How good are surge protectors?

Since getting an additional comp. I bought a couple of surge protectors as well. Good ones. Hated being unplugged during thunderstorms. "Pull it out now!!!" My question is, are they good enough to protect your comp. from a huge surge? I ask this for a reason, we've got a thunderstorm damn near overhead and would hate to put $1000's on the line for my ignorance.

I do not have any information about surge protectors and thunderstorms because I do not have that problem, all electrical cables are underground in the area where I live.

But a lightning is extremely strong, so I suppose that only a very strong surge protector would be good enough to give you complete safety.

Anyway, a lightning striking near could create induced currents in any conducting material, so even an unplugged computer can get damaged during a lightning strike relatively near it.

But, as I have said, this is only what I think, I do not have any real information about it.

I bought a good one a few years ago, never needed until a few months ago when we had a surge during a heatwave, and computer saved, plasma t.v fritzed. It was a clipsal brand not sure if you would be able to get one though as they are an Aussie company.

Now if id only bought two.

Surge strips have rated Joules that they can handle. Higher end ones have money back guarantees that they will save your stuff. Sad thing is a lightning strike is waaaay more than any old strip can handle. The surge they are talking about is the mass surge your house gets when the power comes back on. Every appliance in your house is hollering to the line....GIVE ME POWER!!! So alot of amperages hit your house when the power comes back on. That is the level of surge they are talking about saving you from.

It is a good practice that if you live in a crappy power grid to shut down during storms of that intensity. I would recommend a battery backup instead of a strip. They provide a "clean" power to your systems constantly. Brownouts, Blackouts and quick system shutdowns can be detrimental to your power supply and your system in general.

Higher wattage ones are a little pricey but well worth the cost IMHO.

Look at the packaging your surge protector came in... or look it up online. Figure out how much surge it is rated to protect against.

This Belkin surge protector sells for $65, and protects against 3,960 Joules.

Now, how much energy is in lighting?

Encyclopedia.TheFreeDictionary.com
An average bolt of negative lightning carries a current of 30-to-50 kiloamperes (kA), although some bolts can be up to 120kA, and transfers a charge of 5 coulombs and 500 megajoules (enough to light a 100 watt light bulb for 2 months).

Ok, lightning discharge is measuered in charge x voltage. So, an average bolt of lighting would be 5 Coulombs x 10^8 Volts = 5e8 Joules.

5 to the 8th power. How many joules is that?

500,000,000 Joules

No surge protector is going to protect against direct/close hits from lighting. They are designed to protect against surge, not lightning. Thor's hammer just has way to much power, man!

[edit on 5/16/2007 by damajikninja]