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Discussion Boards => Off-Topic => Topic started by: paints on September 10, 2018, 08:49:29 pm

Title: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: paints on September 10, 2018, 08:49:29 pm
Or,  "Why I Don't Leave My Laptop Plugged In All The Time"

I had just unplugged the laptop from the charger when BOOM!  The lights went out, the windows rattled, and I heard a loud pop.  My surge protector is fried. 



Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: annadote on September 10, 2018, 08:55:28 pm
I thought surge protectors were supposed to prevent this from happening. Did your house get hit by a lightning bolt? I don't know how anything else would cause this. Glad your laptop wasn't plugged in at the time.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: BATISTAGIRL663 on September 10, 2018, 10:07:53 pm
Omgosh!! Scary stuff!! Glad you had unplugged it!!!
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: Skyisbluetoday on September 11, 2018, 04:22:03 am
:bunny:  :cat:  :dog: That's good advice to unplug if you know that a storm is approaching. I have surge protectors & hope that they hold up to the electric power outage's. Glad you saved your laptop!  :bunny:  :cat:  :dog:
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: countrygirl12 on September 11, 2018, 05:32:07 am
Or,  "Why I Don't Leave My Laptop Plugged In All The Time"

I had just unplugged the laptop from the charger when BOOM!  The lights went out, the windows rattled, and I heard a loud pop.  My surge protector is fried. 





Surge protectors do not always protect.  Our power was off and when they turned it back on there was a major surge and it jumped the protector and not only fried the computer but actually SET IT ON FIRE.  Glad I was there when it happened.  If it is storming and I think about it I will disconnect the power from my laptop.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: countrygirl12 on September 11, 2018, 05:33:45 am
I thought surge protectors were supposed to prevent this from happening. Did your house get hit by a lightning bolt? I don't know how anything else would cause this. Glad your laptop wasn't plugged in at the time.

Surge protectors do not always work.  Like I already said, we had a surge that jumped the protector.  It was too much.  No we didn't get hit by lightening.  It happened when they turned the power back on.  Surge protectors are like anything else they are there for protection but sometimes things still happen.  Just like seat belts in cars.  They do protect you but you can still die in a car crash even if you are buckled in.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: paints on September 11, 2018, 05:38:49 pm
I thought surge protectors were supposed to prevent this from happening. Did your house get hit by a lightning bolt? I don't know how anything else would cause this. Glad your laptop wasn't plugged in at the time.

Yeah, they're supposed to. 
The way it was explained to me is , a surge protector is like a boxer.  When a boxer takes too many hits, he quits.  Same thing. 

I am soooo glad my laptop was unplugged!
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: paints on September 11, 2018, 05:44:40 pm
:bunny:  :cat:  :dog: That's good advice to unplug if you know that a storm is approaching. I have surge protectors & hope that they hold up to the electric power outage's. Glad you saved your laptop!  :bunny:  :cat:  :dog:

I was lucky.  There was no warning at all that a storm was coming up. 
It's habit for me to unplug when when it's charged up. 
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: paints on September 11, 2018, 05:51:09 pm
Or,  "Why I Don't Leave My Laptop Plugged In All The Time"

I had just unplugged the laptop from the charger when BOOM!  The lights went out, the windows rattled, and I heard a loud pop.  My surge protector is fried. 





Surge protectors do not always protect.  Our power was off and when they turned it back on there was a major surge and it jumped the protector and not only fried the computer but actually SET IT ON FIRE.  Glad I was there when it happened.  If it is storming and I think about it I will disconnect the power from my laptop.

They don't, no.  Electricity is unpredictable.
When I was growing up, whenever it started raining, my mom would run around the house and unplug everything, just in case.  I'm not quite that bad.  Yet.  :D
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: shasha2210 on September 11, 2018, 07:25:35 pm
I have a desktop
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: Tresbn00 on September 12, 2018, 06:51:54 am
I think it would make more sense to sat computers and lightening storms. Thunder is the noise behind the jolt of electricity called lightening. I have not heard anything about the noise of thunder causing damage while lightening damage occurs quite frequently. I used to own an insurance brokerage and people would call in to make claims when their computers would fry as a result of lightening causing a surge that their surge protectors could not absorb. It generally didn't make sense because the homeowners deductibles were between five hundred to one thousand dollars and their computers were usually worth four to six hundred dollars. I always buy surge protectors with at least a five year, one hundred percent replacement cost guarantee but have yet to collect. I unplug my computer when not using it to save energy and avoid a possible surge. Even though it is covered I have valuable information that may not have been backed up yet.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: nannycoe1 on September 12, 2018, 07:01:01 am
My mom always unplugged the tv and we were not allowed to use the phone during a storm
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: appy9104 on September 12, 2018, 07:36:55 am
If I have the Laptop plugged in and I here grumbling or see lightning I unplug it. 
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: Kiraleen on September 12, 2018, 09:18:33 am
Yikes! You were sooo lucky!
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: bshee58 on September 12, 2018, 09:27:57 am
Amazing, that's scary.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: paints on September 12, 2018, 02:02:12 pm
I think it would make more sense to sat computers and lightening storms. Thunder is the noise behind the jolt of electricity called lightening. I have not heard anything about the noise of thunder causing damage while lightening damage occurs quite frequently. I used to own an insurance brokerage and people would call in to make claims when their computers would fry as a result of lightening causing a surge that their surge protectors could not absorb. It generally didn't make sense because the homeowners deductibles were between five hundred to one thousand dollars and their computers were usually worth four to six hundred dollars. I always buy surge protectors with at least a five year, one hundred percent replacement cost guarantee but have yet to collect. I unplug my computer when not using it to save energy and avoid a possible surge. Even though it is covered I have valuable information that may not have been backed up yet.

The weather people call them thunderstorms.  Even though it's lightning that does the damage, the thunder is what gets your attention.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: ancmetro on September 12, 2018, 04:34:37 pm

     Not so funny!
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: adriarobi on September 13, 2018, 01:24:36 pm
If we are having thunderstorms, like recently, I unplug surge protectors.

Cannot risk losing my computer.

 :rose:
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: judylucas on September 13, 2018, 01:57:34 pm
I guess I've been lucky i never unplug anything
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: mapiklfish on September 13, 2018, 03:53:28 pm
Wow!  I would have thought just turning it off would be good enough.  That's good advice to unplug.  I know, when I was a kid, my dad would always disconnect the antenna from the TV and put it in a glass jar during thunderstorms.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: paints on September 13, 2018, 04:54:39 pm
If we are having thunderstorms, like recently, I unplug surge protectors.

Cannot risk losing my computer.

 :rose:

It's a good habit to get into.  Saves energy, and it might save your computer too. 
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: darkxtsuna on September 17, 2018, 03:47:00 am
Was it a good protector though ? Brands do matter in my opinion  I had mines for years and nothing bad has happen so far and still wishing it will stay that way.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: rob110 on September 17, 2018, 03:53:39 am
Nice move, though I did have a surge protector fried but it did not harm the computer, that is the purpose of the surge protector.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: paints on September 17, 2018, 08:21:28 am
Was it a good protector though ? Brands do matter in my opinion  I had mines for years and nothing bad has happen so far and still wishing it will stay that way.

It was a good protector for its time.  It was at least 10 years old, though.  Nothing lasts forever.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: pectacon on September 18, 2018, 09:54:09 am
Wow, I didn't know that could happen, I thought that's what surge protectors were for. I'll have to be more careful about unplugging things when a storm's coming.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: DEBMZ6 on September 19, 2018, 06:15:17 pm
I always unplug my computer during a thunderstorm since it poses a risk of power surges and spikes caused by lighting strikes hitting the electrical grid. Power outages are also a problem, each time power is interrupted it's like yanking the power cord on your PC. Cutting power to your PC without properly shutting it down, can cause all sorts of things to happen...open and unsaved files can disappear and data can be corrupted. It's not uncommon for a PC to refuse to boot up after one of these incidents,requiring time consuming OS repair or re-installation to get back up and running.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: freedavis on September 19, 2018, 06:17:45 pm
I leave my computer plugged in for most part.  I do not see the harm if you have a serg protector
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: potluck6 on September 19, 2018, 08:07:43 pm
Scary for sure. Usually the lights go out in the summer  because  everyone is using ac. Luckily just for an hour or less.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: sfreeman8 on September 20, 2018, 10:53:11 am
I've always shut down my computer when I hear a thunderstorm is coming but I've never unplugged it. Since I had more than 1 computer, printer, etc. because I worked from home, I had 3 surge protectors filled with electric plugs. One surge protector was plugged into the outlet, and the other 2 were plugged into each other and then into the 3rd one plugged into the wall. Triple protection. LOL Never had a problem.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: monnee on September 20, 2018, 11:07:06 am
Sometimes the surge protectors work and sometimes they don't, but so far I've had no problems yet.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: paints on September 21, 2018, 11:19:35 am
I always unplug my computer during a thunderstorm since it poses a risk of power surges and spikes caused by lighting strikes hitting the electrical grid. Power outages are also a problem, each time power is interrupted it's like yanking the power cord on your PC. Cutting power to your PC without properly shutting it down, can cause all sorts of things to happen...open and unsaved files can disappear and data can be corrupted. It's not uncommon for a PC to refuse to boot up after one of these incidents,requiring time consuming OS repair or re-installation to get back up and running.

I've had that happen to my desktop.  I didn't unplug it from the modem, and came back to it and found it unusable.  Wouldn't boot, and had to take it to the computer repair guy to get it up and running again. 
Lesson learned. 
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: Segun15 on September 25, 2018, 12:33:47 pm
I never leave my computer plugged in because of that reason. Because you never know when thunder and lightening will hit
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: teenangel on September 25, 2018, 05:14:35 pm
I unplug my computer Everytime I'm done with it because you never know what may happen
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: sdenimandlace1 on September 26, 2018, 04:40:49 am
We have every thing on surge protectors here.   We turn them off when it storms, My house sits on flat  rocks so we get hit pretty often.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: Shandara09 on September 27, 2018, 12:37:26 pm
Glad your laptop didn't get damaged.  I have a surge protector, but I do unplug my computer if it's storming.. that wouldn't have helped when it happens all of a sudden, though.
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: patti4me on September 27, 2018, 03:39:10 pm
I always unplug my computer.  Last year we had a bad storm that ran in on our TV, our router and my Wii.  Had to replace the TV and router but haven't replaced the Wii.  It just knocked the sound out on the Wii so I keep using it. lol
Title: Re: Computers and Thunderstorms
Post by: ktheodos on September 27, 2018, 06:04:08 pm
Crazy for sure...but it does happen