Electrical surges and spikes occur in our power lines regularly. Sometimes they are severe enough to damage sensitive home theater equipment and electronics. From the simple power bar with surge protection to a power center with surge protection, line conditioning, voltage regulation and power backup, you have several options for protecting your investment.
The standard American voltage is 120 volts AC. Surges in electrical energy can be caused by:
- Lightning
- Power company load switching
- Short circuits
- Improper home wiring
- Blackouts
- Household devices like refrigerators, air-conditioners and microwaves
What is a Spike?
A spike is a voltage increase lasting for one or two nanoseconds. A surge is a voltage increase lasting three seconds or more. Spikes and surges negatively affect home theater performance and, over time, these voltage variations can rapidly decrease your equipment’s life. Since today's electronics are smaller and more delicate than older equipment, they are more sensitive to spikes and surges.
While a power bar with surge protection can’t actually save your components from direct lightning, it’s good to know that direct strikes are rare. The best way to protect delicate equipment during a lightning storm is to unplug the equipment.
The coaxial cable that carries cable television or satellite signals to your home theatre can also carry spikes and surges. Protect your home theatre with a power bar that offers protection for the cable, as well as your telephones lines, since they are susceptible to power surges. When choosing the right power bar, there are many things to bear in mind, including these 11 important points:
The Underwriters Laboratories (UL) ratings: UL tests electric and electronic products for safety. Look for a product label that says "UL Listed", not just "UL Approved" or "UL Tested". The label should also say "transient voltage surge suppressor". This is important, since all "UL Listed" power bars do not have surge protection.
The clamping voltage: Clamping voltage is the peak voltage the suppressor will send during a spike or surge to devices plugged into it. Choose a suppressor with a 330 volts clamping voltage. Also look for the symbols L-N, L-G, and N-G, ensuring the device can absorb surges between positive, negative and ground wires.
The Joule rating: A Joule measures the amount of energy the suppressor absorbs and dissipates before failing. You want 600 joules or more. Power protection devices for home theatres rate between 1300 and 2000 joules.
The Response Time: The response time indicates how long it takes for the MOVs to absorb transient voltage. Look for response times of 1 nanosecond or less.
Quality: High quality power protection devices do not create signal loss through their coaxial surge protection. Lower quality power bars with surge protection may cause you to lose as much as 20 to 30 dB and create a huge impact on your cable/satellite television signals.
Power Line Pollution: AC power line and other electrical noise can compromise your home theatre’s performance with:
- Inferior picture quality
- Video streaking
- Lower resolution
- Video bandwidth
- Dynamic distortion
- Loss of peak power
Power line conditioning removes the noise, maximizing your home theatre system’s audio and video performance.
Advanced filters: Filters deliver maximum current to high power components like amplifiers, isolating audio equipment from video equipment. Each component adds noise to the power line that travels to other components. You can avoid this noise transfer by isolating audio and video equipment. Some devices isolate analogue sources from digital sources as well.
Voltage regulators: Voltage regulators or stabilizers often come with high-end power protection and conditioning products. Voltage regulators constantly measure power line voltage, adjusting it to 120 volts as it rises and dips throughout the day.
Battery backup: If your electricity goes out completely, a battery backup lets your home theater system run briefly before your system can shut down correctly. Battery backups can be purchased in addition to the power protection product you’re buying.
Manufacturer's warranty: Generally speaking, great coverage highlights the manufacturer’s confidence in their products. However, most warranties contain many clauses to prevent you from receiving money if your equipment is damaged.
You’ve put a lot of time into choosing your TV media components and how you are going to enjoy them. Choosing the proper protection will give you a piece of mind and allow for many years of enjoyment to come.
