surged surge protector

[the_deacon]

i have a 6 plug surge protector thats less than a year old. i plug my cable modem, printer, sound blasters and hub there. 2 days ago it just died on me. is that too much plugs for 1 surge protector? whats the deal with this?

[sns]

I wouldnt think so. The modem, speakers? (sound blaster) and hub would not draw much current. I have monitor, pc, printer & speakers on one of mine & all is fine so far.
Is there a reset button on it?
I have seen some in stores that have a little red light on it and when the light goes out (or comes on - not sure)it means it will no longer provide protection.
Either way <1 year sounds pretty bad, either you have bad spikes on your mains or it is a dud protector. (or maybe it did its job during a storm 2 days ago?).
I have not had one die on me yet so I cant help any more than that.

[the_deacon]

yup tried the reset button, no good. and yes there was a storm a few days ago but my question is if surge protectors are a one shot deal? once u get protected from a surge, they die?

[rlpos]

Yep , my understanding is that surge protectors are a one time deal. The have resisters in them and usually when the take a shot it knocks out the resistors, however I have seen many that took a hit that did not die completely but the probabaly dont do the job that they once would. I always play it safe and unplug power and modem when I am expecting a storm

[the_deacon]

in that case what sort of surge protector should i be getting? any particular brand or model u folks would recommend?