ORIGINAL: Susan G
Maybe I'm asking the wrong question. Is there something that specifically protects against "zaps" like these (without causing a fire hazard itself?)?

http://www.provantage.com/tripp-ht1010sat3~7TRPS02J.htm
http://www.provantage.com/tripp-ht10dbs~7TRPS02H.htm

Look for high spike energy ratings (in J, or Joules). Tripp-Lite has some good ones, I think because they put the surge protection inside the filtering circuits, which works better than doing each piece (filtering and suppression) separately.

Anyway, that's good for spikes and surges whose sources are far away on the line. But if your dad is dealing with lighting strikes close by, he may need to have something professionally installed.

I'm sitting here looking at a WD1200 disk that has pix of my grandkids and a whole flurry of music that is now a paperweight due to 2 abrupt power outs.

At least you have your backup. Right? Right?

I do software/data backups and I have hardware backups (mobo, psu, video etc). It's cheaper (IMHO) than UPS. Yes, there is the danger of losing a project when/if disaster strikes but I'll assume when that happens I'll have bigger fish to fry than the song(s) in process.

No UPS planned here (especially augmented by Frank's and Mike's expoerience).

ORIGINAL: Susan G

Hi-

I need to get a UPS and am only familiar with APC units since that's what my company uses. There's one at Amazon here, but I don't really know what I'm looking for/at.

All suggestions welcome!

Thanks-

-Susan

That is similar to the APC model I have and it works fine. I've had mine for about a year now and it has already paid for itself. I've had a few blackouts here (had another one about a week ago) and was able to shut down with time to spare. You don't need anything more than this for a simple PC/monitor DAW setup. I went through a few different models from Best Buy/Circuit City before getting this one (at least one unit was defective right out of the box).

I didn't notice an increase in my electricity bill but I wasn't really paying that close attention. Seems like our energy costs have gone up for reasons not related to the purchase of a UPS.

ORIGINAL: Susan G

Thanks for all the great feedback!

I'm probably going to keep doing what I'm doing, which is to shut down/unplug when I know nasty weather is approaching. I can shut down my PC remotely from work, which is better than nothing.

The inquiry was really more for my Dad than me. He's in Florida and they've had some pretty violent storms lately. His modem and PC got zapped by a lightning strike recently (although his electricity stayed on, oddly enough) and he asked me what I use . I had an episode recently that blew out only my NIC card, so I was wondering for myself, too.

Maybe I'm asking the wrong question. Is there something that specifically protects against "zaps" like these (without causing a fire hazard itself?)?

I'll pass along a synopsis of what you all say and see where he wants to go from there.

Thanks again-

-Susan

One of those entry level APC UPS models will work fine for your dad. Money well worth spent if you ask me. My daughter's PC got killed by a lightning strike recently (only took out the power supply which was easily replaced). She's on a UPS now. This global warming is killing our stuff

Wow, no UPS fires here (knock on wood!). Something that may help is to test your UPS more or less regularly (say, once a month). Just pull the UPS plug from the wall / turn off the outlet, and let it do its thing. If it works and it's not getting warm, then it's probably OK. If not, then it's time to replace the battery and/or the whole UPS.

I had an old Belkin UPS that would not hold a charge. The battery would just get hot, and then on power-out it would just die. On a lark, I looked up the battery for it online, and when I found a replacement for $16, I figured "What the heck?" I got it, just to see if changing the battery would fix it. It did, just like new (again, knock on wood). It's currently pulling duty as backup power for my internet phone modem.

ORIGINAL: Beagle
the only way to protect your equipment from lightning strikes is to unplug it from the power completely.

indeed. on a slightly related note, if you daisy chain a UPS with a surge protector with the surge protector first in line from the wall socket, the UPS typically won't work very well. at least that's been my experience with the mid-level APC units.

Hi, Susan,

Interesting thread, and lots of good, informative answers.

One more thing I'd like to add is that if you (or your dad--or anyone else reading this) live in an area where the power goes out regularly, it can really shorten the life of the batteries in your UPS. I live in the boonies and I'm on a rural electric co-op. The power in my area goes off many times during the year, especially during the winter, when snow downs the power lines, etc.. The outages can last from a minute or less to several hours and even a day. If the power happens to go out in the middle of the night while you're asleep (which it does frequently here), and you can't hear the buzzer in the UPS going off, it'll run until the battery simply dies out. Between my wife and I, we've replaced a whole lot of UPS batteries over the years which gets expensive after awhile. Turning off the PC every time you walk away is helpful, of course, but that gets old, too. ;>) And, no, I don't use the software that came with my UPS units.

But, one thing that I haven't seen mentioned in this thread (except peripherally by WaveScape) is that some UPS's provide regulated power. This is a worthwhile feature if you (or your dad) live in an area where power outages/fluctuations are common. Where there are outages, there are usually large power fluctuations, too. Giving your PC regulated power does extend it's life under these conditions. And, WaveScape is right: You really should have sine wave power regulation, not "simulated sine wave". This means a much more expensive UPS, of course.

If you're simply looking for good spike suppression, there's tons of devices available that will accomplish that. The higher the Joule rating, the better, as someone else has already mentioned. But, even with good spike suppression, a close lightening strike will probably take out any electronics that are plugged into a wall socket. I've lost two TV's and a variety of other electronic devices over the years to nearby lightening strikes (one hit the power pole between my neighbor's house and my house as I stood looking out the window. Quite, um, spectacular----and scary). As for me, nowadays I just go around the house and unplug any and all electronic equipment that is plugged into a wall socket at the first sign of T-storms. Even this isn't fool-proof, as others have said, but it's the safest thing I've found so far. ;>)

Best regards,
Bill

I'm sorry to here about those hard drive failures.

ORIGINAL: bapu ~ At least you have your backup. Right? Right?

Nope. This was the drive that made a backup nerd out of me. I now design backup systems for our company. It was actually a MFT corruption due to hard outs. The reason I'm always looking at it is I am slowly recovering the files onto another disk. (grandkids... 4 billion photos ya' know and a zillion songs from my CD collection).

I bought a commercial APC UPS from a hospital in Canada on eBay. Cost more for shipping than the unit. 35 bucks plus 70 bucks shipping. Originally this APC cost 1800 bucks when it came out. Spent another 75.00 on new batteries. This unit goes into one grounded wall plug and chains into every device in my studio. This powers 2 computers, one with dual monitors, Tascam DAW, triple pre-amps, 2 effects boxes, headphone system, powered monitors, dual mixers, a drum machine, TV and 2 printers... one being laser.

The load phase hardly budges until my sweetheart would power on the laser printer then it would a little bit.

We have lost power and not missed a beat. Didn't have to rush to shut stuff down. I estimate I can comfortably shut stuff down and then operate the computer alone for 30 minutes or so.

Point being this was a 180.00 solution that has operated without a glitch for 5 years. Ever 2 years I spend 75 bucks for new batteries. My studio voltage is rock solid, and signal chain is dead silent and if a storm comes up I unplug one plug.