esharman

Does anyone have suggestions for what kind of surge protector to purchase for a sit down longarm sewing machine?
Thanks!

sewingpup

What kind of a sit down longarm sewing machine? How Does it have computerized chips in it? I would check with the manufacturer and see if they have a recommendation. I have my standup long arm on a surge protector and also had a new protected outlet installed as my house has older wiring. In addition, I unplug it when I am not using it always.

petthefabric

At a friends house a tree limb fell on the power line going to the house. The surge caused everything electric to fry.

We talked with professionals about surge protectors. It is possible to put a surge protector to the whole house. We choose to get the highest protector(s) and put everything of any value connected to surge proctectors: microwave, refrigerator, long arm, all computers and sewing machines, TV. The clocks/radios and lights aren't protected.

mkc

If you mean you also put point-of-use surge protectors in place, in addition to a whole house one, smart call.

Whole house help for issues coming in on power lines, but do nothing for issues generated within the house (appliances going bad, lightning strike), on cable or phone lines, or a nearby cloud-to-ground lightning strike.

We had one of the last type - lightning hit ground, energy traveled up the phone line, took out anything connected to a phone line (including the 400 ft. long phone line itself).

For a sit-down longarm, you're ok with a standard surge protector. If you have a frame mounted longarm with robotics, you actually want a UPS - uninterruptible power supply. This has a large battery in it that keeps the computer circuitry running for a short time so that you can safely stop and shut down the longarm. Even better is a line-interactive UPS with power conditioning/voltage regulation to ensure constant, even power to the longarm. Cyberpower makes some interesting ones - you would want to look only at the sine wave models, not the simulated sine wave ones.

Simulated sine wave isn't generally recommended for computer systems.

Macybaby

I use a UPS, which does have a surge protector built in. Since I do a lot of digitized designs, I want to make sure if the power goes down I can finish the row and then shut the machine down.

I have three of them in my sewing area now, one on the LA, one on my emboridery machine, and another for my regular sewing machines. (these three areas are not close enough to share) It's not so big of a deal where I live now, but when we lived in the country we had a lot of power blips.

Barb2018

I second the use of a USP - uninterruptible power supply, AKA battery backup. I have one for each of my sewing machines. When the power goes out, it will switch over to a battery and give me enough time to finish up what I'm doing and shut down the right way.

Snooze2978

I got a Tripp Lite surge protector years ago and so glad I did. When I bought this old 122 yo house I figured it had super old wiring. Told my electrician to check all the wiring down in the basement where I'd be putting my sewing room. I also had to have the fuse box changed out to a breaker box so told him to add the whole house surge protector to it. When I went to plug in my Tripp Lite Surge protector it screamed "line fault" meaning it was not grounded. So I caught my electrician not doing the job I paid him to do. I also have my IQ robotics on a separate surge protector as I was told they should be on separate ones so I do as I'm told. I also unplug them when I'm not using them for a long period of time or when I storm is brewing outside. Can't be too careful with our toys.

Also, I turn the surge protectors on and off instead of turning on the machines and robotics.

selm

Yes, always unplug it when not in use.