

Let's Take a Trip Inside a Power Strip - loser777
http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/661-power-strip-bar-surge-protection.html

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IvyMike
A few years ago, I decided I wanted to get a good power strip. At the end of a
few hours research, I concluded that there wasn't any trustworthy third party
actually doing verification of manufacturer claims, and do not believe that
"1750 Joules Surge Protection" actually means anything useful given that I do
not trust it.

I just bought a mid-price range one that looked like it wasn't by some fly-by-
night company.

It would be really cool to find somebody actually testing these things.

~~~
L_Rahman
The Wirecutter actually carried out some thorough tests in order to recommend
a good surge protector/power strip;

[http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-surge-
protector/](http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-surge-protector/)

~~~
lobotryas
Interesting. Shame that the actual amazon reviews on the unit don't look too
promising.

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jaak
Has anyone ever made a successful claim against a surge protector warranty?

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mmagin
Being more concerned about fire safety than surge suppression, I've always
been bothered by the cheap construction of the outlets in most of these
products. So, for a while I've only been buying the TrippLite isobar and
industrial/hospital-grade products.

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Havoc
I took one part once when I wanted to rewire to fit the output of my UPS
(potentially dangerous idea - I know). Was surprised to find cardboard used
inside as insulation. Thankfully the houses here are all spec'd with sensitive
ELs. Won't save gear from a surge but good enough to save a life reasonably
reliably.

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restlessdesign
_For the repair, I used a simple piece of solder wick to replace the blown
trace, stiffened with solder to prevent it from flapping around and possibly
shorting to the ground island in the middle_

Never heard of someone using solder wick in this way before. Can't decide if
brilliant or insane.

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Zombieball
Some of those solder joints look terrible!

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kazinator
I use an old APC SurgeArrest PRO8 inside my guitar rack. I opened it up about
a year ago; I didn't see any bad soldering. I soldered in a few extra X
capacitors and closed it up.

These things are quite likely hand-assembled. Quality control could vary over
time, depending on which shop is contracted. Maybe that particular unit was
given to a n00b. Or maybe the person was exhausted near the end of a long
shift.

They aren't going to open up every one of these to check; that would be
expensive.

