surge protectors

kuzined wrote:
Took out the fridge, convection micro, water cooler, beer fridge and a couple of small items.Only thing that saved the laptop is the little surge protector in the multi-plug cord I was using.Smell of burnt wire woke me up.

Device called a surge protector (attached to a computer) is completely different from another device summarized by wa8yxm. Your computer was not protected by that 'burned' device. A computer easily protects itself. But that 'burned' surge protector was so grossly undersized as to almost cause a camper fire.

Plenty of completely different devices are all called surge protectors. A protector considered essential for campgrounds is completely different from a protector that should be standard in homes. Both protect from completely different anomalies.

That protector that plugs in adjacent to an appliance does not claim to protect even from anomalies that can exist in a home. If not protected by a 'whole house' protector, then those near zero protectors can even create fires. That burning smell would be a grossly undersized part burning while a surge remained connected to that computer. Protection inside a computer is often more robust than protection provided by plug-in protectors.

APC (due to new owners) recently admitted many of their protectors are so dangerous as to be removed immediately. Sound like your computer's protector also had that dangerous design.

Protector that is strongly recommended for campgrounds is protection from different and potentially destructive electrical anomalies that can cause appliance damage - even to plug-in protectors.