how do you say "surge protector" in Chinese?

[teachinator]

I live in the XiJiao Hotel, and for reasons I won't go into I changed rooms last week. Possibly this was a bad move, as among other things the electric sockets in the new location occasionally crackle or (once, in the kitchen) even spark when I plug something in, a problem I never had in the first room. Yeah, I could complain to the hotel but this is one of those problems that probably won't happen when I try to show it to them. And I'm sure they'd move me again but it was such a hassle to move that I don't particularly want to do it again.

Anyway, I am thinking that to protect my computer and my new Palm from these apparently unreliable power sources, maybe I should buy a surge protector strip. However, not only is "surge protector" not in my dictionaries but my Chinese friend (who lived in the US for many years so he knows what a surge protector is) doesn't know how to say it in Chinese. He says that here they usually use transformers at his company. This is beyind my nearly-nonexistent understanding of electronics already.

So does anyone know how to say "surge protector" or, even better, "surge protector power strip" in Chinese? I assume that (if they exist here) I should be able to get one at Zhongguancun.

Alternatively, should I get a transformer/power strip instead (and if so, how do you say that? I didn't ask my friend.) But for a transformer I would also need to know how to figure out how much voltage I need. Do I just read the watts from back of each device and add them up? A transformer might present new problems, though, as I imagine it takes up a lot of plug real estate and the primary plugs I use are side by side on the wall. I can imagine that a transformer would cover all three of the existing plugs so I would need a transformer with at least three sockets ... sorry, just thinking out loud here.

Oh yeah, and if you can let me know about what I should pay for such things, I'd appreciate that, too.

[pandaxiongmao]

According to dict.cn:

surge protector:

浪涌电压保护器

(lang4yong3dian4ya1bao3hu4qi4)

When I lived in Kunming, I bought one at Walmart. It cost me around 50RMB for a 6-outlet model (that could accept just about any electrical plug imaginable). Not sure if it made much difference though...

[teachinator]

Walmart -- that's much easier than Zhongguancun!

[roddy]

Does anyone know if it's actually wise to have anything like that on electrical equipment? I've been using desktops, laptops and PDA's for years with no problem and have never worried about the blue flashes you get now and then when plugging stuff in - I've always taken it as a handy sign that the power is on. It's a pretty common thing.

[Xiao Kui]

I always seem to encounter the "blue spark" in 220 V countries, but not in the US. I don't think it's anything to worry about. To avoid it you can plug in the equipment before turning it on.

I always use a surge protector with my equipment, and feel a lot more secure having it. I know that they sell them in China, but I don't know how reliable they are, I doubt they're insured for thousands of dollars in computer equipment like the ones in the west. maybe they have some kind of warranty.

[El Macho]

Sorry to bump a long-dead thread like this, but I happened upon this through a google search.

If you're looking to buy a surge protector on 360buy or a similar website, you might try searching for 防浪涌插座 or 防涌电源转换器. Both of those terms yielded good results. The term 浪涌电压保护器 didn't come up with anything.

[sk430000]

This was a concern of mine for a while, and at some point I realized THEY DON'T APPEAR TO USE SURGE PROTECTORS in China, at least not inside the apartments. The merchants don't know what they are, and you can't buy them easily. I'll assume that electricians know what they are, and that you can buy them somewhere, but I never actually found one. They do have a huge (but sensitive) surge protector on the main breaker for each apartment block. I know this (I think) because I repeatedly flipped that main breaker in my apartment block by plugging in surge protectors that I had brought from the USA. So 24 apartments were deprived of electricity until I went downstairs and flipped the breaker back on myself. This phenomenon was repeatable. Only one very cheap surge protector that I owned (and brought from the USA) would not flip the main breaker in Wuhan. I even had a one outlet mini surge protector that I could not use. I also (think I) know this about Chinese surge protection because for every single "surge protector" that I had purchased, I later realized that every single one was nothing more than a power strip or adapter, and had no built-in surge protection whatsoever. Read the little numbers on the bottom of the unit very carefully.

If you're really worried about surge protection in China, get yourself a UPS, but my advice is to not worry about it unless you are out in a small house in the country. (I've been told small houses exist, but never actually saw one during the 24 months I spent in China.)