Power Surge

[SpencerH]

So I had another power surge last saturday. This one was fairly destructive, I lost:

2 motherboards
4 NIC's
Router and Switch
2 garage door openers
house intercom
2 phones and answering machine
sprinkler system controller
the S-video circuit board in my home theatre/receiver

Total cost somewhere between $1500-2000. I could fix or replace most of it myself for less but then I wouldnt be able to claim it on my insurance - which is pretty stupid of the insurance companies I think.

All of this happened despite a surge protector on the power to the house and decent panamax surge protectors (Surge Response Time - 1 ns Energy Rating - 1650 Joules EMI/RFI Noise Filtration - 50 dB Clamping Level - 330 V) on the expensive electronics. I'm not sure how it did what it did without blowing out the surge protectors. The lightning strike was very close though.

[Proteus_MST]

Wow, bad luck.

But good for you to have an insurance that covers this
Hope no data got lost.

[SpencerH]

No, no data lost but I was going through "cold turkey" for a few days without a connection to the internet.

[Nostromo]

Aren't decent surge protectors garanteed to protect your equipment up to a certain amount?

(IRC, surge protectors don't protect you after a couple of years, because of the wear and tear.)

I wondering about his lately, since we had a lot of thunderstorms and lightning recently. What do you do when there's lightning? Close you PC? Disconnect everything?

[DanS]

I think you would have to disconnect everything.

The utlimate solution is to bury the power lines. It may sound drastic, but when you're losing thousands of dollars of equipment, it's a good idea. I don't know how far from the house these surges happen, though.

[Ecthy]

How do you get something like that? Lightning strike?

[Winston]

Originally posted by Ecthy
How do you get something like that? Lightning strike?

No, no, the power surge people come knocking on the door at random.

[Ecthy]

Look Winston if there is anything you have to add to this then do this, otherwise STFU

[Winston]

Just one thing, read the last sentence of the OP.

[Ecthy]

Fine so I skipped that one because he started it with some technical stuff about surge protectors. Doesn't excuse the fact that you're an a$$hole.

[Winston]

No, but at least I retain my composure.

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by DanS
I think you would have to disconnect everything.

The utlimate solution is to bury the power lines. It may sound drastic, but when you're losing thousands of dollars of equipment, it's a good idea. I don't know how far from the house these surges happen, though.

Isn't that the norm today ? I haven't seen a lowvoltage air line for years and there are only a few highvoltage that isn't buried yet here.

[Ecthy]

Originally posted by Winston
No, but at least I retain my composure.

Easy if you're the arrogant offender. Are you proud of being a cold bastard in face of normal people who react in emotional manners?

[Winston]

Normal people? I thought that was you acting all hysterical?

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by nostromo
Aren't decent surge protectors garanteed to protect your equipment up to a certain amount?

Not vs lightning. It's specifically precluded in the 'policies' I've read.

(IRC, surge protectors don't protect you after a couple of years, because of the wear and tear.)

I wondering about his lately, since we had a lot of thunderstorms and lightning recently. What do you do when there's lightning? Close you PC? Disconnect everything?

I think they do degrade over time. Spencer seems to know more about it than I do though.

I don't think you have to unplug things. Most computers have a physical switch on the power supply. Some UPS's and surge protectors also have physical switches. For things like stereos and TVs that lack them, try plugging them into a power bar with a physical switch.