The writer bought a top of the line automatic power control (APC) which is supposed to act as a surge protector, voltage control and a battery back up which keeps the computer running while the system shuts itself down. A power outage with a preliminary surge took out the system and the APC and the modem.

Part of the problem lies with NSPC since we are the first customer after the main transformer and routinely have 125/250 volts or higher which they refuse to lower since it meets government limits. During peak heating periods, the delivered voltage is often around 115/230. My HP3 Laser Jet Printer power supplies had an average life time of 3 months. It was designed to operate at 110 volts.

The editor has also had some experience with power bars and their associated problems and his comments follow.

As did Dr. Wulfman, I have used a number of surge protectors in selected parts of my home.  I knew from reading that a surge protector is essential to protect sensitive and expensive equipment such as a computer and peripherals, televisions and so on.  I had also lost a video recorder thanks to the same fluctuating power supply described earlier. After placing appropriately sized surge protectors, I basked briefly in the mistaken belief that I was thenceforth protected.  Circumstances would prove otherwise because, as I would later discover, there are significant limitations to the abilities of surge protectors to reliably do their job. To discuss in detail here the ins and outs of this topic would require far more space and expertise than I have. Suffice to say that, from research subsequent to the loss of my second 3,500 Joule protector, I learned that:

• Surge protectors degrade over time with the on/off switching of the equipment they protect. This results in them eventually becoming ineffective or failing altogether.  The better models have an indicator showing or sounding when they have failed, but not all do this.  It has been suggested that protectors have a maximum life of about ten years after which they should be proactively replaced.
  

• Most surge protectors when they fail do not cut the current off.  When they fail they simply stop protecting. Some have a little light which goes out when a failure occurs, but not all.
  

• Surge protectors use a device called a varistor inside their casing.  It is the varistor which "blows" in the event of a surge surpassing the device's capacity and, when it does, it can create considerable heat, so much in fact that a fire can result.  It is for that reason that the safest types have metal cases, yet the vast majority of devices offered at retail for use in homes have plastic cases.  One of my own plastic cased protectors which failed (evidently having done its job) was completely charred inside with melted plastic and other parts.
  

• Not all safety labeling can be relied on.  Some safety labeling has been found to be fraudulent.  See here for details.
  

• To be truly effective in the way that most people expect they are anyway, surge protectors should be used in conjunction with a surge arrestor installed within the main fuse panel. This is not a simple or cheap endeavour; it would require the attention of a qualified electrician.
  

For a very thorough overview of the fire hazards of surge protectors, click here.  Though a somewhat technical read, I have found this to be the best overview of the topic.  The bottom line, though, is that the use of a surge protector is a wise precaution so long as their limitations are understood.  Buy a metal cased model if you can and locate it away from flammables.

For Canadian guidelines relating to the use of power bars and surge protectors, click here.

Finally, I have read suggestions that many fires attributed to being caused by an unknown electrical fault may actually have been caused by the failing of a surge protecting device, a cautionary note indeed.

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