Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Surge Protectors

I'm looking to get a new surge protector for my home theater components, and I was wondering what it is I should be looking for as far as ratings and what not. I think I may want it in long strip form or at least something I can mount on the wall behind the component shelving. Is there any real difference between home office and home theater surge protectors? What's everyone's current view on power conditioning? I don't think the power here is so dirty that it needs to be conditioned. Thanks for any advice you have!

I would also look into a whole house surge protector that plugs into 2 slots in your circuit breaker box. These are supposed to run around $200. Installing one is on my to-do list. I don't think that most hardware/lumber stores carry them. You will probably find them in electrical supply stores.

Edit: For surge protection, I currently have a cheapie plugged into the outlet, where it just rests on the wall providing 6 more outlets and the cheapest ($300) Monster surge protection and power conditioner plugged into that. It was somewhat of a spur of the moment decision, but I think it will work ok for me.

I still want to hear from someone trying out the PurePower conditioner. But otherwise, I like TrippLite's stuff, check out their "network" series of power strips: http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/product-series.cfm?txtSeriesID=355&EID=12 There are some 20 amp versions, if you have that size breaker, and outlet. I have a rack mount one, it does everything it should, and only cost me about $60.

Freud would be proud of you.

I bought a monster HT1100 on ebay for $40 but that also included 2 - 20ft lengths of monster xphp speaker wire. Cost me about $30 to ship to Canada, but the power bar alone was about $200 at Future Shop. Its 4320 joules and pretty heavy duty.

Same as before, Charles; the power supply sections of my equipment already do all the "conditioning" needed. Most surges are also handled routinely. If a near-direct lightning strike(which a separate surge protector wouldn't have suppressed) destroyed my equipment, I'd view it simply as God's way of telling me that it was time to upgrade.

Ive done some research on this... your best bet is a whole house surge protector.. mounted in your panel ( I used to be an electrician) I've installed these in four of my friends homes amd mine, the unit is sitting on the workbench waiting for me. You can get them at Lowes or online ... price about $80.00 to $120.00

If your really anal, after the whole house Surge protector, get a voltage regualtor, not a ups, not a surge, a unit that takes what your power company is giving you at any given moment and gives a constent voltage to your gear,,, an AVR (automatic Voltage Regulator) the good ones are pricey

You want to be as close as possible to ground and that is your panel... the surges at locations are nice but not needed if you have the whole house electrical system going to ground on a strike.

By the way. voltage comditioners like monster, most aren't regulators..... A regulator takes whatever voltage available and makes sure it is 120v constant to your gear, a transformer basically

I didn't know the whole house surge protectors were so cheap. Nice to know. And yeah, after that I suppose I'd just go with a simple power strip for my gear, like Chris linked to. And Chris, yeah, I've also been interested in the PurePower gear, but it's never been close to my budget.

I doubt I'll want to pay for a voltage regulator, either, but I do like the idea. I think I'll keep it simple for now and look into the whole house surge protectors and power strips. Thanks, guys!

We should all do the free power audit on PurePower's website.

Mmm... freely donated marketing information...

Ha ha, good point. I'm just curious what kinds of numbers they'll provide or if they'll be vague and simply recommend the same products over and over again.

Oh, and yeah, I'm perverted.

I was at both Home Depot and Lowe's today. The electrician at Home Depot said they didn't have any in stock, and he's only sold one in the 2.5 years that he's worked there. At Lowe's, there was a $45 "Whole Home Surge Trap," I think they called it, but the guy there said he'd go with a heavier-duty one, which they don't carry. So it looks like I'll be going online for one. My dad wants to go with whatever specific one you recommend based on your experience. Can you help a brother out?

Charles, I've thought about getting this one.

Hope it helps.

Thanks for the link, Cam. It looks like a nice one.

Leviton or Panamax, either should serve you well, from there it's just how much protection, how much insurance each provides and how much you want to spend.

God Luck!

Wordgasm

Ooooops! Only 1 cup of coffee so far!

950 joules seems a little lame to me though.

Edit: I'm going to install a whole house surge protector sometime in my house, but I haven't done the research yet. The electrician that installed my new circuit breaker box said that he gets them for around $200, I think. He's going to be back next Saturday to finish up the job by installing the grounding rod. I'll ask him about them in more detail then if I get the chance.

Good idea, I submitted my info to see what they say about power consumption, not planning to invest any time soon in their equipment.

Not experiencing any power issues at the moment but a number of people have opined that I might want to run a dedicated HT power circuit given the equipment I have going, maybe Pure Power's numbers will shed light on whether or not my performance may be degraded at peak volumes and I should consider upgrading my home electrical circuits.

That would be cool. Thanks.

Thanks for the brand recommendations. I'll look through their product lines.

They all make them (pretty much) Square D, InterMatic? And all the rest. I would think all major brands would do.

I just noticed, your only 4 hrs from me. Buy one, I'll come put the WHSS in for you and ... oh by the way while I'm there listen to a couple of Axioms!

Did North Carolina migrate, or is that location inaccurate? Otherwise, yes, you'd be welcome to come hear what I have, AS MESSY AS MY HOUSE IS.

I didnt have my glasses on, "saw" Richland, Va... This getting old and needing readers... "sometimes", well sucks!

I apologize for living in Washington.

accepted

But don't do it again.

Here is my Pure Power analysis:

Dear Sat Kartar,

Thank you for requesting a power analysis of your system from
PurePower.

Your system can draw a maximum of 2970 watts.
Your system normal draw is approximately 1430 watts.

I recommend our Model 2000 plus a model 700.

Your system has a high potential for current draw depending on your
preferred output levels and component configuration. The Axiom can
draw a max of about 1200 watts and the Denon can draw up to 840 at
full output. Your subs need 150 watts each at full draw. The Plasma
is also a very high draw device which needs 540 watts available full
time.

The normal expected amplifier draw at typical volume levels with your
4 Ohm speaker load is about 1/6th of the maximum potential.

I recommend that you run the amps and subs on our PurePower 2000 and
your plasma and video sources (DVD and HD receivers) on an additional
700 model.

This will give you complete coverage of any potential power
requirement in any situation.

Power Amps and receivers operate at their best when they get the
full current that is needed instantly on demand. The PurePower 2000
is able to provide that full current on demand while maintaining
perfect reference voltage. It should be able to handle your
components with a little headroom to spare.

You can be assured that no utility power glitches will affect the
power generated by the PurePower unit. Our AC is:
- Completely independent of the input supply.
- Supported by our on-line batteries to keep things running
without a hitch. No pops, no clicks, no switching noise.
- The same AC whether the utility is on, off, has dips,
sags or surges.
- Reference power - perfect voltage, perfect sine wave.
- Power you can count on to be a constant in your system.

If you would like any additional information about our PurePower AC
Regenerators, please feel free to email me or visit our web site at
http://www.PurePowerAPS.com.

For general sales inquiries, please contact Bob Rapoport at
bob.rapoport@PurePowerAPS.com.

Thanks,
Damian Janzen
PurePower Partners.

Anyway my main point in requesting the above analysis was to determine if my system was supplied with enough maximum current based on a nondedicated 20 amp circuit breaker, if memory serves.

It seems like there would be enough power under normal circumstances, 1430 watts/120 volts = 11.92 amps, but not necessarily at maximum capacity, 1430 watts/120 volts = 24.75 amps.

My guess is that I would seldom if ever run the system anywhere near maximum capacity, so most likely I remain in the ballpark for most if not all conceivable situations, unless there are some instantaneous power draw situations that are not covered?

If anyone has any input regarding the number of amps I should attempt to make available via my home electrical circuit, it would be much appreciated.

Sort of wondering about their numbers, why do they say the ep800 has a maximum draw of 150 watts when it has an 800 watt amp? If the Denon is 130 watts per channel X 7, why is the maximum draw only 840 watts, rather than 910 watts? What does normal usage mean, I wonder how they estimate that?

I suppose this gets me thinking in practical terms about how to estimate the power the system ideally needs, although it's all a bit theoretical, not sure I need to change anything.

You can measure the amperage that passes through the wire that you plug into the wall. I don't know the math, but I'm assuming that you can then convert this to watts.

Watts = Volts * Amps

You can assume that the voltage is going to be around 115 Volts in North America.

Most measuring devices, like the Kill-A-Watt, will give you the Watt reading directly (because it's also measuring voltage).

OK, I was trying to calculate peak power needs more or less theoretically, to cover all situations, but I suppose I could look into measuring the actual levels, that would make sense, especially if the measuring devices were sensitive to instantaneous peak current draw? The voltage in my home normally measures at 120v plus, I know that running the system without taking the subs into account normally requires no more than 7-8 amps even at robust volume levels, if the subs were at a theoretical maximum that could add 1600 watts/120 volts = 13.3 amps, although I'm actually not sure at this point if both subs are on the same circuit or not.

Just trying to get a feel for any real world implications, I noticed that some forum members have dedicated HT electrical circuits and wondered if I should think about going down that road.

I think North America changed from 115 to 120/121 volts a few years back. Mine runs between 120 and 121 on a display I have.

Mine reads 115.8 (well from .7 to .9). I think it varies from 110 to 120 from area to area.