I always turn my computer off during a thunder storm. Not just the computer, but printer, modem, and monitor and I turn off the power strip that everything's plugged into. I used to not bother with it, but after having a motherboard and a modem fried by lightening I do now always.
What confuses me is our local weather station has people chatting on the weather chat site during storms updating the meteorologist on conditions in various parts of the viewing area. How do they keep from having their computers ruined?
[question posted by thebeaddoodler]
responses and comments:
I am with you. I always turn my computer off during a thunder store. Monsoon season in Arizona in the summertime, is really something. It's ironic, since AZ is in the desert. LOL It's nice o be back at home and away from those darned thunder storms. [danishcanadian]
I always unplug my computer and the phone line that connect to my computer. In Oklahoma we always have bad thunderstorms [julyspring]
LOL i have a prower cord so when it thunder storms it dont brother my pc sorry to hear about your modem fried take care [ashly1979]
Well, Spit! What a dissappointment! [cjgrooms]
First, it's not enough to just turn everything off - you have to actually unplug it from the outlet. Radio/TV stations/etc have a box that sits inbetween their equipment and the power source that both protects them from a power surge and provides a back-up supply of power that gives them enough time to power off their equipment properly. [fourthdimension]
I know the radio/TV stations have surge protectors and back up power sources, but I was talking about the citizens that are communicating with them. Maybe they have WiFi. Is that susceptible to lightening? [thebeaddoodler]
not only computer, also the tv and the aircon. my aunt told me when we experienced thunderstorm before, they are watching tv by that time, then suddenly the tv turned off by itself.. and smell something different. when she turned on the tv, it doesn't work anymore. maybe the cable line of the electricity hits by the lightning.. so beware.. [xxjinx8xx]
I know it's possible to fry the TV and any cordless phones that are plugged in, but for some reason those don't enter my mind during a thunder storm. [thebeaddoodler]
I always turn off my computer/monitor during thunderstorms. Just a precaution. [pixelpixie]
I unplug my computer too. I had a tv that got fried when lightning hit the wires coming into the house. Those other people have just got lucky with their equipment. My son got lucky, I had just told him to unplug his equipment when boom, lightning struck. My mom had called me about the coming storm, she wanted to warn me so I could get the grandkids in the house. [Polly1]
I have experience a similar tragic incidence where in almost all workstation in our LAN had fried parts. It was really devastating. I have searched then how to counter such event and I found the principle of lighting arrester. Now a days electrical and phone utility company require homes to have a ground point. Normally its a pipe deeply embedded on the soil where the "ground" terminals of the utilities are attached. This limit the sudden rise of voltage that damage electrical devices. [ferdzNK]
I was about to joke you that lightning do not strike twice but #29 response by Amazon disproved it. It appears you have been seek out. Computer technician have this habit of grounding their work place to prevent static electricity from frying ICs when they service PC. Normally regulated power supplies has this ground terminals, desktop don't have them but if you could attach a wire to its metal casing plus the ground terminal of RPS to a ground line then that would give you protection. [ferdzNK]
Maybe with a surge protector. At least that was the excuse my husband used when he bought ours. We always trun off the main power strip at night (saves electricity) and during lighting stormes. My husband assures me that if we are not home when the storm starts the surge protector will stop it from being fried. [cjgrooms]
Surge protectors in-house protect somewhat, but see my response to comment #2. [thebeaddoodler]
i turn all my electronics off when there is a thunder storm...i still remember forgetting to shut off my TV and there was a popping sound and smoke coming out of my TV...i had to buy a new one...though for the necessary electronics like the Fridge and Airconditioner we use a Stabilizer so they r not under direct risk..i guess this is how the weather stations keep theirs up.. [nupats]
Nevertheless, you are not really Technically IT person. Answer to your question; might be the co. or corporate that running business still using all IT equipments during lightning because they don't dare to loss money. Well, because the installed lightning surge protector so that during lightning strive, there still can defend by not killing theirs properties. I Guess [ezway9]
I never turn off any electronics in a thunder storm. The only thing I do is not take a shower. Even if the power turns off for a second, I still leave it on. Only because I need it for work. [Some_dude]
So do I.I am frightened to thunder storm. Usually,I will turn all my electric equipment off during thunder storm including the computer,television set,even my mobile phone.A friend once told me that once time he charged his mobile phone when there is a thunder,then his mobile phone not worked .SO I adviced that turn your electric equipment off during a thunder storm. [kaixuan510]
Maybe most of buildings of weather stations are equiped with powerful lightning rod which are different with it on our roofs. So I usually turn off most of electric appliances. [miachen]
Yes, the TV etc. are protected by expensive surge protectors and have back-up power sources, but the people emailing them on the chat site are just normal citizens living in normal houses, like me. [thebeaddoodler]
i turn off too as the saying goes precaution is better than cure.... [graham03]
well, my hubby is the one who always panic and unplugged all the electricity equipments whenever there is a thunderstorm... it is really scary to see our electrical equipments are being struck by thunderstorm and it is also very dangerous as they can catch fire... so it is better to be safe than sorry... take care and have a nice day... [lingli_78]
ye, it's necessary.the same as making a call with mobile telephone. [cicpaok]
I do disconnect the power cable and Internet cables connected to the PC.. During thunderstorms the probability of burning the IC's when connected to external supply is more. Why to unnecessary bury our cash. [sriki2526]
thank for your share,i can prevent to protect my computer from damage [triyanto]
Ya, I just have it all plugged into a power strip. Don't worry about it (imo). [algoespanol]
i also turn off. i actually turn of my pcv when not in use. i think taht can save a lot of energy. also during thunder strome, it can cause problem if its switched ion. [subha12]
I only turn off my computer when I go for sleep. [Garfield1]
They have surge protectors. Most computers have surge protectors on the power lines, voltage regulators and the telephones lines connected to it. This prevents the surge of power when there is thunder in your area. Most television do not have this that is why they are easily destroyed when lightning strikes near them. [everlasting]
I turn my computer off also. I suppose with the weather casters they must have special electrical grounding devices in the events of storms. [sun2day]
I turn off my computer and monitor and modem too, specially because few days ago a thunder hit near my house and I hadn't turned off my computer before so in the morning when I got up my monitor didn't work and neither my modem, the computer worked but it blocked very often so I asked a friend to see what happened and he said that the thunder affected the mother board, that it wasn't dead but almost...it was really expencive damage so now I always turn off everything when I hear the rain. Sometimes even if when I go to sleep it doesnt rain and I wake up during the night and I hear the rain I ran in the living room to turn off my computer and modem. It's like an obsession but I really don't want the same thing to happend again. [lorelai]
It is probably a safe idea to turn it all off. When I was young and still living at home when a thunder storm was coming and was right on us, we turned and unplugged the tv, record players, radios, all but battery operated, and all appliances that were plugged in. It was better to be safe than sorry. [mamacathie]
Most of the time we do this. It makes us feel better. Like nothing will happen to our system if it is off. Once in a while my hubby stays on anyhow. He says that is why he bought surge protectors. That may be why people stay on chatting with the news people. Good surge protection. [ersmommy1]
I find this slightly funny you asked about the weather stations being online during a storm and when I read threw the replies on the first page not one person answered it.. The only thing i can say is they more than likely use the surge protectors, I have two on my computer one that is plugged into the wall and one that Plugs into that.. Rather or not will it fry my computer during a storm i don't know.. It never has sense i've had my computer either... However you are suppose to shut them down during storms. You know that too.. But I think the only way to actually protect them is to unplug everything... But for the weather stations I have no idea how they protect there's... So I can't answer that... [wisconsin26]
ahhh ok than I misunderstood the last question but did answer it with the a answer lol.. Yeah I guess the surge protector does do it's job but it's not 100%... I do know alot of people that actually are online and chat during storms it's crazy and i think to myself they must have alot of money to buy a new one in case that one does get fried... lol [wisconsin26]
I have always turned things off during a bad lightening storm, I used to live in Texas where they were way more frequent. I not only turned off my computer, printer and power strip, I also unplugged tv's, microwaves, etc. I now have a laptop that I just make sure is unplugged from the charger. So if they are chatting by using a laptop there is much less chance that any damage will be done. I always kept a battery operated radio ready just in case too, to keep up with storm watches and warnings. For the most part I was out there in it, as I was a skywarn weather spotter for 4 years. [palonghorn]
my hubby is a computer geek and says you should always turn off the computer during a thunder storm because the lightning could stike the phone line/computer line and fry your computer and he has seen that happen. [cher913]
Thanks for that. My computer geek grandson thinks I'm just too cautious and an old fogey because he never turns his computer and has never had any problems. I hope he never does, but I'm turning mine off when the lightening threatens. [thebeaddoodler]
We have actually lost two computers on two seperate occasions because of lightning. My husband's work computer was the first to go in an unexpected storm. One day while I was away a storm came in quickly and as the lightning began, my daughter asked my husband if she should unplug the computer, but before he could get to it the entire thing was fried. To this day, I miss that computer with its multi-disk function. Have not found one like it since. Lost all of my photos on there as well. Now, we keep everything for the desktop computer plugged into a power strip and it is not only turned off, but unplugged from the wall. With my notebook, I may stay on a bit longer, but I will unplug the electrical cord from the back and the wall. This may not be very save either, but a friend told me that it would take a direct hit for it to be damaged. Don't know if he was kidding or serious. [amazon13]
Yes I do turn it of as well now I never used to though until I lost my IP Addy through a storm and I was lucky that was all that happened lol so now it goes of when there is a Storm [gabs8513]
I refuse to turn the computer off unless the storm gets really bad,and I believe that as long as you have a surge protector that the storm has a very slim chance of damaging your computer. [hellcowboy]
I have never bothered to switch off my computer due to weather conditions and have never had any problems from it either. I can appreciate the point that you are making because the static in the atmosphere is not computer friendly, although the likelihood os problems in a decently shielded case are extremely low. [Asylum]
I admit i don't always turn mine off and unplug it but if i know its gonna be a bad storm with lots of lightning i shut it down and unplug it. [Timothy31]
Yes it is a good thing to keep the computer off during storm. Particularly when one has burnt his/her for no fault of his/her. I have made a device that is triggered by flash of lightening and sound. They are preset at some level. It shuts off my power outlet that feeds my computer table, it is working right. [bhubaneshwars]
You're an ingenious one! How did you figure out how to do this? [thebeaddoodler]
I use a batter backup. for the internet connetion and a laptop I just unplug the laptop and keep going I have 5 hours of time [mirage108]
Having the best quality surge protector you can afford is one way. While you're at you might as well get one with a built in UPS so if you do go down you have a few minutes to finish what you are working on and shut it down properly. [deskue]
It is always a great idea to turn off your computer in a thunder storm. It is even better to unplug it from the wall as well. Even if you have your computer turned off a power spike can come thru and kill your power supply. I do use spike protector however I really don't want to take a risk. My mother had lightening hit the ower poll out back and her computer was turned off and it still wipped the hard drive do to EMP. It is better safe then sorry is what I am saying. I even unplug my laptop from the wall in a storm. [cyberopjames]
i always turned off my computer during thunderstorm just like you before, i do not turn off my computer but when one incident happen that my computer shut off during a thunder storm i always make it a point to turn off my computer during thunderstorm and heavy rains. [yayang0405]
Me too.I heard lots of stories about computer being fried. And your question about weather station.I'm not sure how they do it.Maybe there's a tower to absorb lightning.Haha,i dont know. [taqinaka]
I have only had one occasion when I heard of a computer being ruined by lightning.I don't really stop working when a thunderstorm starts but I get a little bit scared when lightning strikes. [underdogtoo]
Yet another late discussion comment. And, I can't answer the question you asked. I just read this and thought about Grandma. When it started to thunder and lightening, she would unplug the refrigerator and the tv and, anything else that was plugged into an electrical socket. The storms never lasted terribly long but, I just wonder if she would have left the refrigerator unplugged if it had been a two or three day storm? [thebohemianheart]
LOL I don't remember Grandma doing that. She probably knew from experience that the lightening wouldn't last for very long at a time, and made sure the refrigerator wasn't opened until she could plug it back in. [thebeaddoodler]
it will not "short out" your computer but it can damage it - especially if the lightening hits close to your system - voltage can inductively couple on the lines...power supplies today are built to handle lightening if it is not too close. A surge protector will definitely help - as long as it can cover the power requirements of the system. Surge protectors use things called Metal Oxide Varisters (MOVs) that will help from voltage spikes - lightening, for example. another thing to note - believe it or not, your electronics including TVs, radios, computers, printers, etc are all susceptible to lightening issues since the power switches are usually only rated to about 5000 volts - lightening can get as high as 100,000 volts - which menas that even though the power is off...the device can still be damaged... get a good surge protector to help with keeping your investment saf-er. [Hayley_N]
Thank you for that information. I'm not very savvy on terms. ;) I realize that other appliances are susceptible to lightening also, but for some reason that doesn't enter my mind to unplug them. Maybe because I haven't had anything but my computer damaged. [thebeaddoodler]
I always turn the computer off at the first sign of thunder! I have had bad experiences with voltage fluctuation when the lights come on after a storm, too. The weathermen at the Meterological Dept must be using Power Surge devices of a very strong potency, for them to be able to keep their computers on, suring storms! I can't think of any other reason why their computers don't get damaged. [indianpedi]
The meterologists have surge protectors on the outlets and on the transformers also, but I'm wondering how the "civilians" who are online with them protect their computers. I suppose there are transformer surge protectors available for individuals too. [thebeaddoodler]