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Surge protector or UPS

Knuckleslammer

Knuckleslammer

took the red pill
Jan 30, 2003
1,868
4
Inside your mind, interrupting synapses
I'm on my 3rd router. Power flickers constantly on/off here in Worcester, MA

I have what I thought was a surge protector for my rackmount switch, modem and router, but aparantly it's just a power strip.

So I want to figure out if a quality surge protector even works. I know nothing about these, or if I should get a cheap ups like

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8540322&st=ups&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1188559784051

I'm looking to protect the following

Widescreen DLP TV and surround sound equip

Network Rack

PC

So, should I get 3 UPS's or 1 UPS's for the pc and 2 surge protectors for the TV and Network stuff.

I don't really care about the ability to have stuff run after the power goes out, but the ability to shut stuff down gracefully is what I'm after. I don't know if a UPS is of benefit to the TV.

Confused as *uck
 
IH8Rice

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
Knuckleslammer said:
I'm on my 3rd router. Power flickers constantly on/off here in Worcester, MA

I have what I thought was a surge protector for my rackmount switch, modem and router, but aparantly it's just a power strip.

So I want to figure out if a quality surge protector even works. I know nothing about these, or if I should get a cheap ups like

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8540322&st=ups&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1188559784051

I'm looking to protect the following

Widescreen DLP TV and surround sound equip

Network Rack

PC

So, should I get 3 UPS's or 1 UPS's for the pc and 2 surge protectors for the TV and Network stuff.

I don't really care about the ability to have stuff run after the power goes out, but the ability to shut stuff down gracefully is what I'm after. I don't know if a UPS is of benefit to the TV.

Confused as *uck
Click to expand...
a ups would be more important for your computer and for your DLP. the DLP needs the fan to cool down the bulb and if the power goes off abruptly, the bulb's life is significantly decreased.
the pc can benefit from the UPS by obvious reason.

quality surge protectors do work, and UPS's w/ surge protectors work even better. you dont need anything big...just enough to shut your sht down before the power runs out
 
Last edited:
C.P.

C.P.

Monkey
Jan 18, 2004
547
8
SouthEastern Massachusetts
Make sure the receptacle you've got this surge protector plugged into HAS a ground properly installed...seriously, I've seen too many receptacles with crappy or no ground - even if it's a grounded receptacle.

Also, with all of electronic crap a typical house has nowadays, it aint such a bad idea to buy a good quality whole house surge protector. These get mounted at your main electrical panel (typically on a spare 15A or 20A double pole breaker position). If you know your way around an electrical panel, it's an easy install. Something like this can be found for 80 bucks, (plus installtion if you dont mess with teh electrical stuff).
 
Knuckleslammer

Knuckleslammer

took the red pill
Jan 30, 2003
1,868
4
Inside your mind, interrupting synapses
C.P. said:
Make sure the receptacle you've got this surge protector plugged into HAS a ground properly installed...seriously, I've seen too many receptacles with crappy or no ground - even if it's a grounded receptacle.

Also, with all of electronic crap a typical house has nowadays, it aint such a bad idea to buy a good quality whole house surge protector. These get mounted at your main electrical panel (typically on a spare 15A or 20A double pole breaker position). If you know your way around an electrical panel, it's an easy install. Something like this can be found for 80 bucks, (plus installtion if you dont mess with teh electrical stuff).
Click to expand...
I can wire outlets, fans, lights and stuff, but I don't touch the panel. My dad is a contractor and knows the box.

So how does one figure out if a receptacle is properly gounded? Just by looking at it and ensuring the ground wire is attached? Or is there some other procedure to test?

Thanks for the help my brothers.
 
C

Connundrum1

Monkey
Mar 11, 2005
336
0
Gold River, Sac Town, CA
Get a couple of good UPS's, pretty much anything by APC is great, some of those other brands are pretty crappy. I have 2 1500VA UPS's powering my computers, network equipment and Vonage phone lines(so phones still work when the powers out but internet still works) and it's awesome, gives you enough time to power everything down yourself safely.

The cost is well worth it IMO and i'm a broke college student so $200 could've been a crapload of ramen instead.
 
Knuckleslammer

Knuckleslammer

took the red pill
Jan 30, 2003
1,868
4
Inside your mind, interrupting synapses
Wondering if something like this would be sufficient for my samsung dlp.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8540322&st=ups&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1188559784051

I'd get one of those home panel surge protectors, but figuring out what I need would be difficult. I don't know poles, amps, etc. I'm no electrician and I absolutely can not do math, period.

It would be cool to solve the surge problem that way. The router and stuff would make no sense to setup on a ups. I just basically want to protect my stuff and as I said, I'm on my 3rd router. Good thing my rackmount cisco switch is still solid. But the routers go like crazy. $100 a piece, 3rd one. I could have bought a lot of surge protection for $300

Thanks for the help gentleman
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
If I am not mistaken, what prevents a surge in a UPS is a surge protector.

The only advantage of UPS is you can implement a clean shutdown before the battery runs out.
 
C.P.

C.P.

Monkey
Jan 18, 2004
547
8
SouthEastern Massachusetts
sanjuro said:
If I am not mistaken, what prevents a surge in a UPS is a surge protector.

The only advantage of UPS is you can implement a clean shutdown before the battery runs out.
Click to expand...
An ordinary UPS WILL give you a high level of protection (many of the surges are "absorbed" by the batteries) and will stop most surges from reaching your computer, but it will probably suffer severe damage itself. A surge protector is still always a good idea. Another advantage of the UPS is the fact that the built in inverter on a UPS conditions the power (for the most part) sometimes known as cleaning up the line noise.

Knuck, you probaby have a 200amp service at your place (or less), and this one will work fine (if installing inside at panel vs. weatherproof exterior installation)
 
dante

dante

Unabomber
Feb 13, 2004
8,807
9
looking for classic NE singletrack
at our last Apt the electricity was SKETCHY, and burned out a computer motherboard and TV (both were connected to ordinary surge protectors) before getting a couple of those APC battery devices. haven't had a problem since. well, well, WELL worth the cash.
 
IH8Rice

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
sanjuro said:
If I am not mistaken, what prevents a surge in a UPS is a surge protector.

The only advantage of UPS is you can implement a clean shutdown before the battery runs out.
Click to expand...
most UPS's now have surge protected outlets and non-protected outlets on 'em usually.
 
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