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#1
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Are mains surge protectors needed in the UK?
On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 15:47:28 +0100, Lem wrote:
snip Am I being too complacent? I've never used one. I've never had a surge blow anything either. My next door neigbour as one for her PC, but makes SFA difference. Of course in our house the fuse box has one of those quick trip over fueses where even if a light bulb blows you have to reset the trip switch, but even then its only ever the light bulb circuit that trips. |
#2
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On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 16:10:40 +0100, Bagpuss
wrote: On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 15:47:28 +0100, Lem wrote: snip Am I being too complacent? I've never used one. I've never had a surge blow anything either. My next door neigbour as one for her PC, but makes SFA difference. Of course in our house the fuse box has one of those quick trip over fueses where even if a light bulb blows you have to reset the trip switch, but even then its only ever the light bulb circuit that trips. We are the same with regard to the fuse box tripping out. I do have surge protectors on my PC equipment. For an extra few quid it seemed a good safety measure. Chances of a power surge are probably 5000 to 1. But wouldnt you feel silly if you were that 5000th person? At then end of the day its your call. Do you feel lucky? Just how many thunderstorms are we having compared with last year, and the year before? cheers from "The Harbinger of Doom" ) |
#3
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"Lem" wrote in message
... Are surge protectors on the main power supply actually needed in the UK? here in the UK we have few overhead mains power lines and have a relatively steady mains power supply when compared to many other countries (including the US). However there seem to be very many surge protector products advertised for sale in the UK (Argos, Maplins, etc). I am quite sure it is not bad practice to use a surge protector but in fact I have never known anyone who has has a problem from a surge coming in through the power supply. So personally I don't bother using a surge protector on my PC. Am I being too complacent? Do you live in an area where lightning is frequent? A lightning strike that is merely _near_ to an underground utility circuit can induce damaging voltages into them meaning that your power mains, telephone, and cable TV are all possible carriers. Admittedly there is no place in the UK that I've heard of that experiences the sort of storms that ravage parts of the USA, Flordia comes immediately to mind, but if you ever do have even one event then a small investment in protection would be invaluable. -- John McGaw [Knoxville, TN, USA] http://johnmcgaw.com |
#4
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On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 16:58:57 +0100, Lem wrote:
Am I being too complacent? I've never used one. I've never had a surge blow anything either. My next door neigbour as one for her PC, but makes SFA difference. Of course in our house the fuse box has one of those quick trip over fueses where even if a light bulb blows you have to reset the trip switch, but even then its only ever the light bulb circuit that trips. Harry wrote: I do have surge protectors on my PC equipment. For an extra few quid it seemed a good safety measure. Chances of a power surge are probably 5000 to 1. But wouldnt you feel silly if you were that 5000th person? At then end of the day its your call. Do you feel lucky? Just how many thunderstorms are we having compared with last year, and the year before? I don't want to take stupid risks. But I don't stupidly want to spend money to prevent almost non-existent risks. I don't have a surge protector on my TV or my stereo. So, do I need one on my PC? The only time I know of a lighting strike potentially affecting equipment round here was where I used to work. But then the lighting hit a cable outsite, passed down into the network switch then fanned out from there blowing several PCs and melting the switch unit and the wall mounted box it was located in. Of course a mains surge protector would have done nothing for that. If you have a quick trip fuse box in the house its probably not worth it. If you don't then OK your PC is saved, but your TV, HiFi, Fridge e.t.c is screwed :-) |
#5
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Lem wrote:
Are surge protectors on the main power supply actually needed in the UK? here in the UK we have few overhead mains power lines and have a relatively steady mains power supply when compared to many other countries (including the US). However there seem to be very many surge protector products advertised for sale in the UK (Argos, Maplins, etc). I am quite sure it is not bad practice to use a surge protector but in fact I have never known anyone who has has a problem from a surge coming in through the power supply. So personally I don't bother using a surge protector on my PC. Am I being too complacent? I've never used one either, no probs. I think that if you need a new multi plug then you might as well get one with a surge protector but I wouldn't get one otherwise. -- Nick ----------- |
#6
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"Lem" wrote in message
... " Am I being too complacent? " Think of this when you next take a ****. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...re/3457965.stm |
#7
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"Lem" wrote in message ... Are surge protectors on the main power supply actually needed in the UK? here in the UK we have few overhead mains power lines and have a relatively steady mains power supply when compared to many other countries (including the US). However there seem to be very many surge protector products advertised for sale in the UK (Argos, Maplins, etc). I am quite sure it is not bad practice to use a surge protector but in fact I have never known anyone who has has a problem from a surge coming in through the power supply. So personally I don't bother using a surge protector on my PC. Am I being too complacent? unlikely youll ever have a problem but it does happen to some people. for the sake of a few quid ive got one downstairs for the tv, amp etc and upstairs on the pc. If they were expensive i woudnt bother but as theyre cheap, theyre worth having imo. |
#8
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snip
I've never used one either, no probs. I think that if you need a new multi plug then you might as well get one with a surge protector but I wouldn't get one otherwise. Actually you might as well get one that protects the modem/DSL as well. -- Nick ----------- |
#9
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Lem wrote: Are surge protectors on the main power supply actually needed in the UK? here in the UK we have few overhead mains power lines and have a relatively steady mains power supply when compared to many other countries (including the US). However there seem to be very many surge protector products advertised for sale in the UK (Argos, Maplins, etc). I am quite sure it is not bad practice to use a surge protector but in fact I have never known anyone who has has a problem from a surge coming in through the power supply. So personally I don't bother using a surge protector on my PC. Am I being too complacent? Definitely good to have one as an insurance. Heavy machinery can induce start currents and outages can result in spikes. Also heavy crossposting can overload the system. |
#10
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Lem wrote in :
Am I being too complacent? Like others said .. depends. I know ONE person whose system was destroyed by lightning. Here's a secret .. well I worked it out myself so could be wrong but... Instead of buying an expensive one, just buy the small cube thingy (like the old two-ways) and then run a multi socket extension from it. Last I looked they were less that 15 quid with a phone/modem socket whassname.. -- Lordy |
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