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Ask Slashdot: Surge Protection For International Travel?
New submitter gaiageek writes: As someone who has lost a laptop power supply (and thus use of the laptop) due to a late-night power surge while traveling in a developing country, I'm acutely aware of the need for surge protection when traveling abroad. While practically all laptop and phone power adapters these days are voltage auto-sensing 100V-240V compatible, most so-called "travel" surge protectors are restricted to either 110V or 220V. Given the space and weight constraints of carry-on only travel, I'd like to avoid having to carry two separate surge protectors knowing I may go from Central America (110V) to Southeast Asia (220V). Strangely, laptop specific surge protectors typically are 100V-240V compatible, but this doesn't provide protection for a phone or tablet that requires the original power supply (can't be charged from a notebook USB port).
Is there really no solution out there short using a 110V-240V notebook surge protector with an adapter to go from a "cloverleaf" notebook plug to a 5-15R (standard US) plug receptacle?
Is there really no solution out there short using a 110V-240V notebook surge protector with an adapter to go from a "cloverleaf" notebook plug to a 5-15R (standard US) plug receptacle?
The problem is, 200 Volts on a 110V circuit is a surge and will fry a 110V power supply. So surge protectors need to be voltage specific or they become ineffective at lower voltages.
I would go another route: Make sure that your have spare/alternative ways to power or charge your equipment. For example carry a 12V charger for your laptop (also works on some airplanes). Only buy equipment (phones/tablets) you can charge from an USB outlet. Carry a spare USB charger.
This will get easier over time with the USB type C connector and USB power delivery, as modern devices get equipped with it.
I have a Lindy Surge Protector (model number 73311) which has a cloverleaf input, a cloverleaf output, a "universal" (Multi region power socket) output plug, and 2 usb outputs (1A maximum). It's rated for 660W max at 110V and 1380W Max at 230V.
So I'm clear: you have a collection of devices with switch-mode power supplies that can handle the global 100-240V power, and you want a surge suppressor that will protect you on any voltage.
Since your power supplies can handle up to 240V, you just need a surge suppressor that handles spikes above 240V. So buy a 240V-rated surge suppressor, and use a 120V plug adapter for countries with lower voltage. Since your devices already handle up to 240V, then they can handle minor over-voltages on 120V systems just fine. Bigger spikes, like lightning, are going to be high over-voltages regardless of the base voltage.
I'm not sure of your solution if you have devices that have only-120V or only-240V power supplies, and you need a surge suppressor that can protect both. Buy new wide-band power supplies or build your own (it's not that hard).
Rather than carry why not buy on the spot in the country you're travelling to? Every airport should have a duty-free shop of some sort. What you'll probably find are power strips with surge protection rather than something specifically marketed as a surge protector. Look for one with a fuse or a mini circuit breaker. If you're worried about the quality, then you can try daisy-chaining two of them.
From US, but spend 90% of my time abroad for work. I bought a US power strip w/ surge protector, for my devices to plug into, and then attach a voltage adapter to the input plug on the strip. I swap adapters depending on what country I'm in--each of which is only slightly larger than the length of the plug on the power strip, so it's not a big deal to carry a half dozen of them around in my luggage. This has served me well for about 3 years now.
I hope you realize that the optimal "waveform" from a USB charger is a flat line. There isn't such a thing as "waveform quality" with DC power, which is what USB uses. Ripple, maybe, from insufficient filtering, but not "waveform". That is only an issue with inverters that output AC mains voltage power.
Modern good laptop power supplies aren't that easy to kill; probably many mains appliances the locals use are more sensitive to troubles on the line (not only spike but also short drops), from fridges or air-condition units (anything that's compressor-based), washing machines, etc. Sure, PSes can die out of the blue, like mostly everything else but you might not be able to prevent this with a surge protector.
If it is critical to have the laptop available then you need to carry (at least) two power supplies AND TWO LAPTOPS! Frankly the power supply can be replaced almost everywhere for less than the cost of 2-4 beers from minibar, is just a 12-20V DC power supply (it can be also jury-rigged from basic parts - YES I know about the laptops with data pins, etc but still a basic supply will work). In fact it is more likely the laptop will die (not only from electrical problems!).
If you don't really need a backup laptop you can plan to use the phone for most of the communication, basic browsing, etc. You can have a memory stick with the important files, bitlocker encrypted if you want, even a fully encrypted bootable linux distribution if you so desire. Heck, you can borrow a machine if absolutely needed at Everest Base Camp, I'm sure you'll be fine anywhere else.
And why, WHY, WHY, WHY would you have in 2016 a phone "that requires the original power supply (can't be charged from a notebook USB port)" ?!?!?!?!!??! YES, we all knows somebody who still has a Nokia from 2008 with the round connector and a battery that goes for three weeks when new and even now from Monday to Friday without any sweat. But I haven't seen anybody on an intercontinental flight with something like that for a while. Even if I do see somebody I'll just assume it is a second phone, to use with a local SIM...
Persistent over/under voltage was always my challenge traveling. A surge protective device doesn't do anything when power is running at 300V for a few seconds. The old MOVs, without proper fusing, would always pop and start smoking, which was a sign to trip the main breaker before everything got fried.
For truly sensitive electronics we always used commodity 12V chargers tied to a big battery bank with individual inverters for each piece of equipment. We might have had a custom filter to deal with ripple current off the chargers, too long ago to remember the details. The chargers lasted 2-3 months on average, but were easy to replace. Normal dual-conversion UPSs would barely last 3-4 months and were much harder to find and more expensive.
For today, I would have two laptop power supplies and an extra battery, and only charge from USB. The bigger USB power supplies are pretty robust, worth carrying extras.