Originally Posted by crashnquilt
Okay, what is the correct surge protector? I suggest one with the highest rated joules with insurance. If you are looking for brand names I highly recommend APC or TRIPPLITE.
Those are the worst scams. BTW, his engineering degree is inferior to mine. I have also designed surge protection systems.
APC and Tripplite are successfully selling three dollar power strips with ten cent protector parts for $25 and $60. Profit centers. crashnquilt is invited to post specification numbers from APC and Tripplite that actually claim protection. He cannot. Neither claims protection from destructive surges.
Monster Cable has a long history of identifying scams. Selling the same product for even higher prices. Monster sells the same protector circuit for $150. Its paint is fancier. So a majority will believe it works. If Monster is selling it, then you know all those products are only profit centers.
If any employee installed a Tripplite or APC inside a telephone switching center, then he might be fired. Telcos cannot have damage from 100 surges during each thunderstorm. APC and Tripplite can even make damage easier.
Informed homeowners do not waste money on APC, Tripplite, Belkin, and Monster products. Install products from more responsible companies including Square D, ABB, General Electric, Intermatic, Leviton, and Square D. Lowes and Home Depot sell this same effective solution. A Cutler-Hammer solution costs less than $50. Is rated to earth direct lightning strikes - and not be damaged.
An engineer will posts each spec number and will say why each number means protection. crashnquilt cannot. Neither APC nor Tripplite claim that protection. Many insult the engineering profession. Salesmen promoting a scam will claim electrical training. If he really was an engineer, his post cited each number and explained why that number was significant. I did because I even designed surge protection. He cannot. He is a salesman.
Informed homeowners do not waste money on protectors that can even make damage easier. Informed homeowners spend much less money for a protector that makes even direct lightning strikes irrelevant. An earthed 'whole house' protector is necessary to avoid house fire; to protect those APC and Tripplite products.
See those scary pictures to understand why APC and Tripplite protectors are not inside telephone switching centers. 'House fire' is a problem when a tiniest protector - hundreds of joules - attempts to absorb surges that are hundreds of thousands of joules.
Any recommendation without numbers is best called a scam. Protection is always about where energy dissipates. Any recommendation that cannot discuss that is, without doubt, a scam. And that means numbers. Where do hundreds of thousands of joules dissipate? Only the engineer is both asking and answering that question. A salesmen will not ask. And will not answer.