I've done a forum search, but have been unable to find posts related to surge protection. Is it possible to buy a surge protector or power conditioner for my 2 DP's that will protect then from electrical storms,ect., without breaking the bank. I want something that will honestly protect the instruments, but I don't have 3 or 4 hundred dollars to spend. Again; is it possible to buy something to genuinely do the job in this price range? If so, what do you suggest? It can be a rack mount or floor unit. It really doesn't matter to me, as it's for the studio setting. Thanks.
John

DPs don't consume a lot of power, what about an UPS? I'd trust an UPS a lot more than a surge protector for this in general since it also protects you from brownouts (which can be a lot more dangerous for electronic equipment), something small (550VA should be plenty) like

http://www.amazon.com/APC-Back-UPS-Outlet-550VA-120V/dp/B0019804U8/ref=sr_1_1

would definitely not be breaking the bank!

Surge suppression power strips are a bit of low pass filtering plus an MOV or three. The MOVs tend to degrade and crap out over time, leaving your equipment exposed to spikes. MOV trip points also tend to be rather high, so they may not kick in when you have a sustained overvoltage large enough to damage your equipment.

After just such a sustained overvoltage hit a large portion of our town, blowing out my brand new PC power supply (which was plugged into a high quality surge strip), our garage door opener, and several miscellaneous power strips (one of which caught fire), I looked around for something better than the garden variety power strip to plug our expensive electronics into.

Turns out there is something called PowerBlocker II technology out there. It uses a spring-loaded plunger, much like a GFI, to disconnect the line if a surge is detected. They contain MOVs too, but the MOVs are disconnected from the line as well during a surge, so their life should be considerably extended.

I bought four of these (very nice, perhaps too easy to accidentally manually trigger when you are fumbling around trying to plug something into it) but they seem to be out of production now:
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Sentry-Blocker-Surge-Protector/dp/B0006HVIGC

These looks similar in functionality:
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-SPP7355WA-Resettable-Workstation-Protector/dp/B000Y0YY62/ref=pd_cp_e_2
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-SPP7346WA-10-Outlet-Resettable-Protector/dp/B002JCSCS4/ref=pd_cp_e_2

Lately I bought four of these, they supposedly contain the same technology, but the controls are somewhat simpler, and the squid thing works pretty well:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XRXCCS/ref=oss_product

In my quest I also looked into UPS units, but couldn't be sure they would really protect my equipment, and I really didn't need the UPS feature itself with all the attendant battery issues and such.

Does any of this stuff really work? I've had to reset two of our units in the past several years. And one computer plugged into one of these experienced a power supply failure, but who can tell why that was exactly. I do feel like they offer more protection than the average surge suppressor, and they help me sleep at night, but I'd really like to find some independent testing of these sorts of devices.

Are you sure you need protection? Have you experienced electrical problems?

And, if you have homeowner's insurance, won't that cover the loss? Most will.

You know, the surge protection business just plays on fear. Is it likely that you'll ever suffer damage?

Thanks guys. Mac, I do have homeowners insurance but I'm not sure what all it covers. I live near Va.Beach and we are just getting ready to start the spring season where we see quite a few thunder storms.

We do experience power outages due to these, and I just want to make sure the equipment doesn't get taken out. I'm not really sure what I need, if anything.
John

Same here. Florida, thunderstorm capital of the world. Never had a problem.

I once knew someone who did. But that was a lightning strike that came in on the antenna line. Power line protection would not have helped. But homeowner's insurance did ... they paid for a brand new TV (replacing his 10-year-old set!)

So do yourself a favor. Don't spend **too** much on protection.

Actually, if you **know** you really need protection, spend **plenty** for adequate coverage. Avoid the junk equipment. Shun the spurious advertising claims.

But if you know you don't need protection, spend nothing.

I'm going to double check my coverage, then go from there. Thanks.

Nothing will protect from a lightening hit on a nearby utility pole except unplugging the device. But a simple expensive $20 surge strip can protect from a hit on a pole some miles away. Many of these come with a warranty offing to replace any equipment if it was damaged while plugged into the power strip.

Popular Electronics published a test of surge protectors years ago, probably back in the 90s. It was surprising how many made the problem worse, because they had a resonance that was excited by the surge and actually amplified the pulse. They did list several brands that did a good job, but I don't remember the results. I had a surge protector on my computer when a lightning strike hit, and it literally melted the circuit board on the surge protector but the computer was fine. The company gave me a new surge protector and offered to pay for any damage to computer. That was a TrippLite so they get my business.