Surges often go unnoticed, often lasting only 1/120^th of a second, but they are much more common and destructive than you might think. According to recent studies, your electrical equipment is constantly experiencing surges of varying power. Some of them can be absorbed by your power supply while others can only be handled by a quality surge suppressor. The most destructive power surges will wipe out anything that gets in their way!

Where Do They Come From?
In this power-hungry computer age, utility power systems are often pushed beyond their capacity, resulting in unstable, unreliable power for consumers. Overburdened power grids can generate powerful surges as they switch between sources or generate "rolling surges" when power is momentarily disrupted. Local sources can also generate surges - for example, if your neighbor starts up an electrical motor or the office on the floor below you blows a fuse.

What About Lightning?
Lightning can send a spectacular power surge along any conductive line to destroy everything in its path. NO MATTER WHAT OTHER MANUFACTURES CLAIM, NO SURGE SUPPRESSOR IN THE WORLD WILL SURVIVE A DIRECT LIGHTNING STRIKE. It’s like saying your car would make it through nuclear explosion! However, if you make the right choice in power protection, your surge suppressor will take the hit - ending up melted - but your equipment will stay protected.

What Can I Do?
Power surges are a fact of life, but protecting yourself is relatively easy with Tripp Lite power protection. All our high-quality Surge Suppressors, Line Conditioners and UPS Systems feature exceptional surge handling circuitry. Our systems come with Ultimate Lifetime Insurance covering all your connected equipment - even against direct lightning strikes! With Tripp Lite Ultimate Lifetime Insurance, if your connected equipment is ever directly damaged by a power surge from any source, Tripp Lite will pay up to the level of the unit’s policy to have it replaced or repaired.

How can I compare and choose the level of protection I need?
There are many rating systems that measure surge protection:

Joule Ratings - The Bigger The Better! Joule ratings measure your surge suppressors ability to absorb surges. Joules are a way of measuring energy. Unfortunately some companies may inflate their joule ratings without adding any extra protection circuitry to their products! In general, 200 joules will give you basic protection, 400 joules provide good protection and anything with over 600 joules can be considered exceptional. Tripp Lite surge suppressors boast ratings of up to 1500 joules - and have the advanced circuitry to back them up!

Surge Amp Ratings - Higher Ratings Offer More Protection. Although often replaced by Joule ratings, Amp levels are another important factor in determining surge strength. Once again, you should go for the highest amp protection levels you can find.

UL 1449 Voltage Let-through Ratings - 500, 400 & 330 Underwriter Laboratories tests each surge suppressor and rates them according to the amount of voltage they let-through to your equipment. The lower the let-through voltage, the better the surge suppressor is. UL established the 330 volt let-through as the benchmark because lower ratings added no real benefit to equipment protection, while surge components, forced to work harder, failed prematurely. Be wary of companies claiming lower let-through ratings! Not only are they misleading, they’re also an admission that a product may not have the specs to tell it like it is!

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