Which to protect my Nixie clock- Battery back up or Power Strip w/ high joules?

[Dman777]

I bought a new 6 digit Nixie ZM5660 clock that I will be using soon.

My apartment has a strange personality...when it rains heavy the electricity will flicker constantly and the lights will cut on and off rapidly or just go bright and dim rapidly. I am scared this kind of behavior might mess up my clock when I start to use it. 

I have two options to protect my clock:

1) This is a UPS back up...it will take care of the electricity issue when it storms and protect the clock from the dynamic voltage. But, it's only 800 joules protection.

http://smile.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP425SLG-Standby-425VA-Compact/dp/B0030SL08A/ref=cm_rdp_product

2) Tripp Lite ISOBAR8ULTRA Isobar Surge Protector 3840 Joules- I loose the benifit of battery back up, so my clock will have rapid dynamic voltage during storms, but more joules protection. 

Which would be best for my clock?

 

[gregebert]

A surge-protected outlet strip should be fine. Supposedly, a really bad surge will either pop the circuit-breaker in the surge-protector, or your electrical panel before the surge-protector itself gets damaged thereby leaving your clock unprotected.

If your clock uses an external power supply, then the worst-case scenario would likely be that the power-supply gets fried rather than your clock, and that is unlikely.

800 joules is a lot of energy; I read somewhere that most surges at residential outlets are less than 100 joules so paying for a 3840 joule protector is probably a waste of money unless you have frequent nearby lightning-strikes that hit your power-lines.

[Terry Kennedy]

On Thursday, September 18, 2014 10:17:28 PM UTC-4, Dman777 wrote:

My apartment has a strange personality...when it rains heavy the electricity will flicker constantly and the lights will cut on and off rapidly or just go bright and dim rapidly. I am scared this kind of behavior might mess up my clock when I start to use it. 

A bit of this will depend on the clock design. A number of clocks use the CPU to control the high voltage supply. If the CPU locks up for some reason, the HV supply can go up in a puff of smoke. If the clock has that type of power supply, then I would say that a UPS is more important than a surge protector.

[David Forbes]

Get your landlord to repair your electricity. It should not do that!

But the UPS is a better idea than the surge protector, since the lights
go out frequently. A surge protector won't cure that.

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David Forbes, Tucson AZ

[Matthew Cameron]

It probably uses a switching DC power supply. They vary in quality and robustness, but in theory, a good one will take power off of
the AC when it needs it and not care too much about the quality of the power. There is a pedal generator that outputs 120 DC (yes,
DC), and most switching power supplies work fine with it.

That said, if the microcontroler's memory that stores user settings could get messed up from being under powered, so a UPS might
help. But this should be very rare. Computers have a "power good" signal that lets the mainboard know when it is safe to start,
but cheap DC power adapters do not have anything like this. Ideally, the clock should get all of the current and voltage that it
needs, or nothing at all for at least a few seconds so that the device fully discharges and can resume cleanly. Depending on what
happens to that memory and how it is used, it may just act glitchy until you adjust its settings again, or it may need more work to
clear out the bad data.

Personally, I avoid surge protectors that are rated in joules. They use MOVs which produce a short circuit when the power goes to
high. They damage themselves each time this happens. The problem is that the damage can cause them to short at lower voltages;
sometimes down to voltages that are normal and cause them to overheat and be a hazard. Joules is a ratting of energy, and a
lightning strike that enters via the mains (as opposed to a direct building strike) is only going to be so much, so the Tripp Lite
is probably going to be plenty. Depending on the joules rating and how often you get lighting strikes, replace your surge
protectors every 5-10 years to avoid a fire hazard.

The surge protectors that are not rated in joules usually cost more than $300 USD, and can limit the current that your appliance can
draw (not a problem for a clock), but anything with a compressor might be stressed. A cheaper solution may be to get a switching
power supply that can also take 240V AC. Its design should accommodate a small surge without any irregularity going to your clock.