Surge Protection Question for the techies

AndieJagain

funny then, how a qualified H&S trainer pointed out that exact point on a Electrical safety training course I attended whilst working for a major UK chain store.
Apologies if the experts have taught me !!!!!!!!, but I'm sure you won't mind if I take the word of someone trained to teach that as a living over yours.

albertross_2

There's lots of "qualified" trainers in this world, some of them don't have a clue.. The little brown thing in a 13 amp plug is called a fuse, and if you plug 2 3KW fires into a 4-gang, or 6-gang, or 20 chained 4-gangs, and switch them on, then that fuse melts, which cuts off the electricity.

That's what fuses do for a living, and they are usually "qualified" in their chosen vocation.

The fact that a plug has a 3Amp fuse, doesn't mean that the normal current that the appliance draws is 3A, (it could be 1 Amp, 0.1 Amp, 0.05A), but it could draw that amount if a short circuit happened, which would blow the fuse before the house burnt down.

If 6-gang adapters were unsafe, then they wouldn't be allowed to be sold in the UK, in "major UK chain stores".

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9827710.htm

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=13A+6+way+extension&btnG=Search&meta=cr%3DcountryUK%7CcountryGB

82,100 hits..

quoia

albertross wrote:

There's lots of "qualified" trainers in this world, some of them don't have a clue....

You took the words right out of my mouth.

As per the old saying, which is oh so true oh so often, .....

Those that CAN, DO
Those that CAN'T, TEACH

As for 6 gang units being "unsafe", what is the "danger factor" of my 10 ways & 12 ways ???????????

Just to confirm your point, from a different perspective, I suggest everyone in doubt looks at the 13amp sockets in their house.
Unless it is HUGE, there are probably JUST 2 power circuits (ring mains) in the home, 1 upstairs and 1 downstairs.
These will be wired with 2.5mm cable which is rated to SAFELY carry 30 amps and the fuse box will have a 30amp fuse or circuit breaker fitted to reflect this.

On the previous stated logic/calculation (smallest fuse is 3A) then there should NOT be more than 10 sockets upstairs or downstairs otherwise the wiring would be "unsafe".

Now count up how many sockets are available and/or devices/appliances you've got plugged in.

A quick tally will probably be at least TWICE this number (10) on BOTH counts.

I'd guess AT LEAST ONE of most of the following

Washing machine, Fridge, Freezer, Tumble Dryer, Dishwasher, Kettle, Toaster, Microwave, Food Processor, Coffee machine, DVD player, TV, VCR, SKY box, Freeview STB, PC, Monitor, Printer, Table/Standard lamp, HiFi ( if a separates system Amp, Tuner, CD, Cassette, Record deck, MiniDisc ? all individual plugs?)

.. and at the minute ... 3 or 4 sets of Xmas lights etc..

an aquarium ? another 4 ? (filter, pump, lights, heater)

I've had a house with a kitchen that had 16 DOUBLE 13amp sockets in it, and when added to hall, lounge and dining room, took the number to over 30 (doubles)

John_Gray

Whereas I wouldn't dream of installing a server without having a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) directly attached, I must say that I haven't seen any scientific (as opposed to anecdotal) evidence of the value or efficacy of surge protectors, as found in the n-way 13A extension strips, for use with PCs, monitors and printers. Would they prevent damage if you have a lightning strike? Is your local power 'dirty' enough to require the suppression of spikes? Come to that, how do you know how good the spike suppression is? Where are the comparative evaluations of various makes and models in the PC magazines? Without this, who can say whether they do anything at all, other than give you a nice warm feeling that you are 'protected' from all sorts of unquantified and unqualified electrical nasties?

I'm fairly cynical that manufacturers have spotted an unfulfilled aspiration, and are cashing in on it for their own benefit. How nice it would be to discover some hard facts about the matter!

John

stevemcol

The only thing worse than a qualified trainer is a qualified H&S trainer.
At least you can always spot them in their dayglo jackets.

A-Wing

John_Gray wrote:

Whereas I wouldn't dream of installing a server without having a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) directly attached, I must say that I haven't seen any scientific (as opposed to anecdotal) evidence of the value or efficacy of surge protectors, as found in the n-way 13A extension strips, for use with PCs, monitors and printers.

I tend to find a lot of "PC repairers" tend to confuse spikes with PSU failures. Many things can kill a PSU and in turn fry the PC's components. Overheating from dust, tiny metal particles in air (more common in server rooms). I have even seen cheap motherboards with faulty/failing components (mainly capacitors) take out a PSU cheap PSU.

I guess it is an excuse for them to make more money though.

I agree that surge protectors are a must in server rooms. The number of power spikes I see in IFL Manchester and RedBus London is scary.

donny-gal

OK I agree with Surge protection too, and just doing my TV/Video etc., but I have one AV in and one AV out on my box, which should I put through it, the Sky or the TV Aerial?

Moneymaker

donny-gal wrote:

but I have one AV in and one AV out on my box, which should I put through it, the Sky or the TV Aerial?

I don't understand. What sort of sockets are these "AVs"?

We get no mains power surges here but we often get phone line surges. I originally used a protection device called a "modem". Each time there was a surge, the modem protected my computer. Then I got a different type of protector called a "router". Ditto above.

I got fed up with the expense so now I've fitted a cheap surge protection device. See http://www.!!!!!!.uk/tech/phonesurge.htm

donny-gal

AV is the aerial socket, sorry just quoting what it said onthe unit. Hopefully will pick the one the lightening may strike, but hopefully it won't strike any!

trets77

look at this post !! i paid over £40 for this kind of protection on my Home cinema set up. a while ago i admit

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=332210


when you have spent over £4000 on a set up a £10 protector is a no brainer IMO