Computer Surge Protectors In Pattaya

[gguy]

I just purchased a new computer.

Do I need a surge protector or additional power supply with surge protector to protect my computer in case of power outage or voltage spike?

I noticed surge protectors and surge protectors attached to a battery at the local computer store. Some products mentioned the ability to even out the power supply to the computer.

What do most people use in Pattaya? Any preferred brands?

Thanks

[patklang]

I would welcome any comment on this as i dont use anything and with the bad weather lately,could be a good idea.

GOOD POST!!!!!!!

[RabC]

Yes I would recommend a surge protector/UPS to protect your computer. I have a friend who has blown 2 mother boards due to erratic supply voltages. Also the UPS will allow you to safely save data during the regular power cuts.

[JimShortz]

YES, YES, YES

If you don't you risk destroying your hard drive (physically, not just the data) and losing all of your data every time there is a powercut, however brief it is. If your computer is actively writing to the disk when the power goes off you have a decent chance of destroying the disk.

Buy an UPS - google for details of what this is and what to look for when buying one.

[syd barrett]

Do not buy a cheap UPS surge protector. Use your noggin and get the most expensive one they have in Tuk Com and then ask for a 10% discount.

[NanLaew]

Full blown UPS with built-in surge protection that includes protection & filtering of phone/modem/ADSL lines: best pay for the top of the line APC units. I have seen these top-floor at Tuk-com as well as a few other shops on the regular hardware floors.

Basic surge protection of peripherals, printers and the like: only Belkin and Wanpro products should be considered. I have seen Belkin outlet strips only at Carrefour and Wanpro outlet strips infrequently at HomePro.

[timekeeper]

Full blown UPS with built-in surge protection that includes protection & filtering of phone/modem/ADSL lines: best pay for the top of the line APC units. I have seen these top-floor at Tuk-com as well as a few other shops on the regular hardware floors.

Basic surge protection of peripherals, printers and the like: only Belkin and Wanpro products should be considered. I have seen Belkin outlet strips only at Carrefour and Wanpro outlet strips infrequently at HomePro.

i have APC units all over the house, not only on computers but on the TV's

i have had power units on TV's blown up in the past and each time its been 5000+ to get fixed

i have never had any problems since i installed UPS everywhere

[longball53098]

If you live in an area that is prone to frequent power outages, power spikes and lightning storms it would be very wise to invest in the best UPS/surge protection you can afford or plan on unplugging your equipment any time a storm is near or whn you think a surge is coming. Oh if you can tell when a surge is coming let me know as I want you to tell us when the baht goes to 50 to the dollar.

Any valuable piece of electrical equipment you own is prone to this problem and a someone said TV's, stereo's and any other stuff with electronics is subject to spikes. Also the phone lines coming in as well as the Sat TV and cable TV and the antennas. All should be earthed and protected with surge devices.

All this is good stuff and good insurance. But if lightning hits the pole outside you're house you had better hope you're not home as nothing can protect the stuff.

[plasticpig]

Bought a Lenonics, UPS Green 500

about 6 years ago from Wattana, Pattaya North road. (not sure of the spelling)

Think it was about, 3,000 baht at the time.

Never had a problem with it, still has the same battery inside and

gives plenty of time to close all equipment down if there is a power outage.

Also you can run your phone line through it as well.

never had any equipment fried yet.

Have a look on the top floor of Tuk com, think I saw the same units up for sale as old stock.

( could be cheap)

Hope that’s of some help.

[Ungabunga]

Here are some surge protectors/UPS at Tukcom with prices as a guide for you.

[dogleg]

I bought a Leonics explorer 500 which wasnt fast acting enough to stop my router from restarting. replaced with Syndome which works perfectly.

[plasticpig]

Leonics Green 500, Works fine with my Router.

Edited May 19, 2009 by plasticpig

[Pattaya46]

... Also the UPS will allow you to safely save data during the regular power cuts.

Regular power cuts ?? What are you talking about ?

I did have a few power cuts, mainly during storms, and its was the whole condo or area without electricity, but I certainly would not speak about "regular cuts" in Pattaya, or at least not in my area (not far from Tukcom).

[Asianrider]

if there is a bad electrical storm tend to turn the computer off for the duration

[sometime]

If you live in an area that is prone to frequent power outages, power spikes and lightning storms it would be very wise to invest in the best UPS/surge protection you can afford or plan on unplugging your equipment any time a storm is near or whn you think a surge is coming. Oh if you can tell when a surge is coming let me know as I want you to tell us when the baht goes to 50 to the dollar.

Any valuable piece of electrical equipment you own is prone to this problem and a someone said TV's, stereo's and any other stuff with electronics is subject to spikes. Also the phone lines coming in as well as the Sat TV and cable TV and the antennas. All should be earthed and protected with surge devices.

All this is good stuff and good insurance. But if lightning hits the pole outside you're house you had better hope you're not home as nothing can protect the stuff.

While I do agree with the need for surge protection, don’t get too complacent once you have fitted them, especially when there is a storm close by, I have now started to throw the main breaker at the first sound of a rumble,,” you may think that’s a bit over the top”

But in the last lightning storm that happened in the early hours of the morning, I was a little slow to throw the main switch, it blew out two water heaters that were turned off before the main breaker tripped out.

On the second strike it hit the ground continuing up the grounding rod for the pool pump house electrical system; there it wrecked anything that was earthed, ( this is the second time)

We always unplug all electrical things at night or when we go out.

Sometimes, lightning may strike the ground outside our buildings and the power surge can travel along the ground and then enter our homes through the building’s grounding wires. (see graphic Surge and destroy)

When lightning strikes, it’s power is anything from one hundred million volts to one Billion volts

Edited May 19, 2009 by sometime

[longball53098]

Totally agree with sometime on this. How far you go in shutting own and unplugging is "up to you". Better safe than sorry is the old adage.

[Carmine6]

If you live in an area that is prone to frequent power outages, power spikes and lightning storms it would be very wise to invest in the best UPS/surge protection you can afford or plan on unplugging your equipment any time a storm is near or whn you think a surge is coming. Oh if you can tell when a surge is coming let me know as I want you to tell us when the baht goes to 50 to the dollar.

Any valuable piece of electrical equipment you own is prone to this problem and a someone said TV's, stereo's and any other stuff with electronics is subject to spikes. Also the phone lines coming in as well as the Sat TV and cable TV and the antennas. All should be earthed and protected with surge devices.

All this is good stuff and good insurance. But if lightning hits the pole outside you're house you had better hope you're not home as nothing can protect the stuff.

While I do agree with the need for surge protection, don’t get too complacent once you have fitted them, especially when there is a storm close by, I have now started to throw the main breaker at the first sound of a rumble,,” you may think that’s a bit over the top”

But in the last lightning storm that happened in the early hours of the morning, I was a little slow to throw the main switch, it blew out two water heaters that were turned off before the main breaker tripped out.

On the second strike it hit the ground continuing up the grounding rod for the pool pump house electrical system; there it wrecked anything that was earthed, ( this is the second time)

We always unplug all electrical things at night or when we go out.

Sometimes, lightning may strike the ground outside our buildings and the power surge can travel along the ground and then enter our homes through the building’s grounding wires. (see graphic Surge and destroy)

When lightning strikes, it’s power is anything from one hundred million volts to one Billion volts

My ex-gf unplugged the TV, DVD, computer, etc. even though plugged into a surge protector. Annoyed me to no end to have to uncoil all the wires and plug them all in if I visited, but probably keeps all her gear whole. This is in Bangkok, so no real lightning strike danger, but possible power supply issues.

[nam-thip]

Here goes with my own damage report.

Around eight years ago a lightning strike cost me 1000 baht’s worth of repairs to my computer even though I had an in-line UPS. The guy who carried out the repairs gave me some strong advice that I obviously only party listened to.

That advice was to ‘pull the plugs’ when the computers not in use or there’s a threat of an electrical storm.

Not long after the above incident another electrical storm cost me 6000 baht worth of repairs to my computer, fax and printer.

Last year a lighting strike took out my dial-up modem which cost 800 baht to replace.

Last month a bolt of lightning took out my desk tops computers motherboard and the wireless modem, the computer repairs cost me 3.350 baht which was to replace the motherboard and power unit, as yet I haven’t replaced the wireless modem which will cost in the region of 3500 baht.

At the time of the lightning strike I was going around my home pulling the plugs and just as I bent down to pull the plug to the computer “BANG”

My home is earthed!!

I have a surge protector at the socket, into that I plug a surge protected extension lead to which I plug my UPS into and the flash of lightning went through the lot at the same time killing the electricity to my estate.

The surge protector at the socket didn’t even trip out!!

Lightning is a powerful force and is a Thai style surge protector the answer?

In my case, ‘No it wasn’t’.

I have friends who have suffered the same fate with TV’s. Air con units, computers all damaged from an electrical strike or power surge.

The only sure fire way is to kill the power at the mains or pull the plugs as soon as you hear thunder.

[longball53098]

Here goes with my own damage report.

Around eight years ago a lightning strike cost me 1000 baht’s worth of repairs to my computer even though I had an in-line UPS. The guy who carried out the repairs gave me some strong advice that I obviously only party listened to.

That advice was to ‘pull the plugs’ when the computers not in use or there’s a threat of an electrical storm.

Not long after the above incident another electrical storm cost me 6000 baht worth of repairs to my computer, fax and printer.

Last year a lighting strike took out my dial-up modem which cost 800 baht to replace.

Last month a bolt of lightning took out my desk tops computers motherboard and the wireless modem, the computer repairs cost me 3.350 baht which was to replace the motherboard and power unit, as yet I haven’t replaced the wireless modem which will cost in the region of 3500 baht.

At the time of the lightning strike I was going around my home pulling the plugs and just as I bent down to pull the plug to the computer “BANG”

My home is earthed!!

I have a surge protector at the socket, into that I plug a surge protected extension lead to which I plug my UPS into and the flash of lightning went through the lot at the same time killing the electricity to my estate.

The surge protector at the socket didn’t even trip out!!

Lightning is a powerful force and is a Thai style surge protector the answer?

In my case, ‘No it wasn’t’.

I have friends who have suffered the same fate with TV’s. Air con units, computers all damaged from an electrical strike or power surge.

The only sure fire way is to kill the power at the mains or pull the plugs as soon as you hear thunder.

You're last statement is the most accurate and best protection if a big storm is in the area. If the device is electrical and you want to protect it from a lightning strike/surge then any and all wires to that device MUST be disconnected. A lightning strike even near a house or apartment can cause an unbelievable surge that can enter equipment and ruin it. All wiring is an entry point. If it was possible to put a master disconnect to all devices it would be advisable. But for the home consumer/user the easiest and simplest is to disconnect ALL wires from what you want to protect. Switching off things is not protection as the surge is so powerful and fast that it can literally jump/arc across an open switch. Unplug the devices.

Very short story. Many years ago my parents TV antenna was struck. The resulting surge blew the telephone off the wall, wiped out the clock on the stove, blew the TV power supply.

Lightning is very, very powerful.