Possible lightning strike damage

[dyle]

So it started to rumble today and saw some lightning coming towards my direction. Turned off my pc but didn't disconnect anything so it was still plugged in to a surge protector that is plugged in directly to a wall outlet. Also had a router connected to a cable modem that I just powered off but did not disconnect. My TV was on the whole time..

Then, ZaP! I here a that sound. The TV turns blank so I turned it off, waited a few seconds and turned it back on, everthing works, phew... After the storm passed, I try to rturn off my PC but it won't power up! I tried messing around with the switch on the power supply. When I turn it off, I can here it power down, like a little hissing sound. When i turn it on though, I don't see the LED lights on the motherboard light up. However, there is a usb card reader connected to the usb port of the pc and the lights on that one is on. Everything else that was plugged in the surge protector was also working, cable modem, wireless router, speakers, etc.. I'm even using the wireless internet right now...

What do you guys think is fried? I don't see any obvious burn marks anywhere. Like i said no LEDs on the motherboard but USB seems to be giving out power. This sucks since the MB is a Shuttle AN35N that's served me well and had no plans replacing it in the near future as of yet.

 

[snoturtle]

unplug the computer for a few minutes than plug back in and try again

 

[Okasa]

just fyi if it did actually get fried and it was behind a surge protector, usually they offer a warranty up to a certian voltage overload, worth a shot.

oh, and last min thought, swap out psu, if it did get overloaded thats the first place its likely to fail

 

[TC10284]

/me agrees with Okasa.

Try another power supply. I had a system recently that would not POST or power on at all. Switched out the PSU and everything worked/works wonderfully.

 

[SparkyJJO]

that is why you not only shut down but also unplug the computer during a thunderstorm which is why I've never lost any computer or TV or whatever to lightning

 

[dyle]

Thanks. I'll try the PSU route before anything else. HOwever, the fact that there's power through the USB makes me think that the power supply is still working. From what I know, the USB get's it's power from the mother board, which gets its power from the power supply. Is that a correct train or thought?

 

[corkyg]

A surge protector offers no protection against a lightning strike. That is a common misconception. There is no warranty for that.

 

[dyle]

Not really complaining about the surge protector and I realized my mistake.

Anybody have suggestions on how to troubleshoot the part or gulp...parts that is preventing my PC from starting up?

 

[TC10284]

Try a different PSU first, even though your USB item still shows to have power. It's a big difference powering a small USB item compared to powering on your entire system.

If a PSU doesn't help, remove all accessories except what is required for the system to even POST. If the system still will not power on, it is most likely the mobo or CPU.

 

[TC10284]

And yes, I shut down and unplug ALL of my systems during an electrical storm. I used to unplug every network connection from my switches but that's a big hassle as of lately. I've had lightning burn out a few ports on my router even though it was disconnected from the power, cable modem and just connected to another PC via a CAT5 cable (even the PC was unplugged from the wall).

 

[MWink]

Originally posted by: corkyg
A surge protector offers no protection against a lightning strike. That is a common misconception. There is no warranty for that.

That's not quite true either. Some brands do say they will replace your equipment even if it is damaged by lightning (APC for instance). Whether or not a surge protector can actually protect against a direct strike is another story.

Actually, last month we had some nasty thunderstorms and our phone lines got hit twice. I don't know how close it hit but it made a LOUD bang. The first strike blew out every single phone line surge protector in the house! The second (two days later) strike literally blew the wire on our main line out of its connector where the phone lines come into the house. Everything within a few inches was blackened. That hit blew out all the phone surge protectors on our second line.

The amazing thing was that NOTHING but the surge protectors was damaged! They certainly did their job. Also APC was quite good about replacing the damaged surge protectors.

 

[l Thomas l]

You can buy an uninterruptable power supply. That should help for lightning storms I think.

 

[Talcite]

Did your surge protector also protect the RJ45 cable from the router to the computer? if not, then you can forget about warranty from the company. Those guys are notorious for tight ass terms. If you don't have a perfectly wired house with a perfectly configured system, they won't pay for jack.

Anyways, a UPS is usually a good idea. I got a great one (line interactive) for 90 cdn. It's an APC BR900. You should look into one, it even comes with phoneline and RJ45 protection plus shutdown software. Make sure your system is entirely isolated from the electrical grid. Nothing passing into your system doesn't pass through the UPS or surge protector first. Of course with exception of usb stuff and other things that just have only contact with your system. Speakers and monitors should be plugged into the UPS as well, albeit into surge protection sockets for the speakers. The general rule is just to isolate the system.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, Always unplug the AC and the Phone line. Most lightening strikes are on the phone line. Usually takes out the modem, MB and Power supply. Can also take out any other part of the machine. My AC is hard to reach, so I usually only disconect the Phone line. Never had a machine hit, but have repaired many.

Good Luck, Jim

 

[corkyg]

A couple of years ago, we took a direct hit while we were away on a trip. It took out our home security panel - totally. $1200 to replace. That was the only damage.

My computers were off and disconnected. I always do that when going away for a week or two. Lightning is a common occurence here in Southern Arizona in the summer.

Phone lines are sometimes a conduit - but mainly with above ground lines. My area is all underground - electric, phones, and cable. The cable is all new optical.

 

[athfbum]

If you replace the PSU and motherboard and it still doesn't work, I'd contact your surge protector manufacturer and see how much they'll give you.

 

[bfonnes]

Originally posted by: dyle
Thanks. I'll try the PSU route before anything else. HOwever, the fact that there's power through the USB makes me think that the power supply is still working. From what I know, the USB get's it's power from the mother board, which gets its power from the power supply. Is that a correct train or thought?

doesn't matter... sometimes the fans spin, but that doesn't constitute a working system... It's still the PSU.

BFonnes

 

[bfonnes]

Originally posted by: MWink

Originally posted by: corkyg
A surge protector offers no protection against a lightning strike. That is a common misconception. There is no warranty for that.

That's not quite true either. Some brands do say they will replace your equipment even if it is damaged by lightning (APC for instance). Whether or not a surge protector can actually protect against a direct strike is another story.

Actually, last month we had some nasty thunderstorms and our phone lines got hit twice. I don't know how close it hit but it made a LOUD bang. The first strike blew out every single phone line surge protector in the house! The second (two days later) strike literally blew the wire on our main line out of its connector where the phone lines come into the house. Everything within a few inches was blackened. That hit blew out all the phone surge protectors on our second line.

The amazing thing was that NOTHING but the surge protectors was damaged! They certainly did their job. Also APC was quite good about replacing the damaged surge protectors.

so, lightning does strike twice!

 

[dyle]

Well, it's not the power supply. Went to the local CompUSA to buy an Antec 350 smartpower supply to test it out. Connected it to the mainboard, hard drive, and 6600gt. Turn the main power supply switch on...no lights on the motherboard. Computer won't turn on. The old one was an Antec SL350 that came with an SLK300amb.

Now I'm in kind of a bind. It's only a xpm 2200 but it's been running fine the past year and a half or so so I don't really want to upgrade. The video card is also agp so that kind of limits my upgrade path if I did decide to do it. I guess the next thing to do is buy a socket a motherboard and hope that the other components weren't damaged too. ANybody have experience with this. If it's usually the motherboard, do you assume that the cpu, video card, etc are also fried?

I don't think the damage was done through the surge protector. Lots of other things were plugged in and they are functioning fine. It's weird since my cable modem and router are also working fine and I see no physical scorch marks or cable damage in the PC.

 

[MonkeyFaces]

Your situation isn't that bad. One day, my thermaltake psu (it's supposed to be a good model, didn't come in a case) just decided to die on me when I plugged in my dc power cable into the psu outlet and a stream of orange sparks shot 2 feet. Needless to say, a tear came down my eye because it reminded me of our troops in iraq and the fight for freedom+democracy.

I would also like to know who would cover the warranty for a psu manufacturer's defect. Thermaltake won't ever service my psu because I mailed in the receipt and upc for a rebate and threw away the box. It's been 3 months since I bought it from fry's. How would I go about getting my psu replaced?