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Possible lightning stike to computer

strep3241

strep3241

Senior member
My dad's pc may have got struck by lightning today although I am not 100% sure. He was sitting at his desk, not using the pc when it shut off by itself, like someone pulled the plug. He has it plugged into a power strip along with some other stuff like lights, router, etc. Everything else plugged into the power strip works fine. Is it possible that lightning could take out the pc and affect nothing else?

I have done some troubleshooting of my own and I think it is the PSU. If I unplug the PSU, hit the power button, plug the PSU back in, hit the power button, the fans will spin for a split second. I have done the paper clip test and the first time I did it, all the fans and lights except the CPU fan came on and stayed on until I took the paper clip out. So I plugged it back into the motherboard and still nothing. So I tried the paperclip test again and I can not get the fans to stay on. They will come on for a split second but no more. Should the CPU fan come on when doing the paperclip test?

Forgot to add system specs:
OCZ 700watt GameXstream PSU
ASUS P7P55D-ELX Motherboard
Intel Core i5-760 CPU
 
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Greetings fellow Hoosier.
Don't worry about any paper clip. Connect up a known good PS and go from there.
 
Greetings Blain, at the moment I do not have an extra PSU to try unless I take it out of my pc which I do not want to do.

Do you think it is the PSU?
 
Sounds like the PS to me.
If the PS got zapped it may have taken some other components with it.
The problem is that you can't know that until you get a good PS back in there.

Did your dad have the PC behind a surge protector or UPS?
 
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He had it plugged into a power strip but not sure if it is considered a surge protector.

Well, I took it to a local computer shop and he was able to hook a good PSU up to it and the motherboard posted so the motherboard is okay. So it looks like I need a new PSU. What I don't understand is there were several other things plugged into the same power strip, desk light, monitor, router and it did not affect any of those things. Why would it just affect the PSU? I am not 100% sure this is from lightning. When his computer shut off, we could not see any lightning in the area.

What size PSU and what brand would be good for this rig? He has 2 500gb hard drives, 1 optical drive, and a memory card reader. The guy at the shop says at least 550 watts. I was thinking maybe 600 watts.
 
What do you mean by that the only thing killed was an OCZ PSU?

Is it possible to fix a PSU or is it not worth it?

Where is a good place to buy computer parts locally? Is Best Buy worth checking out? Besides Best Buy, I believe the only other place that sells computer parts is Walmart. I would like to buy one locally but most likely will be buying online.
 
memory said:
What do you mean by that the only thing killed was an OCZ PSU?
Click to expand...

OCZ PSUs, especially older ones, are generally not known for their quality.

memory said:
Is it possible to fix a PSU or is it not worth it?
Click to expand...

Theoretically possible, but the skill labor necessary to diagnose and repair it would be several times the cost of a new unit.

memory said:
Where is a good place to buy computer parts locally? Is Best Buy worth checking out? Besides Best Buy, I believe the only other place that sells computer parts is Walmart. I would like to buy one locally but most likely will be buying online.
Click to expand...

Best Buy generally has a selection of Antec, Corsair, OCZ, and "Rocketfish1!!" PSUs at a pretty high markup. If you don't need it right now, your best bet in terms of value would be ordering it online.

The Seasonic's that Blain recommended are good, but rather pricey. You didn't mention a GPU, so I'm assuming that your Dad doesn't have a monster gaming GPU. If that's the case, this $35 AR Corsair CX430 is more than sufficient.
 
mfenn said:
OCZ PSUs, especially older ones, are generally not known for their quality.



Theoretically possible, but the skill labor necessary to diagnose and repair it would be several times the cost of a new unit.



Best Buy generally has a selection of Antec, Corsair, OCZ, and "Rocketfish1!!" PSUs at a pretty high markup. If you don't need it right now, your best bet in terms of value would be ordering it online.

The Seasonic's that Blain recommended are good, but rather pricey. You didn't mention a GPU, so I'm assuming that your Dad doesn't have a monster gaming GPU. If that's the case, this $35 AR Corsair CX430 is more than sufficient.
Click to expand...

I realize ordering online would be my best option in terms of value but the quicker I can get the computer going, the better. If I order online tomorrow, it would probably be Monday before the package comes. That may be my only option unless he wants to pay the extra cash. What is the deal with Rocketfish? Are they any good? Does only Best Buy carry that brand?

No he does not have a monster GPU. He does not game at all. The GPU doesn't even have a fan on it. The guy at the local computer shop said I need at least a 550watt PSU. Is he full of it? He was a pretty young kid so probably.
 
Rocketfish is a pretty generic brand. Get something better.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olstempl...c=abcat0500000
Yea.... nothing good there.
Newegg standard shipping should only take 2 or 3 days since they typically ship out of Chicago area and you are Indiana. You could pony up $30 for next day and still get a better deal than local. Shoprunner will give you free 2 day shipping.

What GPU is the system running? You probably won't need more than a quality 400w psu unless it's heavily overclocked or runs multi-GPU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703034 is a great choice with 30A on the 12V rail.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139027 provides a bit more power with 34A.

Edit: saw your last details about the puny GPU. i5 750 pulled 186W as a system at load.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/52

You definitely don't need a 500W psu. Even 300w would be enough but a bit headroom never hurts. Not to mention there aren't much cheaper PSUs than that PC P&C 400W, which is top notch quality.
 
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Thanks for all the suggestions. I am thinking of going with the Corsair.

I am not positive it was lightning. I thought it might have been because we just had a lightning storm move through. But when the computer died, there was no lightning in the area. The PSU was 4 years old, don't know if that is old for an OCZ PSU or not.
 
Probably not a direct lightning strike, but a power surge resulting from a strike nearby to the power grid. It's a very common thing.
 
You really don't need to spend so much on a PSU for that PC. If he doesn't game with a high-end video card then he'll probably never break 200W.
 
I realize I do not need that much power but I would rather have it and not need it, then need it and not have it. And I guess I am a little paranoid about some other hardware getting damaged that I don't mind spending more for better quality.

I did one of those wattage calculators and it came up with 311 watts although I am not sure how much those can be trusted.

I wish I would of tested his computer with one those kill-a-watt meters just to see how much watts it actually pulls.
 
I would recommend a cheaper PSU and use the savings to replace that surge protector with a battery backup (UPS). That will do more to protect the system than any high-end PSU.
 
memory said:
I realize I do not need that much power but I would rather have it and not need it, then need it and not have it. And I guess I am a little paranoid about some other hardware getting damaged that I don't mind spending more for better quality.

I did one of those wattage calculators and it came up with 311 watts although I am not sure how much those can be trusted.

I wish I would of tested his computer with one those kill-a-watt meters just to see how much watts it actually pulls.
Click to expand...

The more over-rated the power supply is relative to the average load, the worse your actual efficiency is going to be. So not only could you be paying more up front, but you'd also be paying more over time.

Given the system as described, it shouldn't draw more than 150W running flat out. Idle is probably more like 50-60W.

The Antec VP 450W that AnonymouseUser found is good if you have a Staples that stocks it nearby.

Best Buy's in store selection, at least as reported by the web site, is pretty pathetic, but I know that individual stores sometimes stock more. It wouldn't hurt to go there and see what they have. If they have Corsair or Antec in stock, you can grab the lowest wattage they have and be set.
 
memory said:
What I don't understand is there were several other things plugged into the same power strip, desk light, monitor, router and it did not affect any of those things. Why would it just affect the PSU? I am not 100% sure this is from lightning. When his computer shut off, we could not see any lightning in the area.
Click to expand...
It is called advertising. Suddenly everyone *knows* a surge must have existed because something failed. Nonsense. You have what is typical of a manufacturing defect. Most failures are only manufacturing defects.

Destructive surges occur maybe once every seven years. And probably damaged many less robust appliances. You have zero reasons to believe a surge existed. And plenty of hearsay and advertising to make you 'feel' it happened.

You took it to a computer shop who 'discovered' the problem. Why did they not provide a new supply? Why are you doing so much extraneous work when the shop would have solved the problem immediately?
 
memory said:
And I guess I am a little paranoid about some other hardware getting damaged that I don't mind spending more for better quality.
Click to expand...
Step one. It must come with a long list of numeric specifications. That claim in writing things such as overvoltage protection. No specs is how the manufacturer silences the few who really know this stuff. No specs means the informed cannot warn you about a supply that is defective by design. That is missing essential functions. No specs means the manufacturer cannot be held responsible, in court, for a defective product.

Does not matter if you do not know what specs are saying. No specs is how the 1% who actually know this stuff are silenced.
 
westom said:
It is called advertising. Suddenly everyone *knows* a surge must have existed because something failed. Nonsense. You have what is typical of a manufacturing defect. Most failures are only manufacturing defects.

Destructive surges occur maybe once every seven years. And probably damaged many less robust appliances. You have zero reasons to believe a surge existed. And plenty of hearsay and advertising to make you 'feel' it happened.

You took it to a computer shop who 'discovered' the problem. Why did they not provide a new supply? Why are you doing so much extraneous work when the shop would have solved the problem immediately?
Click to expand...

The reason I figured it was lightning is because we just had a lightning storm move through the area.

I took it to a shop only to confirm what I had suspected. They had a power supply but it was more than I wanted to spend. And if I had the shop install the power supply, he would have charged me an arm and a leg. He charges $100 just to reinstall Windows.
 
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