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et As stated in the above pic, is this OK for a connection?

Now, i don't know much about electrical and stuff. I was worried that the normal extension cord in the middle might trip off, worse heats up and burn?

The surge protector is rated @ 2500w while the fan is about 65w.

Also i did the diagram above due to the actual (real) scenario i got where i was constricted to use only 1 socket on from the wall and can't directly connect the fan to the surge protector due to the distance from the fan to the surge protector.

Also, i could directly connect the surge protector to the wall socket however, i can't use the fan while the surge protector is plugged (note: i can only use 1 socket from the wall)

Thanks for the inputs

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    Please give us the electrical draw, in watts, amps or VA, of the PC, monitor, lamp, fan and the "Etc. (some other stuff)”. Include every single thing as a separate line item. You may presume cell phone USB power blocks are 10 watts. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Dec 9 '18 at 16:31
  • Also, can you post actual photos of the cord and power strip you're using? – ThreePhaseEel Dec 9 '18 at 17:59
  • Based on your comments in an answer, it seems that you picked random pictures off the internet which are not similar to the things you actually plan to plug in. Could you add pictures that are accurate? Nation would also be helpful. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Dec 9 '18 at 18:20
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There are two separate issues here - power and protection:

Power

Extension cords are (or should be...) rated for the amount of power they can handle, but basically the thinner the wires, the less power it can safely handle. The rating of the surge protector (2,500W is actually a lot - in the US typically I see 1,875W which is based on 15A @ 125V) is not actually the most important number. What really matters is the power you expect to use, which is the power required by the computer, monitor, lamp, etc. A typical computer might be 200W - 600W, so you are typically looking at well under 1,000W of actual usage. One big exception is if you are connecting a laser printer - they can draw quite a bit of power when printing.

Safety

Everything needs to match, with no shortcuts. Your sample picture doesn't match at all. The surge protector shows one type of receptacle (European?), the extension cord shows a US-style 2-wire polarized receptacle (no ground) and the wall receptacle is a US-style 3-wire grounded receptacle.

If any devices require grounding (i.e., 3-prong plug) then everything should be grounded with the same style plug. Typically computer power supplies require grounding, and surge protectors definitely require grounding. So that leaves the extension cord and the wall receptacle. It is easy to find 3-wire grounded extension cords. It is not always so easy to change the wall receptacle to provide grounding, so if you only have a 2-wire receptacle then this becomes an entirely different question.

Assuming you have a 3-wire ground receptacle and you have 3-wire everything else to match and your extension cord is rated at or above the combined rating of your attached equipment (computer, monitor, lamp, etc., fan) then you should be fine. But for safety's sake (including tripping hazard) get an extension cord as close as possible to the required length - e.g., don't get a 100' cord (even if it is on an awesome sale) if a 10' cord will do just fine.

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  • Ohh sorry i didnt know the wall socket would also be an issue. But yeah my wall socket has no ground, the extension cord in the middle in my image has no ground but the surge protector has. Grounding aside (i know the surge protector would be no use) would it be okay in my scenario, given usage on the surge protector would be less 1000w, that the middle extension cord in my image can handle that? – lemoncodes Dec 9 '18 at 16:32
  • Actually length has nothing to do with safety. If you have #16 extension cord pulling 10A, a 1' length of it will be exactly the same temperature whether the cord at large is 6'or 600'. Longer cables make more heat, but they also spread it out. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Dec 9 '18 at 16:36
  • @Harper That actually sounds right - I guess I'm getting a bit confused with the voltage drop issue, but that's only a factor at much longer lengths. Actually there is one other rare-but-real scenario - if you use a 100' cord at its max. rating but all coiled up instead of spread out, then it could overheat too. – manassehkatz-Reinstate Monica Dec 9 '18 at 16:39
  • @lemoncodes My general recommendation is to get a grounded extension cord. That has two advantages: 1 - If you ever DO have a grounded receptacle then you can use it properly; 2 - if you must cheat, then you are only cheating in one location (at the wall receptacle) and maybe if your recepactle has a grounded box, grounded middle screw then you may be able to use an adapter like amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Polarized-Grounding-Adapter/dp/… and actually be protected. – manassehkatz-Reinstate Monica Dec 9 '18 at 16:45
  • Ohh i see, replacing the middle extension cord in my image to have a ground prong would be good. But is it still safe to have that image above only replacing the middle extension cord to one with a ground? – lemoncodes Dec 9 '18 at 16:56
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First the location of this needs to be understood. But since the outlet is a standard one used in the U.S. I will base this answer on that. The extension cords if up listed will be safe to make the connections to the circuit however adding additional multiple outlets could over load the cord connecting to the wall. The rating of the surge protector has nothing to do with the wattage draw of the devices plugged into it but the amount of power the Metal Oxide Varistors (MOV's) can suppress the surges. MOV's work by dumping excess voltage to ground once a voltage threshold is reached. Once the wattage threshold for these devices they overheat and let the magic smoke out. I mentioned MOV's dump the surge voltage to ground so to work properly you neede a 3 wire extension cord. So you can use a 3 wire cord. What is the max that outlet can supply there is a standard of 80% that is a 15 amp outlet so 1440w would be considered fully loaded.

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