Zero surge and surgeX are overpriced as hell

[ReevaluateAdNauseam]

View attachment 300619Only downside of surgeX is the plug is not flat. Thats where zerosurge has it beat.

Surgex is nicer looking.

I don’t know why zerosurge makes an 8 outlet standalone and puts 2 of those outlets on the side, making a setup more inconvenient.

All the outlets should be facing up like surgeX

Not to be a nuisance, but you do realize that this will not protect against voltage elevation originating from the power company? For example, if the power was cut due to a fallen tree, etc, and the power company electrician restores it, there is a "surge" of significantly higher voltage for a few seconds. Or, even worse, if the electrician messes up and lets through a voltage of 480 volts (happened twice in Northbrook, an upscale suburb of Chicago) it will reach your equipment, instantly destroying it. I never realized that is the case, until I spoke to an engineer at SurgeX. He explained to me that they stop all the surges at frequencies other than 60 Hertz. Anything at 60 Hertz passes unchanged.
That came as a shock to me. The only way to guard against voltage fluctuations originating from the power company is to have one of the models incorporating COUVS. Which in turn makes me question the usefulness of ZeroSurge, which as far as I know don't have technology comparable to COUVS.
However, this merits further investigation. I don't discard the possibility that I might have misunderstood some of the explanation.

 

[antcollinet]

Of coutse what did you expect. However the far mor frequent events are transient over voltages such as caused by lightning strikes down the line. These typically can be absorbed.

 

[Pancreas]

Not to be a nuisance, but you do realize that this will not protect against voltage elevation originating from the power company? For example, if the power was cut due to a fallen tree, etc, and the power company electrician restores it, there is a "surge" of significantly higher voltage for a few seconds. Or, even worse, if the electrician messes up and lets through a voltage of 480 volts (happened twice in Northbrook, an upscale suburb of Chicago) it will reach your equipment, instantly destroying it. I never realized that is the case, until I spoke to an engineer at SurgeX. He explained to me that they stop all the surges at frequencies other than 60 Hertz. Anything at 60 Hertz passes unchanged.
That came as a shock to me. The only way to guard against voltage fluctuations originating from the power company is to have one of the models incorporating COUVS. Which in turn makes me question the usefulness of ZeroSurge, which as far as I know don't have technology comparable to COUVS.
However, this merits further investigation. I don't discard the possibility that I might have misunderstood some of the explanation.

So that applies to 99% of people who own zerosurge, surgex etc lol

 

[ReevaluateAdNauseam]

Of coutse what did you expect. However the far mor frequent events are transient over voltages such as caused by lightning strikes down the line. These typically can be absorbed.

Well, I guess my line of thinking was that any sudden and sharp rise of voltage would fall under the category of "surge" or "spike", no matter the source. Also, since all the units I've had so far (Panamax M5300, Furman Elite 15-Pfi) had over voltage protection, I took it for granted that the SurgeX or ZeroSurge would have it in all of their products. Good thing I caught the omission, otherwise I would end up downgrading my protection.

 

[ReevaluateAdNauseam]

So that applies to 99% of people who own zerosurge, surgex etc lol

Well, if your power company is not the culprit, then you would be fine, but ComEd and the infrastructure in our area... I get nervous even thinking about it.

 

[Pancreas]

Well, if your power company is not the culprit, then you would be fine, but ComEd and the infrastructure in our area... I get nervous even thinking about it.

but you said you may have misunderstood. I don't think that Surgex would say something like that, basically saying their products are useless, who knows maybe is true, what about whole house protection? Would that save you?

If destiny wants to shit on your equipment, it will do so regardless tbh shit happens, all these protection products do is minimize and lower the chances, that's all, they dont guarantee anything, just like car protection, you can put all the protection you want, if a bad mofo wants your car bad enough, he will take it regardless

There are mofos out there with expensive ass gear who have it connected to $35 Amazon surge protectors and never had issues in decades

 

[Pancreas]

Well, I guess my line of thinking was that any sudden and sharp rise of voltage would fall under the category of "surge" or "spike", no matter the source. Also, since all the units I've had so far (Panamax M5300, Furman Elite 15-Pfi) had over voltage protection, I took it for granted that the SurgeX or ZeroSurge would have it in all of their products. Good thing I caught the omission, otherwise I would end up downgrading my protection.

I doubt a product at the price of a Panamax M5300 would save you from 480 volts caused by the electrician

If it destroys a Zerosurge protected equipment, it would also destroy your equipment

At the end of the day, all these companies profit from our fear of losing our precious and beloved gear. Their products protect to an extent, but if the universe wants to shit on you, it will do so, meanwhile some douche with $20 Homedepot surge protector, never had an issue

all the money yall spent on surge and protection, coulda been used to replace all the equipment the universe fucked for you

at the end of the day, the only real protection is $$$ to be able to replace the equipment lost like replacing socks

if you have equipment so expensive that you wouldnt be able to replace if lost, then you did it wrong

 

[ReevaluateAdNauseam]

but you said you may have misunderstood. I don't think that Surgex would say something like that, basically saying their product are useless

It is not useless in the least. It protects against surges on all other frequencies. It would be useful to me too, just not as much as one that protects against the power company screwing up as well.

 

[ReevaluateAdNauseam]

I doubt a product at the price of a Panamax M5300 would save you from 480 volts caused by the electrician

If it destroys a Zerosurge protected equipment, it would also destroy your equipment

 

[ReevaluateAdNauseam]

No, that is not how it works. But don't take my word for it Speak to tech support at SurgeX, they are terrific. And once again, I never claimed either SurgeX or ZeroSurge are useless. I actually ordered the XR-315 to replace my Furman. So, I believe they are quite useful .

 

[Pancreas]

So what products have this COUVS or whatever that is lol

 

[ReevaluateAdNauseam]

So what products have this COUVS or whatever that is lol

The SurgeX SX-1115-RT and XR-315 . Also the Axess Elite, but it gets expensive.

 

[antcollinet]

Well, I guess my line of thinking was that any sudden and sharp rise of voltage would fall under the category of "surge" or "spike", no matter the source. Also, since all the units I've had so far (Panamax M5300, Furman Elite 15-Pfi) had over voltage protection, I took it for granted that the SurgeX or ZeroSurge would have it in all of their products. Good thing I caught the omission, otherwise I would end up downgrading my protection.

No protection is capable of absorbing an indefinate overvoltage generated by the supply company. They have to take the energy and convert it to heat. The events you are talking about will effectively supply unlimited energy. Any device is going to fail if it tries to absorb that.

Surge protection devices are only designed to absorb limited energy transient events - typically lasting only a few ms.

 

[ReevaluateAdNauseam]

No protection is capable of absorbing an indefinate overvoltage generated by the supply company. They have to take the energy and convert it to heat. The events you are talking about will effectively supply unlimited energy. Any device is going to fail if it tries to absorb that.

Surge protection devices are only designed to absorb limited energy transient events - typically lasting only a few ms.

Not absorb, shut down and disconnect. It is right there in the description of COUVS. And yes, it is fully capable of protecting against such events.

 

[antcollinet]

Not absorb, shut down and disconnect. It is right there in the description of COUVS. And yes, it is fully capable of protecting against such events.

Is even couvus capaple of withstanding 480V instead of 110?

 

[ReevaluateAdNauseam]

Is even couvus capaple of withstanding 480V instead of 110?

I would assume so, the Furman kicked in a couple of times when our power company screwed up. I don't think we got 480V, but it was way above 120V as my lightbulbs (which by the way can withstand up to 240V) burned out. Everything connected to the Furman was cut off and was fine. I would assume the COUVS that SurgeX has is similar to the Furman's EVS (Extreme Voltage Shutdown), if not better, because it has a user adjustable range on the XR-315.
I will ask SurgeX specifically what is the highest voltage @60 Hertz COUVS can handle.
By the way, if you want to contact them, use this form:

https://www.ametekesp.com/contact/rma

Just put your name in, in the required fields you can just put "N/A" and in the first box labeled "Brief Description of the Issue" put "I need technical support".

 

[antcollinet]

Sounds like some impressive gear.

But I'm gonna skip. I'm thinking we have more stable power over this side of the pond. It is not something I've ever worried about - and in heading towards 40 years of home ownership, certainly never something that has impacted me.

I've jinxed that now of course

 

[elmoe420]

The SurgeX SX-1115-RT and XR-315 . Also the Axess Elite, but it gets expensive.

Also the SX-1120-RT which I snagged used off eBay. Easiest 139$ I ever spent.

 

[T0paz]

People tell you buy used models off ebay except they’re all racks and super old models too and they want hundreds

Some dude selling a 10 outlet SurgeX for $450 and is a 2012 model no way

These surge protectors are ridiculously overpriced. SurgeX wants $650 for a stupid 10 outlet protector. Even zero surge is like $300-350 for the 8 outlet models.

If you have to buy used you cant afford it then, it shouldn’t cost this much in the first place.

Theyre taking advantage of yall and your fear of losing your gear yeah maybe it works better than mov but it should NOT cost this much they ripping yall off. Thats why they shit on MoV so much is their business model literally they have videos crapping on MoV yet everyones uses mov with no problems except rare cases

$650 or even $1000 for a glorified surge protector. It seems their prices keep going up and up as well as my google search revealed they used to cost less

As much as Id want a 10 outlet one, im not paying $600 for this shit is absurd

Even the 2 outlet is expensive and defeats the purpose as youll need a power strip with it. The power strip will forever be the weak link that could catch fire one day and is another item occupying space

If you take your time you can find great deals on eBay. I have 8 10-outlet models (all ASM, Advanced Series Mode) with yellow outlets with CoVOUS (over/under voltage protection) and ICE (in-rush current elimination). I paid an average of $76.77 for all of them with the least being $50 with shipping and the most being $150 with shipping (which was actually new old stock). It doesn't matter if it's 10 or 15 years old. They should not wear out in your lifetime. I also have many Zero Surge models (from 1 to 10 outlets), the oldest was made in 1994, has 6 outlets and cost $40 with shipping.

You can purchase a 2-outlet Zero Surge model 2R7.5W or 2R15W and safely plug in 1 or 2 MOV based strips to expand the number of available outlets (just don't use any coax or Ethernet/Phone connections on the MOV strip, instead secure those at the entrance of the building using a ground jack connected directly to the earth). The series mode filter will ensure the MOV strip never sees a strip. I used them because I had them and did not want to buy new non MOV strips

Although I also have a whole house surge protector, many will still let through more than 1200 Volts of surge energy. They need to be installed with minimum wire length as each inch of wire can allow up to 25 volts of additional surge energy in addition to the 600 or 650 volts at the device. I watched an electrician install one on my mains panel and added 5 feet of wiring to make it "pretty". I showed him the instructions in the box and he said he did not know that and redid so it only used 18 inches of wiring (which I think was still too much) so the whole house protector could still allow up to 1100 volts of surge energy onto the house wiring.

I have given away many Zero Surge and SurgeX models away to close friends and family. They make great gifts.

 

[T0paz]

Are you sure they use the same tech?

Both companies sell Series Mode products as well as Advanced Series Mode (Zero Surge calls their version Total Cancellation Technology, but you have to ask them if they have any left). Both sell 7.5A, 15A and 20A models. SurgeX was acquired several times and the new owners use their name in MOV products they sell so you have to be careful what you are buying. Advanced Series Mode (or Total Surge Cancellation Technology) is arguably better but even Series Mode is "good enough" protection. There are other companies who switch the location of the inductor and the capacitor but cannot call their product Series Mode since the name is trademarked and another outfit that literally copied an expired patent and the proceeded to add an MOV at the end of their circuit since they modified what they copied and had to change the name of their product on account of the trademark.

I was in a room of the house when an MOV based unit went up in flames and started a fire. I put it out quickly but have a burn spot on the rug to remind me of the event. Now everything is protected with Series Mode technology including the new fridge. Both my neighbors lost their fridge as well as other appliances a few years ago as a result of a very close lightning strike. Now they both have Series Mode filters (cheap insurance) on their appliances.