Don’t Get Struck By Lightning

This has been a very interesting week work wise. The bad weather has been responsible for several “fried” computers. This is the time of year when every few days another storm comes through. Storms mean lightning, and lightning, even if you don’t get a direct hit on your house, can fry your computer.

Most people use a surge suppressor to protect their system. But don’t forget, every piece of equipment has to be plugged into it for it to work. I’ve seen people plug their computer, monitor, scanner, etc. into the suppressor, then, because the outlets were all taken, they’ll plug the printer or speakers directly into the wall- bypassing the surge suppressor entirely. EVERY component that you are connecting to your computer must go through the surge suppressor first.

Another problem I often run into is that many older houses do not have three-way outlets. The suppressor will not work without the ground connection. If your home has these older outlets, you’ll need to install a ground connection if you want to protect your computer from surges. The best connection is to use a grounding stake (available at Radio Shack) and run a ground wire directly to the wall outlet.

It’s also possible that the outlet already has a three-way wire ran to it. In this case, you might be able to replace the old two-way outlet with a three-way. I’ve also seen adapters with a metal clip that attaches to the center screw on the outlet’s cover. This will work as long as the outlet box is grounded. Many of the newer boxes are plastic, but the older ones were almost always made of metal.

There’s one thing you need to remember. If you’re not familiar with 120 volt house wiring, DON’T try to check these things yourself. To start with, it’s dangerous. And without the proper equipment, you won’t be able to tell anything anyway. Get a licensed electrician to check your wiring.

I had a call today to look at two computers in the same house that had quit working. Both did have problems, but the problems were different. The only thing that they had in common was that they both went out on the same day. I also found out that a phone had quit working around the same time.

What had happened was…the computers had been hit by an electrical surge even though they were both plugged into surge suppressors and the outlets had good grounds. The surge that knocked out the two computers, and the telephone, had come in over the phone line. This is a very common occurrence. What was worse, both surge suppressors included jacks for surging the phone lines. People tend to forget that lightning can come in over an unprotected phone line, go right through the modem, and wipe out their entire system.

Lightning does strange things inside a computer. I’ve seen it hit the modem and not touch any other component. I’ve also seen it go right through the modem without damaging it, yet totally wipe out the memory, processor, hard drive, etc. The main thing I’ve learned over the years is…once a computer has been damaged by lightning; it shortens the life of every part in the system. The elevated electrical surge stresses all of the components. It’s usually best to replace the entire system, especially if the motherboard was damaged.

The moral is…buy a good surge suppressor, hook everything into it including the modem, and if big electrical storm approaches…unplug your computer anyway, just to be safe! Reach me at www.randybenjamin.com.