I just had a lightning Storm last night. One of the biggest i have seen in years. Anyway about 1:00 AM it picked up bad and the storm was a little ways off. So i decited to shut down all the Computers in the house to be on the safe side. This morning when I talked to my brother he got pissed off that i turn off his computer durning the storm. He said that it didnt matter, that he had 3 surge protectors and a UPS running to his computer and if there was a power surge he would have been fine. I tried telling him that it doesnt matter how much protection he has going to his computer, if lightning stuck last night his computer could have been toast. But he didnt didnt care and was still pissed off about me turning off his computer. Do you think I was wrong to try and save his computer?
Lightning/Power Surge
- Thread starter tweeve
- Start date
You did the right thing. As a person that's had lightning hit my place three times (the last two with "full" protection including "Nuclear EMP Rated " devices) I can tell you that if lightning had struck, the stuff would have been toasted.
If he wants it left up, leave it up. If it smokes, it smokes ..... then you can point and giggle at his smouldering lump of worthless silicon and tell you told him so.
There is nothing in the consumer market that will save you from lightning. The stuff that's available in the commercial market (i.e., for radio stations and critical systems) would be in the tens-to-hundreds-of thousands of US dollars.
Look around for some PolyPhaser product. They do prosumer to commercial grade stuff; it'd be a reasonable compromise, but it still won't save you from lightning.
FWIW
Scott
If he wants it left up, leave it up. If it smokes, it smokes ..... then you can point and giggle at his smouldering lump of worthless silicon and tell you told him so.
There is nothing in the consumer market that will save you from lightning. The stuff that's available in the commercial market (i.e., for radio stations and critical systems) would be in the tens-to-hundreds-of thousands of US dollars.
Look around for some PolyPhaser product. They do prosumer to commercial grade stuff; it'd be a reasonable compromise, but it still won't save you from lightning.
FWIW
Scott
Scotts telling you the right stuff....
The only safe thing is to pull the plugs out....
I got hit once and that was enough...
The only safe thing is to pull the plugs out....
I got hit once and that was enough...
Thats all lies. Just close the window. Lightning won't come through a closed window. You will be safe.
However the thunder is a major concern
However the thunder is a major concern
Where did you come to this fabulous conclusion? I'd suggest you read up on lightning! Do you really believe a pane of glass 3/32" thick will stop a discharge that has the potential to travel through miles of air? That's about as bad as the common (mis) belief that tires on a car will protect one from lightning!
Thunder is just a noise. That will not disturb equipment.
It IS very possible (although improbable for the home user) to protect against lightning strikes. Hospitals, 911 call centers, and casinos implement such systems. They won't stop open heart surgery when a storm approaches, just as they will still take calls during severe weather! Heaven forbid if the slot machines stop during an electrical storm! Real protection takes real money and it does exist. Most people haven't seen it.
-DAK-
Thunder is just noise, but a sound wave of sufficient intensity could decimate your computer!
Okay...so maybe that's not very likely.
And an added point, Tires don't, the metal shell is what protects you.
regardless, it was obviously a joke...
Hey everyone look. Shuttleteam responded to my JOKE!!!!
Way to take it serious.
I suggest you read up on sociology so that you can understand humans.
I think you mean unneccessary for the home user. I do exepct people to protect against lighting, i just don't think it is neccessary for them to protect themselves, as even if lightning does do damage to their computer, It will not casue serious harm to themselvs.
and an fyi, a car will protect you from lightning, its just not the fact that the tires are rubber as some might be first inclined to believe
I don't know if I got a direct hit, but it was loud as hell and everything went out for a good 5 mins. I have a surge and a UPS (things like the monitor plugged into the surge, while the system goes into the UPS). The UPS didn't even stay on. Went out immediately with every other electrical thing on the street.
When everything came back on, I couldn't power on my system. Freaked me out. I tried for a good 5 minutes... trying different outlets, popping circuits, checking cords and plugs, etc. Finally, after about 5-10 mins, I was able to power it back on. This was about 4 months ago and I haven't seen any ill effects since then.
Since then, my UPS has been tested once or twice when we've have some flickering from storms. It's worked fine. So I don't know what the heck happened those months ago.
deadseasquirrel
When everything came back on, I couldn't power on my system. Freaked me out. I tried for a good 5 minutes... trying different outlets, popping circuits, checking cords and plugs, etc. Finally, after about 5-10 mins, I was able to power it back on. This was about 4 months ago and I haven't seen any ill effects since then.
Since then, my UPS has been tested once or twice when we've have some flickering from storms. It's worked fine. So I don't know what the heck happened those months ago.
deadseasquirrel
My UPS got a nice workout yesterday when I, like most of the NE United States, lost power.
My computer waited patiently for 10 minutes for the power to come back on. When it didn't, the (Belkin Bulldog) software gracefully saved out a hibernation memory image and shut itself down.
When I finally had power restored earlier this evening, the computer happily came back up just as it was supposed to.
Although at the moment, the Belkin software is listing my line voltage as 108.6V. Seems a bit low. Perhaps local power isn't quite back to normal yet. The Belkin UPS's output voltage, however, is nice and normal.
My computer waited patiently for 10 minutes for the power to come back on. When it didn't, the (Belkin Bulldog) software gracefully saved out a hibernation memory image and shut itself down.
When I finally had power restored earlier this evening, the computer happily came back up just as it was supposed to.
Although at the moment, the Belkin software is listing my line voltage as 108.6V. Seems a bit low. Perhaps local power isn't quite back to normal yet. The Belkin UPS's output voltage, however, is nice and normal.
Is it possible for a computer to be damaged while it was off during a power outage? This is just being off, while all the wires and everything is still plugged in, through NO UPS or surge protector of any kind. I had a comp that was working fine before that, but after the surge the computer won't boot up correctly, while it still has power to load up.
The power in a lightning strike is amazing. It can fry your entire system if a strike gets into your power lines. Whenever there's a storm, I unplug the monitor, the speakers, the computer, and disconnect the Ethernet cable. I make sure that my system is completely electronically isolated from every ciruit in the house. Surge protectors will protect you from tiny surges in the line, but lightning is far more than a tiny surge. It will rip apart any protection inside those devices and fry your system. While massive surges that totally kill your system are fairly uncommon, they can occur. What is more common is a tiny surge getting past your surge protector and slowly killing your system. (Akin to static electricity damage to electronics. The damage may not show up right away, but over time the parts affected will slowly degrade).
Even with the power "off" there is power to the motherboard, and possibly other components. This is part of the current PCI spec ... so that monitoring components and "instant on" features are available.
If your power supply has an on/off switch, when it is "off," then all power is removed from the mobo.
This is also the reason the power cable should be removed (or the PS power switch to off) when you add or remove components from the bus (cards, cpu, RAM).
FWIW
Scott
If your power supply has an on/off switch, when it is "off," then all power is removed from the mobo.
This is also the reason the power cable should be removed (or the PS power switch to off) when you add or remove components from the bus (cards, cpu, RAM).
FWIW
Scott
Muse
Lifer
- Jul 11, 2001
- 40,909
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You were 100% right and your brother owes you an apology. In truth, even with surge suppressors, your equipment is at risk. In fact, you should not only have shut off the computer systems, you should have unplugged them. Chances are they could have been toast if lightning had struck in the wrong place. The only protection that's practically fail safe is unplugging them. In most cases, a surge protector, unless it's a whole house surge protector, will not protect your equipment. It will only protect the users from electric shock, not the equipment from damage from surges. And whole house surge protectors must be properly installed in accordance with certain restrictions to be effective in protecting your appliances and electronic equipment. However, the safest protection (when possible) is unplugging your components.
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