APC PER7 Personal SurgeArrest 7 Outlet 120V Surge Protector

Catastrophic Event Protection

Lightning and Surge Protection

Protection Working Indicator

Site wiring fault indicator

Number of Outlets: 7

Average Customer Review: ( 15 customer reviews )
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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.

15 of 17 found the following review helpful:

Good surge arrestOct 31, 2000
By iLLuSiOn
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!

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:

Best basic surge protectionOct 16, 2010
By M. Gozum
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 APC's 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 don't 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 what's 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 you'd expect an SPD to do.

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:

Nice powerstrip, but not the best surge protector.Aug 01, 2010
By Patrick Mcnelis "PMMM"
I have been using this surge protector for a couple of years and have had little to complain about until recently.

One issue is certainly that the outlets are too close together, but that is not why I am giving this device a low rating.

While this device has adequately protected the computer equipment plugged into it through power outages and thunder storms, and all of the fluctuating power that goes along with those events, when there was a genuinely hazardous condition, this unit failed to perform.

A neutral wire fault to our home caused a series of major power spikes to the home electrical grid. This device failed to mitigate the spikes causing the computer, the wireless router, and the telephone base which were plugged into it to be damaged.

Ironically, the unit appears to be functioning despite the damage to the things plugged into it; anything that is known to be functioning will turn on when plugged into it. Why it failed to stop to power surge is beyond me, unless the unit's response time was just too slow to counter the incoming flood of power.

I am now working with APC to file a claim for damages, but the process looks like it is going to take some time and require some money on our part to have the equipment professionally diagnosed ($70 a pop at the Geek Squad), before they will finalize a decision. As will any such insurance/warranty claims processes, it should not be easy or quick.

So...I would highly recommend you review the capabiities of this, or any, surge protector prior to plugging your expensive electronic equipment into it. Look for a device that will protect against 600 joules or higher, and with a reaction time of 1 nanosecond or faster...it does make a difference.

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