Surge Protectors . . . . . And Electrical Storms.

[gizmo1_1]

Last night was indeed a sad night for me.

I was away on a business trip, I had noticed that the weather indicated thunder storms in the area where I lived. I tried to call home and advise my wife to unplug the computers in my lab, but due to the power outage I could not contact her. I didn't worry much because I had both external lighenting arrestors, and internal surge protectors installed.

I make it home around 10:30pm As I pull into the driveway I am greeted by a brilliant flash followed by an earth shattering boom. Lightening had just struck the Electrical service loop coming into my home.

It Vaporized the ground wire, and lightening arrestors, as it did with the breaker box in the house. Every electronic component connected to a wall outlet in the house recieved severe damage.

All of my personal PCs from my Dual Processor linux server, all the way down to my antique 8088 that I like to show off to friends are now fried (literally).

The insurance Adjuster, trying to make a point, came in looked around and said, this is why surge protectors are important.

[TripleRLtd]

And your insurance adjuster knows nothing but numbers, and should be considered a bore at best. Almost the equivalent of ambulance chasing lawyers.
btw:
So sorry to hear about your loss gizmo. Damn, what a bummer. How bad is it? Did it burn out your hdd pcb's,too, as well as all your data?

[Tekboy]

Man, that is very sad. I would be really bummed, as I imagine you are.
Gonna be expensive, I guess, as there is no way the insurance is going to pay you the replacement value.

[jaeger]

Surge protectors are absolutely worthless with a lightning strike. A good UPS stands a better chance. I've lived near Tampa for the last six years. I've lost two UPSes to strikes, but not a single electronic device that was on a UPS. Media center is on a UPS, 2 computers are on another, 1 computer is on the last. Lost a TV and VCR that weren''t protected in one strike.

[Radical Dreamer]

Surge protectors are absolutely worthless with a lightning strike. A good UPS stands a better chance. I've lived near Tampa for the last six years. I've lost two UPSes to strikes, but not a single electronic device that was on a UPS. Media center is on a UPS, 2 computers are on another, 1 computer is on the last. Lost a TV and VCR that weren''t protected in one strike.

I need to get some more UPS, I have 1 and have 7 computers.......but at least the one with the 6800 Ultra OC is protected

[FatalException0E]

I need to get some more UPS, I have 1 and have 7 computers.......but at least the one with the 6800 Ultra OC is protected

You gotta have priorities. My dual-proc, 15k RPM SCSI beast is on a UPS. The Athlon 800 and Celeron 667 are on $20 surge protectors. (which is still more than required for the Celery)

[gizmo1_1]

And your insurance adjuster knows nothing but numbers, and should be considered a bore at best. Almost the equivalent of ambulance chasing lawyers.
btw:
So sorry to hear about your loss gizmo. Damn, what a bummer. How bad is it? Did it burn out your hdd pcb's,too, as well as all your data?

On 4 of the machines it only got the Powersupply.
I had two machines sitting on the floor. It fried them completely, you can see small dents in the side of the case where the caps blew off the board. My Antiuqe 8088 however only lost a fuse in the powersupply, and the monitor. The UPS for my server and main PC was damaged beyond repair. The Sealed lead acid batteries are no longer sealed.

The insurance adjuster apparently failed to understand the difference between a lightening strike and a power surge.

Sound like I need to perform a little science experiment with him. (Anyone gotta a kite with metal twine?)

[ilovetheusers]

Sorry to hear. From what I understand of Lightning strikes, jaeger is dead on. I have a UPS on my PC's at home. The power grid in my area sucks eggs (surges and dimming almost daily) so it was a worthwhile investment.

[WebHead]

Damn,.. that really sucks Gizmo. That 8088 will be tough to replace and even if you do replace it, it will never be the same. Sorry about the loss.

[Outcoded]

My Antiuqe 8088 however only lost a fuse in the powersupply, and the monitor.

Don't build em like that anymore

[gizmo1_1]

Well Almost back up. It only got the mainboad and Powersupplies in 4.

4 more tapes and I am all back up and running.

Insurance company sucks though, they are only giving me $2500.00
(That won't even replace my tv)

[Orangeman]

....Insurance company sucks though, they are only giving me $2500.00
(That won't even replace my tv)

You've probably paid more than that in premiums. I'd switch if I were you.

[GrandDad]

Well Almost back up. It only got the mainboad and Powersupplies in 4.

4 more tapes and I am all back up and running.

Insurance company sucks though, they are only giving me $2500.00
(That won't even replace my tv)

Insurance seems to when it comes to your household stuff whatever caused the lost .
You'll just have to save up and get bigger and faster stuff this time .