Protect Your Equipment With a 2-Outlet Surge Protector
Protecting sensitive equipment from dangerous electrical surges is important. The cost involved in replacing damaged equipment will more than likely be more than the simple monetary value. If equipment like a computer or hard drive is damaged, it could result in the loss of priceless family memories, important documents, or personal information.
What is a dual surge protector?Also known as a voltage suppressor or surge suppressor, a dual surge protector is a special device, usually housed inside of an extension cord or power strip. It is designed to protect sensitive electrical equipment from damage caused by variations in supplied voltage. Without a surge protector, sensitive equipment may be damaged by natural fluctuations in the amount of voltage that is supplied by your power system. Over time, these variations may cause circuitry to wear out faster than it should, resulting in failure of the affected system. Should this happen inside a computer or other electrical device, the cost associated with this failure could be high.
What are differing features of surge protectors?While they can also come with different outlet numbers, plug variations, or USB ports, there are three main factors that differentiate surge protectors.
- Clamping voltage - Also known as the let-through voltage, this rating lets you know how much voltage will be allowed through the cord before the surge protector's protection circuitry will kick in. When it does, it diverts excess voltage away from the protected outlet. What is important to know about clamping voltage is that a lower value will be more effective for protecting the outlet. Conversely, it will also result in the protection equipment wearing out faster, due to increased usage.
- Joules rating - When an MOV-based surge protector activates, a certain amount of energy measured in Joules is absorbed by the protector. For every Joule of energy that is absorbed by a MOV-based protector, as many as 30 Joules may be harmlessly redirected into the ground. Therefore, protectors with low Joule ratings can be effective at protecting equipment from energy spikes.
- Response Time - Even electrical equipment, which may seem instantaneous, has a delay time. For surge suppressors, this time is defined as the device's response time. Fortunately, a surge also has a delay before it reaches its peak intensity. This gives the equipment time to recognize the threat and activate the protection circuitry.
When the protection equipment inside a surge protector is activated, it only absorbs a small portion of the current. The rest is redirected into the ground. When lightning strikes your house, it will look for the fastest way to get to ground, so it will more than likely miss your electronics entirely. Any portion of the incoming current that does head toward your devices should be redirected by the protector into the ground, keeping your electronics safe.