"Eco" surge protectors...ugh.

[Ichinisan]

A while back, I needed a surge protector with a particular design and orientation, so I wasted a whole weekend checking every store in town (and some out of town) for one that met my needs. I needed to use mounting tape to stick it to the underside of a black glass shelf on my TV stand. The ports had to be oriented to allow large transformer plugs (NES, SNES) to hang without falling out. I eventually had to give-in and buy this one from Wal-Mart.

It's one of those "Green" surge protectors where most of the ports are controlled by whether-or-not there is power draw on the "master" outlet. Ugh.

Walmart also had this one with a much better price, but the port orientation is different just to f--- with me.

I understand the concept for these "Green" surge protectors, but it doesn't help me save power one bit! I find myself leaving the 52" TV on when I have to run off for a while, just so my 8-bit Nintendo doesn't turn-off and lose my progress.

I know it's dangerous to mess with these things. I've been tempted to take it apart and see if it would be simple to convert to always-on, but that would obviously invalidate any equipment replacement guarantee. I'll leave that sort of thing to Rubycon or PowerEngineer.

I would have gotten one like this if the damn stores would have stocked it.

 

[Crono]

Moral of the story: order online if you really need it a certain way - buy in-store only if you need it quick

EDIT: I hate when I can't fit power bricks onto the outlets on power strips/surge protectors

 

[PottedMeat]

I understand the concept for these "Green" surge protectors, but it doesn't help me save power one bit! I find myself leaving the 52" TV on when I have to run off for a while, just so my 8-bit Nintendo doesn't turn-off and lose my progress.

heheh i remember doing this. the most i could leave it on was a few hours before my dad saw the red power light and turned it off until i put black tape on it.

 

[blinblue]

I love those types of surge protectors. I have it for my computer, I turn off my computer and my monitors, speakers and printers all automatically turn off.

To solve the issue of adapters blocking ports, get one of those "squid" style ones

http://www.amazon.com/Accell-PowerSq...lectrical+cord

 

[rudeguy]

Moral of the story:

Always buy Monster

 

[Ichinisan]

I love those types of surge protectors. I have it for my computer, I turn off my computer and my monitors, speakers and printers all automatically turn off.

That would be fine if I never connected multiple computers simultaneously and
alternately shut down to switch parts and such.

To solve the issue of adapters blocking ports, get one of those "squid" style ones

http://www.amazon.com/Accell-PowerSq...lectrical+cord

I try to reduce wiring messes by using short cords and intelligently-mounted surge protectors. Using one of those squid things, there's pretty much no way to prevent a wiring mess (especially if there are some fat transformers on it).

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Eco? From what in gathering it turns off when the load drops below a certain threshold? Not a terrible idea for cable boxes (except for their outrageous boot up times) and other devices that such power while "off"

Terrible idea for many things though, or if the the threshold is too high.

 

[rudeguy]

Eco? From what in gathering it turns off when the load drops below a certain threshold? Not a terrible idea for cable boxes (except for their outrageous boot up times) and other devices that such power while "off"

Terrible idea for many things though, or if the the threshold is too high.

Cable box would also lose all of its guide programming and most likely need a refresh signal sent to it to get it running again. Also if it misses a certain number of designated check-ins, it will be blacklist as non-responder and be shut down.

 

[0roo0roo]

modern stuff uses power converters that draw almost nothing on idle. tv's use almost nothing on idle now too, so its a big scam.
unless u got some huge wall warts from 1990 its just a waste of time, and even then you can just use a $1.99 power strip to control that manually

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Cable box would also lose all of its guide programming and most likely need a refresh signal sent to it to get it running again. Also if it misses a certain number of designated check-ins, it will be blacklist as non-responder and be shut down.

WTF? I have satellite and I turn off my box all the time. Guess I'm never getting cable.

 

[TheSpy007]

WTF? I have satellite and I turn off my box all the time. Guess I'm never getting cable.

When you power it off its still running. These stupid eco protectors cut all power to the device if the master is not on, like the same as unplugging the power cable. My direct TV box takes like 15 mins to fully reboot.

 

[Leros]

When you power it off its still running. These stupid eco protectors cut all power to the device if the master is not on, like the same as unplugging the power cable. My direct TV box takes like 15 mins to fully reboot.

Yup. Turning it off only puts it into standby mode. Actually cutting power to the cable box requires a 15 minutes reboot.

 

[Modelworks]

Spend your time and money on more important energy savings, hot water heater blankets, more insulation, weather stripping on windows and doors, programmable thermostat. All of those will make more of an impact than 20 devices left plugged in on standby.

I also avoid all of those plastic socket surge strips if possible. The contacts are terrible and the reliability of the connection is also poor. Look for strips that use actual outlets like the kind you have in your walls.


This one is my favorite , 10 outlets for $29
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F9D1000...ds=power+strip]

 

[kalrith]

When you power it off its still running. These stupid eco protectors cut all power to the device if the master is not on, like the same as unplugging the power cable. My direct TV box takes like 15 mins to fully reboot.

And it's even worse if you have a DVR. A DVR would only record shows while the TV is turned on, which totally defeats the purpose.

I have one device that draws an excessive amount of power while not in use: my Klipsch Promedia computer speakers. They're the first generation and don't have a standby feature, so they constantly draw 20W of power. I just stuck them on a strip plug that's plugged into my surge protector and flip the switch when I'm not running my speakers.

Even if I wanted to use an "Eco" surge protector for this situation, I couldn't because my computer's plugged into a UPS.

 

[Rubycon]

I also avoid all of those plastic socket surge strips if possible. The contacts are terrible and the reliability of the connection is also poor. Look for strips that use actual outlets like the kind you have in your walls.


This one is my favorite , 10 outlets for $29
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F9D1000...ds=power+strip]

This is very important particularly if you're going to run higher power loads - up to the 15A maximum - on a single outlet. The (non discrete) "sockets" on the cheap ones are borderline dangerous IMO. Older strips (often without spike protection) were better because they were metal with actual sockets in them like the one pictured above.

NEVER modify a power strip if you are not familiar with line voltage wiring and proper wire termination methodology. It's a recipe for disaster!

 

[sswingle]

So the 3 always on outlets aren't enough for you?

 

[Ichinisan]

So the 3 always on outlets aren't enough for you?

Nope.

...really, there are 4 always-on outlets if you count the "master."

 

[Ichinisan]

heheh i remember doing this. the most i could leave it on was a few hours before my dad saw the red power light and turned it off until i put black tape on it.

The model 2 (top loader) didn't have a power light at all and you never had to blow in the carts. :thumbsup:

 

[Sonikku]

If Liberals have shown us anything, anything with the turn "Eco" in it is LAME.