APC PER7 7-Outlet Personal SurgeArrest Surge Protector

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by: M. Gozum (Eastern USA)
on: Saturday, 16-October-2010

I own over 7 various APC surge protective devices, SPDs, but in over 20 years not one has blown, until recently. I had a power anomaly at a hotel I was staying at, and I bring the PER7 on trips. After a brief light dimming at the hotel, I heard a snap, and smelt burnt plastic. What this anomaly bad enough to cause a problem, or did the APC die simply because it was 12 years old? Regardless, it had a lifetime warranty.

Now was a chance to test APCs lifetime warranty, post mortem the unit to see if it really worked, and in 20 years, APC is no longer an independent company, but part of Schneider Electric companies. Are they still like APC of 20 years ago?

The PER7 provides minimum surge protection, say for modern appliances. Its an APC model that been in circulation since early 1990s. Its a time tested design that is unique, its appearance alone suggests its a APC product. However, if you open them, its evolved internally over the years, see photos for comparison between 1998 and 2006 versions.

Appliances dont strictly need surge protection, such as coffee grinders, microwaves, or answering machines, chargers, but as most have electronic controllers, these are digital electronics and sensitive to surges. There are more sensitive SPDs that the PER7, that often have added protective lines for cables for TV, computers and networks, and are better for more sensitive equipment like flat TVs, fax machines, modems, and hard wired network computers.

Photos and details of my dead PER7 are enclosed. Key points are: my plugged in devices survived, the PER7 sacrificed itself, APC honored the warranty and sent me a free unit even before I mailed my dead one in, and the new unit is electronically a better unit than the older one. However, up front, the old and new units look identical; its whats inside that counts. Calling APC was easy, no run around getting warranty replacement, although I did get shifted from several departments after calling the phone number listed on the unit; but it took about 5 minutes.

The PER7 can typically be found for $10 or less, although it typically sells for $13-20. At that price, its fairly close to a simple power strip, and given the digital electronics in nearly all devices, using an SPD is recommended over just plugging a device into a wall socket.

Given that SPDs can only prove their worth when they die and save your gear, getting replacements and value means working directly with the manufacturer. APC lives up to its name, and is one reason I use them exclusively for SPDs. The PER7 is not the best designed unit out there, nor the most convenient, but it provides everything youd expect an SPD to do.

by: Ilya Bourim (Los Angeles, CA United States)
on: Tuesday, 18-August-2009

APC has always been my choice for the surge protector brand. Ive used them when I used to be a systems admin. Ive used the battery backed units in large computer server applications and this exact model was the one I choose to protect all the personal computers with at our Job Corps Center. With over 5 sites, the biggest issue was dirty power and after installing surge protectors, the number of computers parts that I was changing on the daily basis went down dramatically. This is a good brand, but having any good working surge protector is your best bet to protect your investment and irreplaceable data against spikes in the electric line. Do not cheap out, get a surge protector. An A/C unit or fridge will send spikes down the electric circuit and damage more sensitive equipment. Aloha!

by: P. Albrecht (Cleveland)
on: Thursday, 22-January-2009

Has the vital indicator light Protection working. Without this, you have no idea whether a surge protector has burnt out yet, or not.

by: P. So (NYC)
on: Saturday, 2-December-2000

I own two of these already and they are fine for typical plugs. It is built very sturdy and you can mount it to the wall as well. The only drawback is that this particular model has the on/off switch located on the top which makes it succeptible to hitting the switch by mistake.

The spacing of the outlets are ok but you may have trouble with bigger adapters. That may block another one of the slots.

For normal day use, it is a good surge protector which I recommend...beats buying a cheap surge protector which has cheap circuitry. At least with APC, you know you are getting a good protector.

by: iLLuSiOn (Louisville, KY, USA)
on: Tuesday, 31-October-2000

The APC Per7 surge arrest is really good. With 7 sockets, it almost has everything you want to put in. However, the sockets are very near each other, so if you are putting a big adapter in it, it almost occupies 3 sockets, making the other 2 unusable.

I think I made a little mistake buying it. I highly recommend going for the APC pro8T2 Surge arrest which is better in all ways, and has a complete value for money!