The $40 power strip I kept tripping over finally broke me, got an $80 one

Last month in my tiny apartment in Columbus, I had a cheap power strip under my desk with three chargers and a lamp plugged in. I kept kicking it by accident, and one morning the plastic case cracked right where the plug goes in. I found sparks when I unplugged my phone, so I freaked out and bought a surge protector with a longer cord and a metal housing for $80. It feels dumb spending that much on something you never think about, but I already tripped over it once and it didn't budge. Now I'm wondering if anyone else has had a near miss with cheap electronics that made them spend way more than planned, or if I'm just being paranoid about a $3 difference.

2 comments

2 Comments

jana_jones1mo ago

Ha, the sad taco description is spot on! Yeah, that melted strip story makes me feel way better about my purchase, cause a few extra bucks for peace of mind beats waking up to a fire any day.

lilyp371mo ago

My roommate in college had a surge protector that literally melted one night while we were asleep, just from a space heater and a mini fridge on the same outlet. We woke up to this burnt plastic smell and the whole strip was warped like a sad taco. He spent like $60 on a beefy one the next day and we started calling it "The Fortress" because it was so overbuilt. Now I always check the wattage on everything before I even plug in a phone charger, so honestly your $80 move sounds smart, not paranoid. Better to trip over a heavy metal brick than to deal with sparks behind your desk.

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