By SARA FISHER

Staff Reporter

Not everybody in Los Angeles is tired of El Ni & #324;o’s lashings.

Belkin Components, a computer accessory manufacturer in Compton, has found the silver lining in the storm clouds. Over the last several rainy months, the company has seen an increase of about 30 percent in its sales of surge protectors, one of its main products.

Belkin says it sold about 250,000 surge protectors a month from September to November. Then, as the El Ni & #324;o winter set in, sales jumped to 320,000 units per month in December and January. Sales are expected to reach at least that level for February.

With protectors selling wholesale on average for $10 apiece, the additional 70,000 units sold in each of the last three months amounts to $2.1 million in revenues.

“It’s like buying a snow shovel when it snows: People buy surge protectors when storms hit and lights flicker,” said Kannyn MacRae, surge protector product manager at Belkin. “We’re seeing areas that don’t normally have winter storms practically underwater. Los Angeles stores along with stores in the rest of the West Coast are reporting higher sales then ever before.”

Belkin’s surge protectors are sold at major retailers nationwide. A salesman at the Best Buy store in West Los Angeles said they’ve been “jumping off the shelves” since January.

Surge protectors act as a buffer between electrical outlets and electronic devices, such as computers. The voltage that comes from an outlet normally 120 volts, the same voltage electronic equipment needs to operate can fluctuate wildly when power lines are disrupted by heavy winds, rains or lightning. A power surge can send up to 1,000 volts coursing through a computer, which would leave the machine’s innards literally smoking. Surge protectors absorb excess voltage to ensure that the devices get a steady flow of power.

“You’d rather have your surge protector completely fried than your $1,000 computer or $5,000 entertainment system,” said Eric Tong, director of marketing for Belkin. “Most people know that they need surge protectors. But they may not realize that they need to replace an old protector or that (surge protectors) should even be used to protect their TV set or modem.”

Surge protectors are not a one-time buy. Because they store the extra voltage supplied by surges, the devices have a finite life. McRae estimates that a surge protector in L.A. lasts on average between three to five years. In an area with more dramatic surges, such as Florida, the life expectancy may be less than two years.

When its storage (metal-oxide barristers) is filled to capacity, a new one is needed. To let an owner know that it’s time for a replacement, surge protectors are equipped with warning lights or audio alarms.

Next month, Belkin plans to roll out a high-end model that will actually prevent a computer from being turned on when the surge protector is spent.

“Our protectors do have a lifetime guarantee,” Tong said. “If a customer sends us a burned-out one, we’ll replace it. But I have noticed that most consumers are like me if after five years my surge protector dies, I’m not going to remember it’s under warranty. So we do get repeat business.”

Belkin expects to have about 18 percent of the U.S. surge protector market by the end of 1998, up from an 11 percent market share last year. It also holds 43 percent of the market for computer cables.

Company co-founder Chester Pipkin started out in his father’s Hawthorne garage in 1982, with $1,000 in seed money from his savings. Today, the company is housed in a 250,000-square-foot facility in Compton, with more than 400 employees.

Its gross sales last year were $120 million, and Tong is projecting $180 million. It has been named by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of L.A.’s fastest-growing private companies for the last three years, being ranked No. 32 in 1997, 76th in 1996, and 45th 1995.

So is Belkin hoping for more storms? Not really.

“I’m tired of my softball games getting rained out,” MacRae said.