c-bass said:
Is it necessary to have "surge protected" power bars or can just a overload protected power bar be used? I can't see any equipment being affected with any potential electrical surges but I may be way off here. It just saves me from buying something else...
Yea, most everything for aquaria is pretty tolerant of electrical surges, at least the kind a surge protector can help with.
almost all lights are powered by some form of industrial ballast, which is designed to take poor power in stride. Magnetic induction pumps, powerheads and filters all rely on a fulcuating magnetic field to spin the impeller, so a little surge won't do anything there.
heaters, well, it's just a long wire that gets hot wound around a ceramic core. I guess a big surge might cause it to burn out, but i doubt it.
Only thing I'm concerned about and have protected is the computer that regulates my
CO2 system. anything computerized should deff. have surge protection!
Instead of buying expensive power bars (multi strips) with surge protection built in, you can buy a single surge protector adapter that goes between your first multi-strip and the wall outlet. It will protect everything plugged into it, including chained strips.
hmm - home depot won't let me link to it, but they have a 6 outlet surge thingy for $7, then you plug as many cheapo multi-strips into it as you need (up to 1200 watts total)