About a month ago I was offered a free APC P8U2 Surge Arrest for review and I accepted.
I have been a computer geek for about 30 years. Many lessons were learned as far back as when I had my first Commodore 64 fail to when I used to sell and service the original IBM PC and Apple Macintosh computers - back when they were thousands of dollars. Computers are collections of delicate electronics and bad things can happen if the power supplied to them is not good and consistent. At bare minimum, everyone needs a good surge protector. Not a power strip. A surge protector. Preferably one with EMI/RFI filtering, a low response time, low clamping values and a high joules rating.
I cannot tell you how many PCs I've seen over the years damaged or completely fried because people either didn't know about or just didn't buy a good surge protector. And there is a misconception that it is only good for dealing with extreme events like a lightning strike. That's simply not true. Every time your refrigerator cycles on or your air conditioner or a vacuum cleaner or a hair dryer, etc. - any high draw appliance - they draw a large current. This first causes a drop and then a spike on your home electrical circuits. If, for example, your computer or TV is on and unprotected, it will take a hit every time that happens. Eventually, those small hits can do damage. Your computer may start crashing seemingly out of nowhere and become unstable. Many people blame that on the computer and not their lack of simple electrical protection. Of course, many things can cause computer crashes, but having a good surge protector eliminates or greatly reduces at least one potential cause. If you live in an apartment building, your situation is compounded by the fact that you may be at the mercy of many high-draw electrical appliances that are completely out of your control.
Physically, the APC P8U2 has an excellent design that incorporates many improvements over traditional surge protector strips. Like a rotating power plug, so you can more easily manage the cord. Four widely spaced outlets to accommodate direct plug in of power transformers. Sliding covers to keep dust and debris out of unused outlets. A recessed power switch that is more difficult to accidentially trip. And the P8U2 also includes two protected 5V USB power outlets with 2.5 Amps combined to directly charge your phone, tablet or any other USB powered device. The P8U2 also has a built in wiring fault indicator, which will test the electrical outlet you plug it into for proper wiring polarity and ground. But like a car, the physical looks and accommodations are not as important as what's inside...
Electrically, I consider the APC P8U2 Surge Arrest to be just an okay surge protector. It has a surge response time of less than 1 nanosecond, which is good. It has a surge energy rating of 2630 Joules, which is good. But for clamping voltage, it has a line to neutral (L-N) rating of 400V, line to ground (L-G) rating of 500V and neutral to ground (N-G) rating of 500V. Those values are too high. Better surge protectors have lower L-N, L-G and N-G voltage ratings. The L-N 400V rating alone means that the surge protector won't kick in until a surge of 280VAC. You want your surge protector to kick in at a much lower voltage than 280VAC, which is over twice the nominal 120VAC. Ideally, look for surge protectors with an L-N rating of 300V or lower. Even though the clamping voltage values are key, they are not always listed in the specifications online. I looked at many models on the APC website and could not find any with clamping voltage values listed. They are, however, generally listed on the back of the physical surge protector - not much help if you're shopping online.
For people looking for better protection than just a surge protector, I recommend a good uninterruptible power supply (UPS). I have had APC UPS units in the past but at this time I have two CyberPower 1500VA 900W CP1500PFCLCD PFC Sinewave UPS units. They work great, they offer excellent protection and they are reasonably priced (for a 900W 1500VA Sinewave UPS). I just replaced the batteries in one that I purchased back in 2011 and it still works great. Overall, I use a combination of UPS and surge protectors. I have multiple surge protectors plugged into the two UPS units for power distribution to my multiple computers (which are generally not active at the same time). If you're going to invest a lot of money into a computer, or big television, etc., you should also invest in a good surge protector to protect that investment and your data from everyday and extreme power fluctuations. It's just one layer of protection that everyone should have.
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WARNING:
CHOKING HAZARD -- Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs. |
