APC Home & Office Computer Surge Protectors: Warranty & Product Review

An APC Professional SurgeArrest (PRO8T2) surge protector was included in my order when I purchased a desktop computer a few years ago. In addition to the eight outlets, two of which are always on, the PRO8T2 also has two (in/out) RJ-11 phone line plugs. This prevents surges from reaching your equipment through the phone line. Over the years, my confidence in APC became stronger since my equipment was never harmed even during severe thunderstorms. I purchased a few more of the PRO8T2 model and a PRO8TV model. The only difference between the two models is that the PRO8TV also has coaxial protection. One of the great things about the APC Pro8 line of surge protectors is that they have a lifetime warranty on the surge protector and a lifetime $75,000 equipment warranty.

I know from personal experience that APC stands behind the warranties on their products. It is quite simple to have one of their products replaced. Simply call them, explain the problem, and they will ship to you another of the same item immediately. It can be a bit frustrating, however, to deal with their representatives since their technical support is not located in the U.S. Once the replacement is received, return the old equipment in the new one's box. The downside is that it costs about $7 to mail back these surge protectors, and since APC does not pay return shipping anymore, that cost can add up over time.

I've had problems with the APC Professional SurgeArrest surge protector including the wiring default light remaining on (I believe this indicates a surge has damaged the product) and the power button breaking. While the latter issue is most likely due to normal "wear and tear" on the product, my biggest problem is the need to replace surge protectors because of severe thunderstorms.

My most recent replacement was because lightning not only fried the surge protector, but one of the cords plugged into it was forced from the outlet and melted!

In order to qualify for the equipment replacement warranty, the surge protector and the damaged equipment must be sent together to APC (see their website for more details). In the event of a surge, make absolute sure that all of your equipment plugged into the damaged surge protector is working properly before returning the broken surge protector to APC. In my situation, it was not immediately obvious that the melted cord was not the only damaged item. Some electronic items can appear to work normally even if they do not. Luckily, it was an inexpensive item to replace. Don't let this happen to you. Fully test all exposed equipment before returning the surge protector.

While I highly recommend APC's line of surge protection, I strongly suggest APC's SurgeArrest Performance line. It also has the lifetime warranty. But, it has better surge protection and up to a $100,000 equipment warranty.