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Mains Conditioner with Surge Protection

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Sep 23, 2023
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looking to get something like this some member posted this and seems legit for the outages we have. now worry for it going out, but when it constantly tries coming up and down multiple times that worries me.

im not in the uk but we have 230v/50. ill get some eu/uk adapters. but basically looking to connect

- 3 pc (1-2 are always on but rare to have all 3) 1 monitor, 1 of the 3 is a laptop.
-phone chargers
-moden/router
-2 standing air fans
-audio system denon receiver/usb preamp (2 speakers)
I was looking to get 1 of these and use 2x8 regular power strips that connected into the product above and it into the wall.

it says 15 amps. so im guessing it wont handle all the gear on it?
 
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use 2x8 regular power strips

The "surge protection" in most power strips is unlikely to do more than clamp short-duration voltage spikes (fast transients). They won't do anything for power dips or brown outs (if you experience them). Nor will they protect against power cuts. They will not do much if lightning strikes near your home (as has happened to me twice). Most of my equipment, PCs, audio, TV, plugs straight into the wall, especially my Denon amplifiers.

For true protection, you probably need a much more expensive always online UPS with true (pure) sine wave output. The mains going into the always online UPS charges the battery. The battery powers a mains inverter all the time. The output from the inverter feeds your equipment and isolates it from mains-borne disturbances, spikes, glitches, brown outs, surges and power cuts (untll the battery runs flat). I use a 1500VA APC UPS (approx US $600) on my main computer systems, but I don't protect PCs in other parts of the house. My APC UPS will happily power 3 or 4 PCs simultaneously, + modem/router, + two hardware firewalls, + two network switches, audio DAC, printer, etc.

An ATX PSU should be capable of powering the computer for up to 18ms (or is it 17ms) at 80% power out, if the mains "glitches" momentarily. Anything much longer (typically 30ms at lower loads) and the ATX power-good signal disappears and your computer stops working.

If you live in a part of the world where the mains is particularly "noisy" from the EMI/EMC perspective, by all means buy a few surge protection strips, but don't rely on them to protect you against all eventualities. Mains here is relatively stable, apart from during big storms when glitches/power cuts are more likely.

it says 15 amps. so im guessing it wont handle all the gear on it?
At 230V, even with three computers, a monitor and a laptop running, you're unlikely to approach 15A, unless all the PCs contain an i9-14900K and RTX4090 running flat out. If each computer runs at 400W (gaming/rendering), the current will be roughly 400W/230V = 1.7A. Most computers "idle" around 100W, give or take 50W. 100W/230V = 0.43A. A 14900K overclocked might pull 300W on its own, plus 450W for an RTX4090, plus another 100W for everything else, call it 850W max. 850W/230V=3.7A. I've not allowed for PSU efficiency of around 90%, so add another 10% to these figures.


audio system denon receiver/usb preamp (2 speakers)
If your Denon AMP is producing 100W+100W RMS into a pair of nice big speakers (the neighbours might complain) then assume it draws roughly 300W. 300W/230V=1.3A. My computer monitors contain 12" woofers, 5" mid range and dome tweeters.:)

-phone chargers
A few tens of Watts each max. Fractions of an Amp.

-moden/router
At a guess 30 to 50W.

2 standing air fans
A few tens of Watts each?

Nothing to get worried about.

P.S. That adapter you linked will have a 13A fuse in the mains plug, not 15A.

Don't panic. The fuse will run at 13A continuously for at least 1,000hours before blowing. It takes a surge of at least 26A to blow a 13A fuse in a UK plug.
 
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you paint a gloomy picture hahaha. very thorough even though parts that i read is all new to me. I dont care if the power goes out and I dont have a pc running. im fine. I have the laptop for that. I dont want a psu.

my worry is stabalizing the power coming in. some of the times (mostly summer but some really cold days) the power comes back, but immediately falls again, and then immediately comes back. a few times. and thats what worries me. the quick on/off/on.
 
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I use a line conditioner/surge suppressor. No batteries.

Works good, might even clean up your image and sound a bit.
 
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now worry for it going out, but when it constantly tries coming up and down multiple times that worries me.

Such devices exist for fridges and take minutes before they reconnect
fridge protection.jpg
 
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