Tripp Lite Isobar 6 vs Furman PST-6

[Pancreas]

Which is better? They cost very similar, but I think Furman one has serie mode combined with MOV

I have the SurgeX sa-1810 standalone with 10 outlets for my desktop setup, but I've been thinking about replacing the other surge protectors in my living room and bedroom with something better than what I have now which is Defiant and Tripp Lite regular surge protector.

I rarely use my living room setup which is cheap, just an old TV and some cable box lol mostly want to replace with better protectors for safety

 

[Pancreas]

any help?

I just realized the Furman PST-6 is just MOV, only the PST-8 is both MOV and series mode

 

[GD Fan]

My stuff is all plugged into Isobar 6 units. No problems to report thus far, but can't say if that's the Tripp Lites or just good luck. The indicator lights are a handy touch too.

Furman is a new name to me. But their claim that the strip also offers 'unrivaled power purification' seems like a bit of an eye roller. I think I know which I would pick.

 

[AlfaNovember]

My stuff is all plugged into Isobar 6 units. No problems to report thus far, but can't say if that's the Tripp Lites or just good luck. The indicator lights are a handy touch too.

Furman is a new name to me. But their claim that the strip also offers 'unrivaled power purification' seems like a bit of an eye roller. I think I know which I would pick.

@GD Fan - I can't recall a cite, but I dimly recall that Furman was one of the companies that grew out of the Alembic / Rick Turner / Hard Truckin' crew of industrious Bay Area hippies.

Edit - Found it!

Furman Sound, Grateful Dead, Alembic - a long strange trip

I stumbled onto a fascinating bit of history trivia recently. You know Furman power conditioners right? Did you know that founder Janet Furman was...

www.talkbass.com

 

[GXAlan]

Furman dates back to the 1970s

History of Furman Sound and its Grateful Dead Roots

The history of pro audio/power conditioning company Furman Sound, and its roots that trace back to the Grateful Dead scene of the early 1970's, by founder Janet Furman.

furmanhistory.com

Tripp Lite is part of Eaton now.

Furman is part of Nice, which is an Italian company, now.

Furman’s lead power guy is the current Audioquest power guy, so they definitely dabble in the power conditioning which may not translate into actual performance realm. That said, the series mode protection is great and is backed up with MOVs. The SurgeX/ZeroSurge stuff is off patent…

 

[Prana Ferox]

Furman's products have always had that hint of snake oil to me, something just a bit too gimmicky. I think part of that is their marketing to musicians who are notoriously superstitious.

For what it's worth, Tripp-Lite is part of Eaton, who is serious business in the world of power delivery including big time industrial surge arrestors and UPS, while Furman is... part of Nice, which used to be Nortek, who is... not.

 

[GXAlan]

For what it's worth, Tripp-Lite is part of Eaton, who is serious business in the world of power delivery including big time industrial surge arrestors and UPS, while Furman is... part of Nice, which used to be Nortek, who is... not.

Eaton makes the power electronics for just about everything. Chances are that your home’s circuit breakers and junction box are made by Eaton. They build and modernize actual power plants

https://www.eaton.com/content/eaton/us/en-us/catalog/services/hydroelectric-power-plant-automation-and-modernization.html

They are not like “Anker” or “Belkin” when it comes to power. They are the true industrial power company.

Eaton Corporation - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

But for what it’s worth, I own Eaton, Tripp Lite, and Furman and they are all good products. (edit: And SurgeX too.)

 

[robwpdx]

I would look at the specs. There should be an EMI noise rejection in dB over a frequency range, and a Joules surge absorption rating. Sometimes the warranty period can be an indicator. I'm an Isobar fan, but I would guess they are both good.

Maybe there is a scientific test site for power conditioning!

 

[GD Fan]

@GD Fan - I can't recall a cite, but I dimly recall that Furman was one of the companies that grew out of the Alembic / Rick Turner / Hard Truckin' crew of industrious Bay Area hippies.

Edit - Found it!

Furman Sound, Grateful Dead, Alembic - a long strange trip

I stumbled onto a fascinating bit of history trivia recently. You know Furman power conditioners right? Did you know that founder Janet Furman was...

www.talkbass.com

That's good stuff, thanks for sharing.

Her story about Steve Miller was amusing. I just saw him at one of my local go-to restaurants this week - seems to have mellowed out a bit since then.

 

[Pancreas]

Well, only the Furman pst-8 has series mode, but it also has MOV, is not purely series mode. It doesn't compare to zerosurge or surgex.

 

[Chrispy]

Do you have whole-home surge protection? With many other products you just need to rotate them out as they get used up....

 

[GXAlan]

Well, only the Furman pst-8 has series mode, but it also has MOV, is not purely series mode. It doesn't compare to zerosurge or surgex.

It has the same series mode, but then they add a MOV to it afterwards. It’s the proverbial belt and suspenders.

Series Multi-Stage Protection [SMP] | Furman Power

www.furmanpower.com

I think we had this discussion on a similar thread before.

US4870534A - Power line surge suppressor - Google Patents

A surge suppressor for repeatedly protecting a load against surges occurring on A-C power mains from lightning surges or the like comprises a first series circuit having a first inductance and a first alternating voltage limiter, including at least a first capacitance and a bidirectionally...

patents.google.com

ZeroSurge was the original and SurgeX licensed the IP.

Once the patent expired, anyone is free to copy it.

 

[GD Fan]

That's certainly good news - the price for Zero Surge sure ain't cheap.

 

[Pancreas]

Problem is the mov there is the weak link

Why put mov in series mode makes no sense

 

[GXAlan]

I have a Tesla Powerwall, AFCI breakers and the aforementioned products.

I admit I like the Furman since they have been the most sensitive with their over voltage protection which triggers at 137V. Annoying since it requires a manual power cycle to reset.

But that is a slow over voltage.

The series mode is needed when you have 6000V going in and your probably send electricity faster than the overvoltage relay can click off.

In the link I showed, Furman talks about their Series Mode performance

“The circuit’s measured clamping voltage is 188 Vpk (this is equivalent to 133 Volts RMS, which is only 11% above an optimal 120VAC line) at 6000V/3000A input”

BUT, what happens if 7000V goes in? 10000V? Higher amps?

That’s where the MOV sacrifices itself to protect the downstream challenges.

 

[Martini]

Here's a rather thorough tear-down & review of the the Tripp-Lite Isobar - https://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/684-tripp-lite-isobar-tear-down.html
I've have/had a few of them. I wanted to replace the MOVs on an older one, but the way the outlets are attached to the board, it wasn't worth the hassle or time. The Tripp-Lite are used on stuff that I have lesser concern about and basically consider the older ones as just power strips, now. I rent, so am not able to install whole house protection at the meter or breaker box; so for my main system and my office system I use ZeroSurge.

 

[Pancreas]

I have a Tesla Powerwall, AFCI breakers and the aforementioned products.

I admit I like the Furman since they have been the most sensitive with their over voltage protection which triggers at 137V. Annoying since it requires a manual power cycle to reset.

But that is a slow over voltage.

The series mode is needed when you have 6000V going in and your probably send electricity faster than the overvoltage relay can click off.

In the link I showed, Furman talks about their Series Mode performance

“The circuit’s measured clamping voltage is 188 Vpk (this is equivalent to 133 Volts RMS, which is only 11% above an optimal 120VAC line) at 6000V/3000A input”

BUT, what happens if 7000V goes in? 10000V? Higher amps?

That’s where the MOV sacrifices itself to protect the downstream challenges.

Then what about product like zerosurge and surgex why dont they add MOV to their series mode

 

[GXAlan]

Then what about product like zerosurge and surgex why dont they add MOV to their series mode

The Furman, Zero Surge and SurgeX handle the IEEE standard of 6000V/3000A for 0.05 milliseconds.

The Furman doesn’t need any MOV’s if you are below that threshold. Beyond that? That’s a different question.

The Zero Surge is also designed to handle a surge and keep providing power. The Furman is designed to handle a surge and disconnect either via the relay or sacrificially via the MOV.

Suppose you have a surge, and the voltage hits 140V for a fraction of a second. Your gear doesn’t love 140V all the time, but it’s well engineered and the voltage regulator just heats up a bit and goes back to normal.

On the Furman, the whole thing will be powered down until your power cycle the Furman product. It has gone into over voltage protection. The ZeroSurge keeps on running. If you are powering a mission critical something, the ZeroSurge makes more sense. You are going to see more minor surges than major surges. You cannot turn off the Furman’s auto switching.

Zero Surge Response to Audio Science Review of a 2R15W - Zero Surge

I was approached by a customer who wanted me to send a unit to Amirm (Audio […]

zerosurge.com

The combination of US manufacturing and affordable pricing makes ZeroSurge a strong winner for mission critical electronics that need to keep running. They are great. You can use them for audio too.

The Furman is a pretty cheap alternative which is made overseas, but still has HQ in the U.S. and is now owned by an Italian company. But it’s definitely cheaper. It’s great because it will sacrifice itself to protect whatever you connected. For home entertainment, I am OK with the power being disconnected completely until I physically reset the whole thing.

But think about a laptop or Linn product with switching power supplies that can handle 220V routinely, the Furman will be powering down unnecessarily when it could have kept going on. As U.S. spec Furman will always trigger over voltage at 137V and you cannot turn the feature on or off. It will always disconnect power at that level.

 

[Speedskater]

Oh dear, that's a very negative response from Zero Surge! He could have written the same information in a positive way.
Like how it takes a specialized lab set-up to test for surge protection and another to test for noise reduction.

 

[Martini]

Oh dear, that's a very negative response from Zero Surge! He could have written the same information in a positive way.
Like how it takes a specialized lab set-up to test for surge protection and another to test for noise reduction.

Well, I'm sure as the company pres. his juices got flowing to defend his product. I also think that Jim could have come across more positive if he took a breath (or couple days) before responding and then focused on filling in Amir's testing, since it was focused on the units impact on the audio signal. Amir did mentioned that he did not have the facility to test the surge protection, do to the dangereous currents involved.