On 9/24/2010 7:54 PM, westom wrote:
On Sep 24, 4:57 pm, wrote:
Its a while back now but I think it had a MOV inside and some crappy
little circuit board. I didn't spend much time looking at it, it annoyed
me as I needed to use the equipment connected to it and didn't have a
spare strip available. So very hasty hatchet job.

Any protector damaged by a surge was never doing any protection. In
any facility that can never have damage, the protector is always
located at the service entrance (ie breaker box) with the always
required shot connection to earth.

TV connects directly to AC mains if plugged into that cheap
protector. Only thing between the TV and AC mains a 15 amp circuit
breaker. CB exists on every power strip - with or without protector
circuits. Nothing inside a power strip protector changes electricity.

If the wall receptacle is worn (must be replaced), then a two prong
TV plug can be intermittent. A three prong power strip plug would be
held firmly. TVs also have internal protector circuits. That
safety lockout is reset only by unplugging the TV. Two possible
reasons for TV failure.


Read up on MOV's

From Belkin :

So what does this mean with regard to surge protection? Well, a typical
surge protector (PowerSquid included) utilizes Metal Oxide Varistors
(MOVs) to redirect electric currents above a specified voltage (clamping
voltage) instead of allowing the surge to enter the connected equipment.
The MOV absorbs the excess electrical energy - here is where the joule
comes in - and dissipates it as heat energy. MOVs are rated by the
number of joules that they can absorb, which is a finite number.
Ultimately, after the MOVs absorb all of the joules that they can, the
surge protector will activate its Tripwire Circuit and sacrifice itself
for the betterment of the connected equipment. In other words: you will
have to replace your surge protector,

JC