Recently, I was using an Electric Steamer (Vaporiser) for cold. I suddenly saw a spark at the junction of the heating element and the cable. After that there were electric sparks in the water. I don’t think my current board (Potronics) was able to handle the surge.
I am looking for a good board with adequate protections built in. I have checked Honeywell and Fedus but would like some recommendations.
My usage at max has a laptop and maybe two phones charging. If I plug something like the vaporiser, I will unplug other electronics before that.
Portronis extensions are for mobile phone adapters, small led lights etc not for serious load. Also, what is the power rating of your extension & your Electric Steamer (Vaporiser). Fedus also is not known for its electrical products, it is known for its networking products like ethernet cables. Stick to brands known for/specialised in electrical products like GM/Goldmedal, Anchor by panasonic, Havells etc.
Don’t buy honeywell. The consumer products available in india are manufactured by a HK company licensing the honeywell name. You can’t expect any of the reputation of the US products to carry over.
I’ve had good experience with GM products (this one for example) but if you saw sparks in the water, are you sure it’s the extension at fault and not the device?
There’s an extensive thread on surge protectors and extension boards here.
honestly honeywell is your best bet. Indian brands claim a lot of features but its never present on their device especially overload and surge protector. honeywell is the only company that I know which gives device insurance along with their extension cords.
Depends on your definition of authentic. Do you consider a product being manufactured by a contract manufacturer to whom the official/original brand outsourced as authentic? If yes then yes, if no then no.
It’s not outsourced. There is no QC or R&D input the US brand has on what the HK company manufactures. They’re just licensing the brand name for a fee.
I concur, all my extension boards are from GM or Goldmedal (different brands, but quality wise similar). Good quality, the plug fits snug when plugged into the socket.
you can get something real good and capable assembled locally unless you want to buy one of the readily sold products. i did it for a 16 amp extension board.
99% of these are very poorly built with the cheapest materials. the plugs don’t even fit well in the sockets.
I’ve been using 2 of these since 2021, no issues so far: EcoLink 6A 4-Way Spike and Surge Guard. These used to be sold as “Philips EcoLink ….” but now it’s just EcoLink.
Occasionally I’ve used them to power an iron and a kettle, did it just fine despite being high-wattage devices. Normally, one of them powers multiple things on a typical work desk. And the other used for lower power stuff like routers and raspberry pis.
It is a basic unit, no child safety or anything. But the exterior is the sturdiest I’ve seen from my past experience with such boards. Has 1 on/off switch, 1 6A fuse, that’s it.
If you buy Honeywell, please check the sockets with a socket tester. I have had 3 Honeywell surge protectors which had their polarity reversed which is a safety hazard. Thankfully Amazon accepted their returns. A couple of other Honeywell surge protectors were fine. This tells me Honeywell seems to have severe QC issues if they let something as basic as live neutral reversed pass.
Anchor spike guards are good, I have a 4+4 switch one - it has a fuse and built in socket tester. Only thing is you have to be careful to plug it into a grounded socket, else the emi filtering capacitors will cause a mild shock.
Also, there is a large difference between extension boards and surge protectors. Surge protectors have MOV which try to divert the surge to the ground wire if the voltage rises too high. Extension boards are basic, no MOVs, at best they have EMI filtering capacitors like the Anchor. Ideally surge protectors should be placed at the entrace to your home, close to the earthing, so basically at the meter box. I really doubt how effective these surge protectors extension boards we use are, even though I use a couple.
Would recommend the Belkin Surge Protectors. I have three of them for two PCs and a small TV and PS2 setup, and like Honeywell, they also offer ‘insurance’ of sorts upto 50K. Not quite sure how that works out, but nice to have.
Only downside to Belkin is the short wire length and a single switch that powers all the sockets.
