Computers and Thunderstorms

[paints]

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.

[ancmetro]

     Not so funny!

[adriarobi]

If we are having thunderstorms, like recently, I unplug surge protectors.

Cannot risk losing my computer.

 

[judylucas]

I guess I've been lucky i never unplug anything

[mapiklfish]

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.

[paints]

If we are having thunderstorms, like recently, I unplug surge protectors.

Cannot risk losing my computer.

 

It's a good habit to get into.  Saves energy, and it might save your computer too. 

[darkxtsuna]

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.

[rob110]

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.

[paints]

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.

[pectacon]

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.

[DEBMZ6]

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.

[freedavis]

I leave my computer plugged in for most part.  I do not see the harm if you have a serg protector

[potluck6]

Scary for sure. Usually the lights go out in the summer  because  everyone is using ac. Luckily just for an hour or less.

[sfreeman8]

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.

[monnee]

Sometimes the surge protectors work and sometimes they don't, but so far I've had no problems yet.