I am quickly running out of outlets to plug components into so I was considering a rack mount surge protector.
I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on power filtering. Is this just a lot of bunk or is there something to it?

Which brands are worth considering? I would like to have at least 10 or maybe 12 outlet available and have been looking at Panamax, Belkin and Monster. Is there anything else I should consider? My budget is kind of open right now but I think $500.00 would be the upper end of whatI could spend.
Thanks
Jim

Forget the Monster. We use Furman and love them. I hear a lot of good things about Panamax, but haven't used them first-hand.

Power filtering would be a good thing, as well as battery backup just to protect your EQ from brownouts or short outages, however not all battery backups (UPS) are the same, some cheaper UPS's power the EQ through the main power and when there is an outage they then switch over to the battery so you can still get a little glitch, better UPS's run completey off of the battery and have a separate power section to charge the battery so when there is an outage the EQ is not effected at all. Furman is good, I've never had any problem with the Monster stuff, another one to look at is APC however they may be pushing the $500 mark.

Stay away from Monster at all costs, unless you want to throw a lot of money away.

Furman, APC and Panamax

As far as I'm concerned there is little difference between Monster, Furman, APC or Panamax. They all use MOVs for their surge protection. the implementation has varying degrees of sucess but based on my research and experience I am not comfortable relying on MOVs to protect my clients equipment.

For rackmount power protection I use Surgex products.

For UPS I think Triplite does a good job. They also have MOVs in them but if they are plugged into the Surgex the MOV will never come into play or cause a problem.

I believe what CMA is referring to is the difference between a partial and full line UPS.

I haven't researched them recently but past research showed that the vast majority of UPS' on the market are partial line. A full line UPS is less efficient and harder on the batteries and in my opinion is unnecessary. In my opinion the real problem with a cheap UPS is the speed of the switch over to the battery and the quality of the AC power that comes out. Is it modified sine or full sinewave? Some electronics do not work well with modified sinewave AC.

I worked on one project that used a massive 60Amp back up supply that could be switched between full line or partial line. Even the manufacture suggested partial line was fine but the AC that came out of the unit was better regulated and cleaner than what the power company provided.

We sell dozens of Monster Power units per year, and have had perhaps one or two failures in the last 5 years. Sling all the mud you want - they work.

I second the Furman and Panamax - Use them all the time

Mike

Surgex first, then Furman

Power filtering provides no benefit in 99% of the cases. Most residential environments have fairly benigh noise profiles on their AC power. The AC transformers in well made gear are designed to provide good noise filtering. That's part of what you're paying for with all that steel in the transformer. If you are not having issues with the power, filtering the power is like wearing a raincoat on a sunny day. You're protected, but against what?

Protection against surge is another matter. A good surge protector is worth every penny. MOV's work well, and provide an inexpensive solution. I don't care if after the unit protects it fails. If it sacrifices itself, and cost $40, I can pay for lots of units before one non-sacrificial unit would pay for itself. I haven't had a strike hit my personal equipment in the last 15 years. I'd guess that most people would have similar stories. The insurance provided by the better surge protector companies will pay, but you better make sure the units are plugged directly into the protector, and you use their protectors on all interconnected gear. This leaves them no wiggle room to point fingers at other protects, etc.

I believe IsoBar makes good units. Lots of protection for the money, and some moderate line filtering thrown in for good measure.

We swear by Panamax & have used Furman in the past. Both make great products.

From past experience, most manfs WILL NOT pay on a lightning strike. We have only experienced Panamax paying out on a lightning strike through their Connected Equipment warranty, as long it is hooked up correctly.
Being in Florida, this is one of our biggest concerns.

No need to sling mud at all. Surge protection is one thing that there is actually UL PERFORMANCE testing for. so there is little room for interpretation. This is not a question of my speaker wire sounds better than yours.

Last time I checked Monster doesn't even bother having their equipment tested and Panamax never returned my phone call when I request their adjunct testing. I gave up on them years ago.

Until someone comes up with a better mousetrap the technology surgex uses will get the top rating every time.

That's certainly your choice and a very reasonable one. My one difference in opinion with this approach is that MOVs always suffer wear and they don't have a gas gauge to tell you they have taken quite a few hits already, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to replace your $50 unit before it lets you down. Not to mention the small fact that a Surgex unti will be sitting there quietly taking care of a hit three times the size of what caused the MOV box to turn into a BOMB in your living room.

The other side of this though, is that many people aren't spending $50 they are spending $500+ and at that point I fail to understand why anyone wouldn't use Surgex. You can get a nice 20amp Nema for $400 that can cover quite an array of equipment.



This is in part due to the fact that a hard hit through an MOV deviice will light up the ground line with some serious current.

I obviously have been sold on the merits of series mode technology where as you, and most of the people here, aren't. In my opinion the actual testing shows the better product by far and I beleive far more of you would be using it if SURGEX had more marketing focussed on our industry, but the commercial world continues to be their core business.

I've stood on my soap box on this issue several times and I'll try to keep my opinion to myself in the future.

Don't do that! What would we do if we didn't have people like you who know about this other stuff, and Larry, who can sympathize with our problems with electricians, and me, who, well, is there when you need a curmudgeon?

The semiconductors in the Surgex will have taken wear after severals hits, and there's no gas gauge on that unit either.

As far as the MOV turning into a bomb... For the MOV to provide any explosive force, you would need containment and a buildup of pressure. Bomb is a dramatic word... but a real poor example of what will happen in this situation. The MOV when it fails will barely give off a puff of smoke large enough to be noticed.


I agree! If you're gonna spend the $'s, get some value for the dollar.


Either I or you misunderstand something here. The surgex can break the path, but it can't do so before the voltage is already rising. One hit good enough to do some good damage will jump right over the spacing of the kind of series element semiconductors they use. If the lightning strike is enough energy to blow the MOV, I propose that it will ionize the air, and jump the gap of the series protection elements in the surgex. That's part of the reason I believe the surgex is overkill.


Some commercial issues are a totally different issue. The most likely place for lightning to hit a residence is the electrical service entrance, or the entrance from a dish or antenna. The surgex will do a nice job on the power, and leave the other unprotected. You'll end up using MOV's on the other likely entry points, as surgex doesn't have a solution for these. Then you have two different surge protection manufacturers each pointing their finger at each other, and nothing gets paid out. I'd rather put MOV's from a single manufacturer in all locations, and let them pick up the bill if/when something is damaged.


No need to keep your opinion to yourself. You have well formed thoughtful ideas. We need lots of people like yourself to contribute. I may not agree with everything you've said, but that doesn't mean I don't respect you. On the contrary, you've shown through you well penned responses that you deserve respect.

If you have a smaller subpanel, spend a few more bucks and go for a TVSS. (Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor) You acn also get some that can cover specific circuits.

Is voltage regulation an issue?