Today surge protectors under Finnish trademark SVEN make their debut in our laboratory, which is widely known at the domestic market, mainly thanks to inexpensive and relatively qualitative speaker systems. Inexpensive batteries for UPS under SVEN trademark are also widespread. Our acquaintance with products of this company we will start with the review of three surge protectors – Fort, Fort Pro and Optima Base.

Surge protectors of Fort series and Optima Base power strip are packed in boxes with company colors. Boxes of surge protectors are quite informative; they have european-style opening for hooks in supermarkets. Printing is of high quality. The User’s Manual on Russian and English languages as well as the warranty card is enclosed in boxes. The warranty period for SVEN surge protectors is 12 months and the service life is 2 years.

SVEN Fort surge protector

SVEN Fort

SVEN Fort surge protector has a mat black plastic case, which jointly with red switches looks quite attractively. Every switch in ON position is illuminated from beneath with red light. Switches are located in niches and that eliminates their casual pressure. Sockets of the surge protector are protected with shutters. There are wall-mounting holes in the rear side of the case, due to which the surge protector can be mounted in two positions – with switches downward or wire downward. There are two indicators on the front panel: one of them lights green when the surge protector is grounded, and the other indicates the protection operability and it lights red for some reason. If the PlugIN adapter is connected, it covers two sockets and can be placed in one position only (see photo below).

SVEN Fort surge protector

SVEN Fort surge protector

The surge protector interior (see photo below) is traditional – one protection board with three varistors, five switches and sockets accordingly. Plus another big master switch and a reusable 10 A automatic fuse. Switches disconnect both current-carrying wires, but the fuse disconnects only one. All components of the surge protector are connected by soldering. Current-carrying wires run close to bus bars of sockets.

SVEN Fort interior

The high-frequency interference filter is installed after improvement in the second production of devices. There is also the thermal protection – a fusetron in one thermocontractable tube with a varistor.

Elecronics board of SVEN Fort

The test under 2,400 W load revealed small heating of the power cord, but when the load was increased to 3,400 W the automatic safety fuse was actuated. Contacts of the plug and power cord were a little bit warm. Under 2,400 W load the voltage slump on the surge protector made about 3 V. The PlugIN transformer adapter with its thin outputs being inserted into the surge protector did not fall out after the surge protector turning over.

SVEN Fort Pro

SVEN Fort Pro surge protector

SVEN Fort Pro surge protector is, as you can suspect, a professional version of Fort surge protector series. Contrary to ordinary Fort, its case is made of glossy black plastic. Red switches are identical to switches applied in Fort and they are sunk in niches for protection against casual pressure. Every switch in ON position is illuminated from beneath with red light. Sockets of the surge protector are protected with shutters. There are wall-mounting holes in the rear side of the case; the surge protector can be mounted in two positions. There are two indicators on the front panel: one of them lights green when the surge protector is grounded, and the other indicates the protection operability and it lights red for some reason. If the PlugIN adapter is plugged, it covers two sockets and blocks one of the switches – its or adjacent. The main “zest” of Pro version is a voltmeter. It is graduated for 100, 220 and 300 V, and it also has green and red scale sections.

SVEN Fort Pro surge protector

SVEN Fort Pro surge protector

The surge protector interior does not differ greatly from its junior mate. A voltmeter is mounted additionally on the circuit board; six switches are located close to their sockets. The big master switch and a reusable 10 A automatic fuse are totally identical to Fort surge protector. Switches disconnect both current-carrying wires, but the fuse disconnects only one. All components of the surge protector are connected by soldering. Current-carrying wires in the version Pro are laid more thoroughly, a probability of their shorting to the bus bar is less.

SVEN Fort Pro interior

The test under 2,400 W load revealed small heating of the power cord, but when the load was increased to 3,400 W the automatic safety fuse was actuated. Contacts of the plug and power cord were a little bit warm. Under 2,400 W load the voltage slump on the surge protector made about 4 V. The PlugIN transformer adapter with its thin outputs being inserted into the surge protector did not fall out after the surge protector turning over.

We conducted comparison of readings of the built-in voltmeter with UT60E laboratory multimeter. In horizontal position its 220 V appeared 230 V, and the green scale section corresponded to the range 175-255 V. The voltmeter readings changed in vertical position of the surge protector. In position with a pointer upwards it overrated voltage by 10 V, but in the reverse position (as for wall mounting) – understated by 8 V. And in those positions 220 V on the scale practically corresponded to the truth. The scale mark 100 V corresponded to real 95 V. As a whole, the guessometer fulfils its function, but it is not a full-fledged measuring instrument. In our opinion, it will be more correctly to have a voltmeter scale graduated from 160 to 280 V with green, yellow and red sections. However, it is impossible to require that an affordable surge protector would be an appropriate measuring device.

SVEN Optima Base

SVEN Optima Base surge protector

SVEN Optima Base surge protector is made of mat black plastic. In contrast to Fort models, this item has only one switch, i.e. master switch. The switch is not protected against casual pressure, it does not have shutters. There are wall-mounting holes on the rear side of the case, the surge protector can be mounted vertically only with the switch downward or upwards. The PlugIN adapter covers two sockets when being plugged in any socket, except for extreme one.

SVEN Optima Base surge protector

SVEN Optima Base surge protector

The interior of this surge protector is simplified at the most. Nevertheless, the switch disconnects both current-carrying wires; the surge protector has a varistor for protection against overvoltage and a reusable 10 A automatic fuse. Design of socket lamels is identical to the Fort series. The high-frequency interference filter is installed after improvement in the second production of devices.

SVEN Optima Base Interior

The test under 2,400 W load revealed small heating of the power cord, but when the load was increased to 3,400 W the automatic safety fuse was actuated. Contacts of the plug and power cord were a little bit warm. Under 2,400 W load the voltage slump on the surge protector made about 3 V. The PlugIN transformer adapter with its thin outputs being inserted into the surge protector did not fall out after the surge protector turning over.

Conclusion

SVEN surge protectors are typical affordable representatives. Many functions for a small price, but with moderate quality. If you need an inexpensive extension cord, you may pay attention to SVEN Optima Base. Most likely, it is the cheapest surge protector with a switch, automatic fuse and a possibility to wall-mount. If you are interested in a possibility to disconnect separate load without a plug removal from a socket, your choice is SVEN Fort. SVEN Fort Pro will take fancy of devotees of gloss and “guessometers” for sure, we have not seen such a functional in any producer, but most probably, we will never see at this price. At that, it is necessary to be aware that any extras were not given for this money to you. Fair service life of the item is 2 years.