Customer Reviews

Tripp Lite ISOBAR4ULTRA Isobar Ultra 4-Outlet Surge Protector (3330 Joules, 6ft Cord)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My husband and I just built a new house and about a month ago I bought a treadmill. We put it in our upstairs computer/workout room. I turned it on for the 1st time and it started going and then it tripped the breaker after barely 10 seconds. After going to the breaker box and flipping the breaker back I tried again....same thing!!!!!!!! So at 1st i thought there was something wrong with the new treadmill and I called Sears to come and fix it, they told me that I could return it and get a new one! They didn't even care how heavy it was to carry upstairs and how hard it was to put together! So I hung up with them and actually called the manufacturer, they told me that my breaker was probably bad ( which i didn't understand because our house is brand new). After that I called my electrician, he proceeded to tell me that in these new construction homes there is an arc fault/ AFCI in all of the rooms except for the garage and the kitchen, it helps protect your house from getting set on fire. He told me that there really nothing he could do but that was the problem. He told me that I could put the treadmill in the garage or my kitchen! He also told me that he had heard that there was something out there that you could plug the treadmill into so it would kind of fake out the AFCI and it would be able to run without tripping the breaker. So I did a little research online...and low and behold I found this product. And IT WORKED! It was amazing I was so relieved and happy! We didn't have to take it apart, carry it back downstairs and then return it! So yes I would recommend it to everyone if you are using it for this purpose!

We have used these surge protectors for years. One took a lightning strike, apparently, and the inside of the case was burned to a cinder. The electronics package that was plugged into it was OK, however. Well worth the price.

The price on this item might be considered cost prohibitive, especially if you are just looking for a power strip. Having a switch on a group of outlets is always handy, especially, if you don't need them running all the time. The 'Isobar' series from Tripp Lite is a lot more than a power strip with a convenient switch. It is serious protection.

If you are looking for something to protect those electronic devices that are sensitive to power fluctuations, like faxes, computers, monitors, and printers, there are very few manufacturers that represent the kind of quality found with Tripp Lite. They are one of the few who represent the size of surge that they are able to supress, which is the only way you can tell the quality of the supressor. For this reason, Tripp Lite is a good choice, because you are purchasing more objectively, and not based on the company's rep alone.

That's why I picked this unit. I replaced an old power strip with this unit after my fax got fried in a lightning storm. It is true, faxes aren't expensive units, but I wouldn't consider them disposable. With this protection installed, I feel confident with whatever I've got plugged into it.

It might be a little expensive, but I don't mind paying a little knowing that my electronics are safe.

I have purchased several of these for work and home. They are excellent quality and hold up very well. I really like the metal housing. They mount on the wall very well if you have need to do so. The six foot cord is nice. A lot of surge protectors come with three or four foot cords now, which I dislike.

As always, great quality item from Tripp Lite. Since I bought my first ISOBAR a few months ago, now I own five of them plus Tripp Lite's Super7. These ISOBAR surge protectors or the best quality I've ever seen. The true test will be when I get the next lightning strike near my neighborhood, but I have faith in Tripp Lite's reputation. The last strike blew up two less expensive surge protectors from APC and Belken, the failure cost me one computer and two scorched surge protectors. The strike actually blew through both surge protectors that were connected in line with each other then fried my motherboard. Now I'm willing to pay the extra cost for the top quality ISOBAR series. All my electronics have one and I will buy more as needed.

I have owned several of these units both at home at a our small business office. While I can't say with any certainty that the units have protected my computer systems from any surges or spikes, I can say that I have never had any electronic equipment damaged by storms or power surges while using any of these Tripp Lite units.

Throughout the years during which I have owned these units, only 1 went bad for unknown reasons. It seemed to possibly have a faulty switch. Since I own (or have owned) around 20 of them (again we use them for many PC's in an office setting) over a 15 year period, I think 1 potentially defective unit is acceptable.

The units are made out of metal (compare that to the typical units sold at big box retail stores which are usually plastic). A metal case gives a sense of durability and commitment to building a quality unit. You can buy the same model with different numbers of outlets to suit your needs.

I would suggest that if you have any large size plugs (big square plugs for example), you should take that into consideration when purchasing. The outlets on these units are a bit close together.

Other than that, I highly recommend this item (with the aforementioned disclaimer that I have never, as far as I know, had a lightning strike send a surge through to "test" how well they defend my equipment).

I recently bought a higher-end home treadmill with a 3.25HP Motor, and I had purchased a Single-Outlet Surge Suppressor (Tripp Lite) for it as recommended. Well, that little guy just didn't cut it due to the treadmill's power & it's arc pattern. Whenever I would change speeds, the circuit breaker for the room would pop. This happened every single time, and I was getting extremely frustrated because here I was with a $1300 treadmill that I couldn't run on, and no desire to rewire our home. The room the treadmill is in also houses a computer, tv, gaming systems, etc, so I thought maybe it was just too much for the breaker since the house & most of it's wiring/outlets/breakers are at least 20 years old. I did a google search trying to see if anyone else had a similar problem, and that's how I came upon a recommendation for a Tripp Lite Isobar Surge Protector since it pretty much would 'mask' the arc pattern of the treadmill so the breaker wouldn't want to pop.

The Surge Protector arrived just a couple of days ago (thank you, Amazon!), and I took the treadmill on a couple of test runs with some short interval workouts that would require it to change speeds/inclines several times. Well, long story short, it worked! Not a single pop of the breaker, no loss of power anywhere in the room or the house, and I couldn't be happier! I'll have to update the review in a couple of weeks of use to see if it's still going strong, but I'm extremely hopeful!

So, if you're in the dilemma that I was in with your treadmill popping the breakers in the room, take a look at this little baby!

My wife has a radio in the Bathroom that she likes to listen to while she takes a shower. As luck would have it I generally use the treadmill at the same time. The treadmill was creating problems with the radio in terms of static and noises that made listening to it impossible. I wasn't sure if this was due to over the air interference or feedback into the house electrical system. I had read that the situation is difficult to resolve but some people had some success with very expensive surge protectors. Before I spent over $100 I thought I would give the Tripp Lite a try. The Tripp Lite had good reviews and was reasonably priced. If it hadn't worked I would have opted for a more expensive one. I had tried a Monster surge protector previously and it had not worked so my expectations weren't high that this would solve the problem. I got the surge protector in the mail very quickly as usual with products I order from Amazon. I used it that same night. After I was done with the treadmill my wife asked it I had used the treadmill. I said I had and she indicated that she had no problems with the radio. I held off on the review until I could string several successful nights together. I have now been using it for over a week and no problems. My wife is thrilled, I'm thrilled... that I don't have to spend any additional money. And all is right in treadmill land. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone with a similar problem. It is a very well designed solid surge protector that solved a problem that has been bothering us for several years. I would give it more stars if they were available.

I wanted a sturdy surge protector for my new 27" Mac. This is definitely well made and sturdy but the cord is obnoxiously long and it's so thick that you can't just hide it. I would take off a star for that but it doesn't effect its productivity and I should have read the description better.

I purchased this suppressor because our refrigerator has required a new defrost control card twice in 6 years. Each time the service technician comes out and finds the defrost control card has expired. This is normal for this refrigerator, ( a Maytag double door (side by side), according to 2 different service technications. We haven't had the surge suppressor long enough to determine if this will solve the problem.

I've had electrical surges causing occasional computer failures at work and a surge suppresser always solved the problem. All computers were always connected to the power lines thru a suppresser after that. This item was the brand we used and it never failed to protect the computers.