Surge protector on dimmer???

W

weis5on

Member
If a power strip has a built-in surge protector, is there any danger in putting a dimmer on it?

I have 10 individual 65W incandescent bulbs running to the sockets of the strip, and I wanted to dim them all at once after the strip rather than individually before going into the strip.
 
So you want to put another strip after the surge protected strip, and insert the dimmer into this one? Your 650W load doesn't seem likely to be an issue at all - after all, pushing a fader up is more gentle to the supply than a hard switch on. Don't the surge protection on many of these things is a bit feeble, and many are one-shot devices and may well not even be working. I'm never convinced they actually work!
 
They work well. I was at a place with about 250 employees - all with computers. A drunk hit a pole and caused a high voltage line to drop onto a lower voltage distribution line. We had surge protectors in every office. The surge protector strips were all fried with black marks on them. Every computer was ok. That sold me.
 
If you really want a surge protector to rely on, far as I know a UPS is the best option. I don't think the plastic ubiquitous cheapies can be relied on. I've always assumed the ones that also have protected ethernet and telecommunications ports are probably more reliable.

If your strip just happens to have a protector, don't worry about it. Those are about what comes in, not what goes out.

I do use power strips with circuit breakers on them often. They're usually 15 amps, and can save you from having to track down a breaker box on location. Much easier to reset the power strip...
 
I should have been more specific. I don't need/care about the surge protector, it just so happens that the strip has one built in. I want to dim the lights together, but don't want to cause any electrical damage in the process. Before I went plugging a dimmer in, I wanted to get a second opinion about any potential hazards, as I really don't know much about how the surge protector works.
 
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