why earthing (a connection often made via a 'whole house' protector) is critical:  hundreds of thousands of joules must dissipate harmlessly outside the building.   To protect that power strip protector rated only for hundreds of joules.

 

  Once inside a building, that surge hunts for earth via appliances.  It only finds one or some appliance.  In one previous post,  it found earth destructively via one telephone appliance and ignored the other.   That previous post assumed every phone appliance should have been damaged.  But surges do not work that way.  The surge hunts.   Find the better path to earth only via some appliance.  And nothing inside the house averts  that search.  No plug-in protector stops (or in specs claims to stop) that selection.  The other phone appliance would be undamaged with or without a protector.  The protector did what its manufacturer claims in specs – virtually nothing.

 

  A surge means all appliances are damage?  Of course not.  Once inside, that surge selects which better connection to earth - destructively via one or a few appliances.  And no plug-in protector will even discuss (let alone stop) a destructive search for earth ground.   Plug-in protectors claim to protect from surges that typically do not overwhelm internal appliance protection.  Will not even discuss the destructive surge that must be absorbed before entering the building.

 

Originally posted by justin.kerr Surge protector at the panel is a good idea, the strips, I have had more problems with them not able to supply enough voltage, and causing way more problems than they are worth. Depends a lot, on the amount of draw your PC has.

Panel surge protector, heh, was right about to say. Easiest possible home solution lol, and saves some bucks on buying surge protector after surge protector.

Additionally, most computers should be drawing less than 100 watts. I'm talking office computer. "Multimedia" computers may draw a bit into the 100 watt range, shouldn't really though. A gaming computer will typically draw at least 200 watts, high end drawing 600 watts or more.


Edited by ablahblah - 19 Oct 2010 at 3:47pm

Originally posted by maxyme  You actually are completely wrong with the surge protectors. heres some info about them from http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/surge-protector5.htm

HowStuffWorks is a benchmark for lies and myths.  Simply ask some embarrassing questions.  For example, where are the relevant numbers?  Any facts based in science always include numbers.  No numbers is a first indication of junk science.

 

 Go to specification numbers for power strip protectors.  How do hundreds of joules in a protector make hundreds of thousands of joules (the typically destructive surge) just magically disappear?  It is not a rhetorical question.  Answer it.

 

  HowStuffWorks says "a protector with an indicator light that tells you whether or not it's functioning properly".   Oh?  View pictures:

  http://www.zerosurge.com/truth.htm

They removed all MOVs (the protector circuit) and those lights still say that protector is good.  Who is wrong?  Pictures taken by engineers?  Or HowStuffWorks?

 

  A properly designed protector degrades - does not fail.  Its voltage changes 10% (another number).  Lights can never report degradation.  Lights report a type of failure that every MOV manufacturer datasheet calls unacceptable. Any lie from HowStuffWorks exposed.

 

  Lights only reports a protector was grossly undersized.  Protector circuit disconnected as fast as possible leaving a surge connected to the appliance.  Undersizing (and that light) gets only naïve consumers to recommend the protector.  An effective protector means nobody even knew a surge existed.

 

  HowSutffWorks has far too many myths and lies to discuss here.  Another long post on 17 Nov 2003 entitled "Inside a surge protector" discussed only its first pages:
   http://tinyurl.com/2fy7u

 

  So where is the paragraph in HowStuffWorks that discusses where energy dissipates?  Where are those joules numbers?

 

  No protector does protection.  Either the protector connects hundreds of thousands of joules short (ie 'less than 10 feet') and effectively to earth.  Or that a protector does not even define protection in numeric specs.  Yes, where are those manufacturer numbers that claim protection from each type of surge? 

 

  No earth ground (a plug-in protector) means no effective protection.  Protection is always about where energy dissipates.  A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.  Effective protectors always have that dedicated and short (ie 'less than 10 foot') wire to single point earth ground.  Always.

 

  Now, view the box.  What is the let-through voltage number?  330volts.   That means a 120 volt protector does nothing until voltage exceed 330 volts.  You said:

> Expensive Surge protectors also vary greatly due the voltage they start

> protection at how much energy they can absorb  and the response time.

Good.  I am an engineer.  You tell me something useful when you provide those numbers.  You said the numbers exist.  Good.  That means you post them.  And explain the significance of each number.  Honesty means claims WITH numbers.

 

  Meanwhile, OP's computer is not drawing 1200 watts or even 800 watts.  ablahblah  provided reasonable numbers.  But I have yet to find any PC draw 600 watts.

   have yet to find a PC drawing over 600 watts

what about the 3000+ watt PCs?  I have my 30 amp 240 Volt outlet in my test room for a reason.

come by anytime, bring a kilowatt meter, and a case of beer for being wrong.

4 GTX 480's OC'd pull 400 watts each,  2 980x's OC'd draw 250 watts each, then 250 watts for 35 fans, lights and 4 water pumps.. yep = less than 600 watts.  then add the 5 horse power dual stage cascade.. hmm

Originally posted by !ender_   Even i know justin is right on this one, and im no electrician, i know that pcs can draw more than 600, thats old news

 

Edited by westom - 20 Oct 2010 at 12:53pm

Originally posted by justin.kerr I did not say that I had a 3000+ watt PC, just said that they exist.

You are confusing PCs with blade servers.  They both use a microprocessor.  But blade servers use tens or 100 times more.

Originally posted by westom   How much wattage does each component consume to total 600 watts?

Edited by !ender_ - 20 Oct 2010 at 1:47pm