system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: The following phrase about a surge suppressor: ...

Found in the documentation included with a brand new surge suppressor.  I glanced at it briefly, and this caught my curiosity.

> This device features an internal protection that will disconnect the surge suppression component at the end of its useful life, but will maintain power to the load - now unprotected.

Is this a common thing?  

How long is "end of its useful life"?  Obviously not "useful" as defined by the end user if they're still running a load on it.  

How would you tell if it is no longer protected, short of sticking a paperclip in socket? (Don't do this!)

Why do they call this a protection mechanism?

I have so many questions!
gpt
it's a very common thing among low end surge suppressors.    and that means it's totally useless! 

after a surge that the device cannot handle, it'll switch over to failure mode, which means directly hooking up your computer/tv/expensive electronic directly into the outlet,   unprotected.