You did all the research. You listened to your friends, neighbors, and even the salesperson at the electronics store and when you decided to spend some of your hard-earned money on that new piece of gear, or system, you also purchased a surge protector to plug it all in so you would be protected from power surges. It was the right thing to do! That was also 5 years ago- and you have not thought about it since…
Here’s the issue- the majority of surge protectors out there (there are some differences- we will cover that in another blog) lose their effectiveness over time, and you have no way of knowing! The most popular method of surge protection is the use of a device called a metal oxide varistor (MOV), it’s basically a sacrificial device that when it sees a large surge of power it gives it’s life to channel it away from your gear. However- it only gets to do that once! Also, over time as it encounters the daily barrage of small spikes and surges that exist, it wears down, eventually to a point it won’t do its job when the big one comes.
There is really no method to know how effective a surge protector is over time. Some have a light that indicates it’s working properly, but those are not always correct either. How long they last are a mixture of the quality of the device and the number of small surges and spikes they take, which can vary greatly from house to house, even room to room, because devices in a room on the same circuit can cause the spikes that other rooms may not see.
So what should you do to make sure all your electronics stay protected? While there are no hard and fast rules, a good basic rule of thumb is to replace your surge protectors every 3-5 years. There are also alternative surge elimination devices available that are better alternatives to traditional MOV based protectors.
Contact one of our system designers and let them do a power audit on your electronic systems. They will come up with a plan to best manage your power connections. Besides basic surge protection, we have a vast array of power products that can filter the noise off of the lines for better performance, hold reserve current for when your system has a peak demand for power, Battery Backups to keep your most critical pieces powered thru power hiccups, and that can remotely monitor and reset devices to aid in troubleshooting.
Rest assured- The Little Guys have the experience and knowledge to walk you thru the power process to make sure you have the best possible protection and performance for years to come!
