considering i'm electronics / electrically illiterate, i figured i'd ask this question here.
Just had a surge protector burn out during a lighting strike - nothing plugged into it was fried but it was. So i was looking at replacement strips and noticed the cheaper ones are showing like "40 joule protection" and the more expensive ones 400-700 joule protection.
THen out of curiousty i looked at the specs on my CyberPower UPS, and it lists 2800 joules
so, am i correct in assuming that the more joules, the stronger a spike in current the strip can handle without frying? If that's the case, it would seem to be half dozen of one and 6 of the other in terms of which to buy - if the surge protector fries at 40 joules but in frying saves the equipment plugged into it, what's a higher rated (and more expensive) surge protector strip doing but saving me the inconvenience of having to buy a replacement surge strip?
Just had a surge protector burn out during a lighting strike - nothing plugged into it was fried but it was. So i was looking at replacement strips and noticed the cheaper ones are showing like "40 joule protection" and the more expensive ones 400-700 joule protection.
THen out of curiousty i looked at the specs on my CyberPower UPS, and it lists 2800 joules
so, am i correct in assuming that the more joules, the stronger a spike in current the strip can handle without frying? If that's the case, it would seem to be half dozen of one and 6 of the other in terms of which to buy - if the surge protector fries at 40 joules but in frying saves the equipment plugged into it, what's a higher rated (and more expensive) surge protector strip doing but saving me the inconvenience of having to buy a replacement surge strip?