Can home theater systems get damaged from power surges? I see a lot of companies claim that their systems have an inbuilt surge protector but I always see this as a marketing gimmick. Is it safer to just buy a surge protector once and for all?
I would. I'm no electrician but I cannot see how you can build a surge protector into a device. The whole concept is to stop a surge of electricity before it gets into a device.
gofar99 Messages: 1949 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, While it is possible that some equipment might have built in surge protectors, in 55 years of electronics (some as hobby, some as professional) I have never seen any. Perhaps you are thinking of power input filters. These are common and their function is to prevent noise from the power source (the AC mains) from getting into the equipment. Some are good and some not. It is possible to put surge protectors inside equipment as the actual components are inexpensive. However most will not give you any indication that they worked. The second hit will likely get through. I suspect that this problem together with the small but added cost is why you don't see them in consumer gear. Now back to the problem...I would never operate any of my equipment without some form of spike and surge protection. Even the cheapest ones can help (to a limited degree). I use an APC H1500 power filter / voltage compensator on my costly gear and a Triplet 1000 watt auto voltage / power filter on the rest. The APCs are a bit pricey in the $300+ range, but the Triplets are only about $100. Some power strip types are OK, but to some extent price is an indicator of quality. If it costs under $10, then it will probably not be worth the trouble. If it is over $100 then you are likely paying for gold plating. Regardless their warranties are generally impossible to collect on if you gear gets damaged.
Essentially it all comes back to how valuable your equipment is and thus how much you are willing to pay to protect it ...or how much of a chance you are willing to take that you will never have a spike or surge.
Essentially it all comes back to how valuable your equipment is and thus how much you are willing to pay to protect it ...or how much of a chance you are willing to take that you will never have a spike or surge.
Very true. There's no point of failing to use a small fraction of what the equipment cost to protect it. At times, the cost of repairing damaged equipment almost equals the cost of purchasing a new one.
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