Belkin 1-Outlet Surge Protector, 885J, Wall-Mountable | multi-device charging station, compact single-outlet design, travel, home office, small appliances

I exaggerate a little. Putting one of these in front of a fifteen dollar toaster would be kind of silly. But for modern appliances, A/V equipment, computers, and other expensive/sensitive equipment, it's a must for taming surges.My home insurer recently started a program, distributing "Ting" household electrical monitoring devices to insurance holders, for free. Ting just plugs into the wall, you configure it for your wifi, and leave it alone. It does highly sensitive diagnostics of your home's electrical system, continuously. It's revealed in our case that we get regular voltage surges up to 140 or so volts (we're in the US, with "120 volt" power, which normally does fluctuate throughout the day between about 110v and 130v).Our surges are clearly coming from the washer/dryer motors starting and stopping. Not quite sure what the specific 'trigger' is, as usually there's just one surge over the time period that multiple loads of wash and dry are running.Regardless, controlling surges helps devices last longer, reduces the risk of their failure, and protects against anomalous surges, as in when power comes back on after an outage, or other utility events (here in Northern California, we have "Public Safety Power Shutoffs" when weather conditions threaten to knock down powerlines, which can spark wildfires).I'm getting a whole-house surge suppressor installed next week - that'll be great protection from utility events. However, that won't protect devices inside the house from sending surges to _other_ devices in your house.At roughly ten bucks per, these are an excellent protective buffer. I have one on:1. The clothes washer2. The clothes dryer3. The furnace's power (big motor for blower)4. The dishwasher5. The microwave6. The audio and video stuff in the living room (in front of the UPS that also protects them)7. My PC, which is homebuilt, full of high-end components - and it's also in front of the UPS for thatIf you do your typical online 'research', you will find countless claims that you should never plug an Uinterruptible Power Supply (UPS) into a surge suppressor. It's ridiculous how many people repeat this myth uncritically, and with no evidence to back it up. Lots and lots of posturing and claims that the UPS can go sideways in a power event, with the surge suppressor and the UPS's surge suppression "fighting each other". Utter nonsense.*ONE* UPS manufacturer advises against using surge suppressors: APC. Nobody else. They only present their opinion for it, rather than any actual data. That's where just about everybody gets the 'expertize' to inform everyone else never to use a surge suppressor in front of a UPS.UPS's typically have very, very minimal surge protection built into them, typically less than enough to handle even small surges. But more important is this: nearly all surge suppressors are *sacrificial*. Meaning that each and ever surge reduces the lifetime of the surge suppressor, until eventually it becomes non-functional, offering no protection. Does your UPS have any sort of indicator on it to advise when the surge suppressor is no longer functional? Highly unlikely, most just tell you expected battery life, and that's that.The IEEE, NFPA, NEMA, *all* suggest that surge suppression be deployed before a UPS ('before' meaning you plug the surge suppressor into the wall, and the UPS into the surge suppressor). Note that they suggest it, they don't require it. Surge suppression is required at the utility service equipment, but that's to protect entire neighborhoods and regions from having homes set fire by a huge surge from the utility.This surge suppressor is small, both in its physical size and in its protective capabilities. But the more surge suppressors installed throughout the house, the more the total surge suppression you'll get - surges go to every outlet in your home, they aren't particular - each surge supressor absorbs some of each surge, so there's a cumulative benefit to having multiple suppressors around the house. And with these, you will know when the device has finally given up its life to protect your stuff - and it's cheap to replace. It's a fantastic bargain.Another coffee-fueled review.

Works as designed

We recently sustained a lighting strike nearby and a surge entered our AC power and wacked a few things. The surge protector on a board in the range blew (so did the $300 board), a surge protected outlet strip was blown. On inspection, the MOVs (the surge protecting electronic device) in these were burned out. The devices on the surge protected power strips survived. I decided up my game and install these SPDs on every 120V device that was plugged in. First though, I took one apart to see if it was junk or actually worth the effort and $$$. I have had good luck with Belkin products in the past...These have 3 MOVs in them: hot to ground, neutral to ground, hot to neutral. The MOVs are 22mm size, which is generous for something at this price point. Most important though is the thermal fusing device. When the surge begins to happen, the MOV begins to conduct current. If the surge is large enough, the MOV shorts out, the current through the thermal fuse heats it up and the fuse opens, disconnecting the AC from the device that is plugged into this surge protector. This is a great design. What I really like is the fiberglass pockets that the MOVs are wrapped in. When MOVs blow, they spray hot metal and these pockets will prevent that metal from blasting all over the interior of the case. Bravo to Belkin on this!This device also has 2 indicator lights, one for the AC out being live, and another for "grounded". If a surge occurs and the "protected" LED goes out, this means the MOV device is probably damaged and the whole plug device should be discarded. 1 in 5 of these that I bought had a faulty "grounded" circuit, the "grounded" LED was out. The MOVs were good, but the circuit that runs the "grounded" LED was not working. Note that this "grounded" LED does not indicate if the ground connection from the wall plug through this device is good. The ground prong on the input side of this device connects directly to the tang that forms the ground socket on this devices receptacle, the ground is not interrupted. Its just bad quality control.In summary, I think these are a good defense against all but the worst surge coming through the AC line. All the devices that have electronics in them in my house are now plugged into one of these.

I purchased this SurgeCube to go in an outlet where the other plug is another Belkin product available here on Amazon: the Belkin 12-Outlet Home/Office Surge Protector with Phone/Ethernet/Coaxial Protection and Extended Cord.Unfortunately, the SurgeCube simply cannot fit in the same wall outlet as the plug for the 12-outlet surge protector. The plug above the surgecube can only be something very light duty like a desk lamp. The plug on the 12-outlet protector is fairly normal-looking but extends just a couple of millimeters too far to fit into the outlet alongside this. There was nothing about its appearance that made me think it would be unable to fit in the same outlet as a single-device surge protector.While I will still use the surge cube for something else, that outlet was the "home" of the valuable and sensitive piece of equipment that I really wanted Belkin protection for.I ended up using a different brand's surge protector purchased with a different outlet in mind--a three outlet surge protector that plugs into a single space--where I had intended to use the Belkin single-item surge protector. (See my other reviews.) Its design was smarter for ensuring two plugs could fit in one wall outlet.The depth of the Belkin surge cube is also pretty extreme if you're putting this, as I was intending to, behind a solid piece of furniture that will now need to stand farther from the wall. I appreciate that this means there is a lot of protective material inside, though I'd recommend that belkin make it wider and flatter instead (and make the position of its length such that the other outlet can accommodate a sturdy plug). Checking against their own products for compatibility would be a good start!Having green lights rather than blue is better for a bedroom, although I wish they were red. Having two lights--one to confirm grounding and one to confirm protection--is a great idea... even if the user may not be able to check them often due to intervening furniture.I really appreciate that Belkin offers a warranty on the equipment that it is protecting. As someone who recently lost a several hundred dollar piece of equipment to a dud surge protector on the first day that I was testing it (see my other reviews; it actually produced its own surge!!), this is reassuring.Too bad it doesn't fit. Even though it's a huge disappointment for me, since the overall quality and guarantee is good, I'll only mark it down one star.

This is the best available surge suppressor of this type and at this price level. Don’t buy just one, you should buy at least three. Let me explain why.Most surge suppressors use a device called a MOV (Metal Oxide Varistor) which absorbs energy from spikes, but usually the device has only one MOV between hot and neutral (H-N). This device has three MOVS providing 3-way protection, a MOV between H-N, but also between hot and ground (H-G) and neutral land ground (N-G). See specs from packaging in the first photo. Very few consumer suppressors at this price have 3-way protection.The amount of surge energy or spike a MOV can absorb is rated in Joules. This device provides a total of 1080 total Joules protection, not too bad. Compare this with other devices.Here is the important point: No device can be guaranteed to absorb any amount energy at any voltage level. There are many types of surge devices besides MOVs, but all have some limits such as response time, clamping voltage and energy absorption. There is always a possibility that a surge of enough energy will destroy the protector and connected equipment: There can be no absolute guarantee. Those who rated this Belkin device poorly may have encountered such a spike.So here’s why you should buy 3 or more: put two or more surge protectors in series! I always plug on of these directly into the wall, then plug another surge protector such as a protected outlet strip or UPS directly into this device. NO, it is not a problem or violation of any electrical code to do this. You are not increasing the amount of current you draw from your power outlet, you are just increasing the number stages of surge protection. But careful: NEVER plug one UPS device into another UPS device! A UPS device should only plug into a passive surge device such as this Belkin device.The more stages of surge suppression you have, the better the protection. For example, for my high end computer server station, I plug this Belkin unit into the wall outlet, then a line conditioner (transformer based constant voltage device) into this Belklin device, then plug a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) into the line conditioner, then plug in a power distribution box with switched outlets and other forms of line conditioners into the UPS (see photos). The distribution box has 3 types of devices: MOVs, semiconductor transient surge suppressors and gas discharge tube surge arrestors.Did you count those? That’s (at least) four levels of surge protection with 5 different types of surge protection devices if you include the active circuit of the UPS as one of them (which may have additional levels of protection stages). I feel I have a pretty good system that will suppress most surges, but am not foolish enough to believe my surge suppression configuration can withstand any surge: A nearby lightning strike can certainly destroy all the equipment.Those who buy one of these Belkin devices and think that’s all you need, think again! Buy three so you always have one on hand as a first level of surge protection. Then plug another surge devices into the Belkin for even better protection. But never, never plug any expensive electronics (or any device you don’t want to fail, such as your garage door opener) directly into a wall outlet: At the very least always have one of these Belkin 3-way 1080 Joule Belkin devices on hand to plug into the wall outlet first.

Protects movie projector.

Great bought 2 of them do protect my eeros from surges

Wanted something small for my door opener. This is perfect and Belkin is a great company for these kind of products.

Excelente para proteger los electrodomésticos de la casa

Belkin has been the choice in our household for years because of it's quality, safety and reliability. It was a must-purchase for our new TV. It was a relief to plug it in and not worry about a power surge anymore.

Muy buen producto. En la zona donde vivo, hay frecuentemente variaciones de voltaje y ya se me descompuso un refrigerador, por lo que no quise arriesgarme con el nuevo refri. En el primer apagón recibió la descarga y mi refri no sufrió daños. Lo único que no me agrada mucho es que es un poco grande y estorboso, por lo demás, cumple su función muy bien!

So, we had a new kitchen put in and along with it a monster microwave oven that came highly recommended. However, apparently because of some new code for wiring or whatever...... power surges in many new units trip the breaker. So, we were making constant trips to the basement. I called the contractor and he sent out the electrician to put in a different brand of breaker. He told us it probably wouldn't work and the only way to fix it was to change the wiring to go direct.... but he couldn't do it.He was right about one thing. The fix didn't work either. We were going up and down the stairs more than before!!! So I sat down in the kitchen and I just looked at the microwave and tried to thing of some way other than switching to a less powerful unit. Then, I thought, "If surges are what is tripping the breaker, then why can't I put a surge protector on the plug above the microwave. But not just any surge protector. We needed a king kong version that could handle the power. Enter the Belkin Surge Cube! I researched on Amazon and this one seemed like ii anything could do the job, it was this one.It did. And It is and I have the feeling that it will. 'If the contractor asked me if it is working right, I will say yes but I will be d@@ned if I tell him that I fixed it with a surge protector. But I will tell you.Great product.

Plugged in and working to protect electronic kitchen appliances. I wish it had more Joules of energy absorption capacity but otherwise ok.