Why Do I Need A Surge Protector?
Surge strips are power extensions that also include protection for surges coming over AC power lines. Since power strips are cheaper than surge strips, a customer may ask, "Why do I need a surge protector?" In buildings of all kinds are appliances and other electrical equipment that turn on and off all day long. Each on/off cycle sends a little surge called a transient down the AC power lines of the building. These transients slowly eat away at the circuit boards in almost all consumer electronics today. Much like salt water will eat away metal that is exposed to it over time. The small pits created in the circuit boards can cause data lock-ups, errors and in some cases unexplained hardware failures.
In addition to transients generated inside a building, there are those generated outside a building by utility company power switching, power lines slapping together and lightning. The transients or surges generated by outside sources are much more powerful and potentially damaging than those generated inside the building. They can literally destroy the equipment that is connected to it. Surges that are generated outside a building may enter a building through its AC power, phone, cable TV, satellite TV, DSL/Cable modem or network lines. Electrical transients are attracted to copper wiring and will use any copper path in its quest for a ground. How a surge protector works is that it has components that absorb surges and then shunt away the excess energy they can’t absorb to the buildings ground.
In the rare event a surge protector can’t stop a surge from damaging the equipment plugged into it, surge protectors come with connected equipment warranties.
The Curtis warranty guarantees that if our surge protector failed to stop a surge from damaging the connected equipment, Curtis will repair or replace that equipment up to the dollar value of the warranty on that particular surge protector. For the warranty to apply, all power cords from all equipment to be protected should be plugged into the Curtis surge protector, as should all external phone, network, cable, TV, satellite or coax lines. Since not every piece of equipment has all of these connections, Curtis builds a surge protector suited to a particular application.
In broad strokes, the Curtis line is divided into three basic categories; general purpose or multi-use, personal computer or home/office, and multimedia/network or professional series products.
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