Solder Station and surge protector

[tony3d]

Is it a bad idea to plug a solder station into a surge protector? Does it limit the station's performance in any way? Is it best to plug it straight into the wall?

[dr.diesel]

It will be fine assuming you're under the amperage of the surge protector, most solder stations pull very little current.

I think my Hakko FM-206 with three irons is still < 400 watts when all three are heating.

[GreyWoolfe]

My Hakko 936 is plugged into a Belkin surge protector with all 6 sockets filled.  The Belkin is plugged into an APC SmartUPS 1550with 3 more surge protectors running my entire workbench.  Have had no issues with the Hakko or anything else test equipment wise.

[tony3d]

Ok, thanks for the reply's.

[dr.diesel]

Most surge protectors only consist of an El-cheapo circuit breaker and a couple of undersized piss ant MOVs.  In the event of overloading, ie plugging in too much stuff, it's designed to disconnect all sockets from the mains (same as your main breaker panel).  In the event of a drastic overvoltage, the MOVs are there to shunt the offending line to ground/neutral.

For the most part, surge protectors are only good for port multiplication, rather than surge protection.