Death by Power Surge!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alfred Kaufmann
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Alfred Kaufmann

My areas was struck by lightening and I had a power surge. I needed to
replace my cable modem, my router and my brand spanking new computer is in
the shop. Clearing the CMOS did not bring it back to life. :-(

What I am wondering, I have everything plugged into those power surge
protectors and how did this power surge get into my equipment? I am
thinking it followed the cable into the modem then into the router and then
by ethernet cable to the computer. Possible? If so, is there a way to
prevent that in the future?

Al
 
Possibly your Cable system is not properly grounded and a lighting surge
came over the cable line and not through you power line surge protector.
 
You can buy surge protectors that cover mains power, telephone and cable..


Alfred Kaufmann said:
My areas was struck by lightening and I had a power surge. I needed to
replace my cable modem, my router and my brand spanking new computer is in
the shop. Clearing the CMOS did not bring it back to life. :-(

What I am wondering, I have everything plugged into those power surge
protectors and how did this power surge get into my equipment? I am
thinking it followed the cable into the modem then into the router and
then by ethernet cable to the computer. Possible? If so, is there a way
to prevent that in the future?

Al
Click to expand...

--


Mike Hall
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/
 
Home grade surge protectors are often very pretty with exciting styles and
colors, often handy for the extra outlets they provide, but also largely
useless at protecting the equipment connected to them from anything but very
minor surges. You would do well to not depend on these for protection,
instead disconnect the mains power for any electronic equipment you don't
want to have damaged in a storm.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
 
In message <[email protected]> "Alfred
Kaufmann said:
My areas was struck by lightening and I had a power surge. I needed to
replace my cable modem, my router and my brand spanking new computer is in
the shop. Clearing the CMOS did not bring it back to life. :-(

What I am wondering, I have everything plugged into those power surge
protectors and how did this power surge get into my equipment? I am
thinking it followed the cable into the modem then into the router and then
by ethernet cable to the computer. Possible? If so, is there a way to
prevent that in the future?
Click to expand...

If the hit was anywhere near you, a surge protector won't even slow it
down.

Very little can stop or even slow down a lightning strike, only smaller
spikes can be caught by surge protection.
 
I decent quality surge protector includes insurance against lightning
damage but you might have problem with that if you don't have
protection on the "data lines"

I have a UPS unit that protects the phone line as well and I have a
decent surge protector into which the laser printer is plugged and it
has a coaxial socket set for the cable going to the cable modem.

One problem with surge protectors is that they may protect you from a
surge, which they do by sacrificing themselves, and then next time you
have no protection -- again decent surge protectors either signal with
a red light that the protection is gone or kill the power output
altogether.

Better luck next time!

From the Lightning Capital of the World!
 
Yes I have one of those more expensive ones protecting my entertainment
system and it suffered no damage. Guess I need to buy a another one of
those.

Al
 
No very practical if you are not home. There no storm present in my area at
the time just a few clouds and then there was one and only one bolt of
lightening. I certainly did not expect it. I guess that is why we have
insurance. :-(

Al




Richard G. Harper said:
Home grade surge protectors are often very pretty with exciting styles and
colors, often handy for the extra outlets they provide, but also largely
useless at protecting the equipment connected to them from anything but
very minor surges. You would do well to not depend on these for
protection, instead disconnect the mains power for any electronic
equipment you don't want to have damaged in a storm.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


Alfred Kaufmann said:
My areas was struck by lightening and I had a power surge. I needed to
replace my cable modem, my router and my brand spanking new computer is
in the shop. Clearing the CMOS did not bring it back to life. :-(

What I am wondering, I have everything plugged into those power surge
protectors and how did this power surge get into my equipment? I am
thinking it followed the cable into the modem then into the router and
then by ethernet cable to the computer. Possible? If so, is there a way
to prevent that in the future?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
So if you have a $200 deductible on your insurance there is no reason to
spend $200 on a surge protector.

Al
 
In message <[email protected]> "Alfred
Kaufmann said:
Just when I was about to lay out big bucks for a better surge protector!
Click to expand...

They have some advantages -- The biggest ones can handle a much larger
jolt then a small/cheap one.

Basically nothing can stop a direct strike, only divert it elsewhere.
However, if a large percentage of the jolt lands elsewhere and you only
get hit with a smaller (but still destructive) jolt, a decent surge
protector may save you.

Second, there is a warranty on them, so if your hardware is properly
connected (Read the fine print, this is very difficult -- Among other
things, typical exclusions will include that no wire leading from your
PC can go through anything that isn't protected by the same brand, or
sometimes even the same unit) -- So you need a device that can handle
your cable, DSL or phone connection if applicable too.

They aren't fix-alls, but they do certainly do better then no protection
at all in many cases.
 
So if you have a $200 deductible on your insurance there is no reason to 
spend $200 on a surge protector.
Click to expand...

I didn't suggest it -- the insurance I was referring to comes with certain
surge protectors like Belkin or APCC.

What I suggest is (a) if you must use a surge protector get one with a
tell-tale either by signal light or failing to supply any voltage if the
surge protection has been killed by a surge you may not have been aware of
or (b) get a decent quality UPS unit which will protect you against brown-
outs as well as over-voltage.

And in either case get units that protect the incoming signal line.

UPS units saved us last year from the 180 volts we got on our household
wall sockets after the Tropical Storm here took down the neutral wire on
our incoming supply. We lost 220 volts but retained the nominal 110 volt
circuits, however they swung from 85 to 185 volts. Despite this we lost no
internal electronics -- TV HiFi Cordless base station fax or answering
machine since all are protected by UPS units ranging from $30 APCC "Office"
units that look like surge protectors but contain a battery to UPS Pro
units on the computer, the older ones get passed on down the line ....
 
Al;
Part of the problem is you have a surge protector not a lightening
protection system.
What you have is intended to protect from the relatively minor ups and
downs of the normal commercial power and lightening does not fall into
that category.
Some surge protectors do warranty for lightening.
That is not to say they believe their product protects against
lightening.
Some count on lost receipts, warranty expiration or users simply being
unaware of their warranty.

Read your warranty carefully for options.
 
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