johnnymk

A friend of mine has a computer which was hit last night by lightning. Obviously, it's not working. What should I check for first? The power supply? How can I tell if it's also the motherboard? Would anything else be affected, like the hard drive?

mechmike0034

As silly as it sounds, smell the motherboard - if it smells burnt, it is...

Were any other electronics / appliances in the house affected?

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DarkFury

Next time, maybe he'll buy a surge protector or a UPS...

Either of those could have saved his investment.

As far as what might have been affected... most likely the mobo and the P/S would be the first victims. Other parts could also be affected, however those 2 seem to be the most vulnerable to me.

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Napoleon54

what does it do when you try to turn it on? Does it do anything at all... PS fan spins, mobo lights come on, etc?

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johnnymk

I will stop there tomorrow to find what does/doesn't work. I have an extra power supply. I guess I should replace that first and go from there.

renovation

if your lucky it be just the power supply.
if they plan on doing a insurance claim then they will need to take it to a shop .or you'll need to write it up.
and if the unit starts up after you put a power supply in. have them run it for a day or two before calling it good.i have seen /had them act up even a week later after a power surge that killed a power supply .

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Hoser

I had a near lightning strike years ago. I felt it a split second before it happened, the hair on the back of my neck was standing up. I only lost a network hub and a network card. The surge protector wasn't damaged. It took a couple reboots, but the computer eventually came up correctly.

johnnymk

It was the power supply. Fortunately, I had one that was the correct size, but I had to perform some surgery on the case and drill some holes at the back where it mounted.

It appears the DSL modem was also fried. Hopefully they can get a new one from Verizon today.

DarkFury

So are you gonna recommend that they get a good surge protector/UPS in the future?

johnnymk

They had everything plugged into something. I forgot to ask what it was.

DarkFury

Most common users confuse a "power strip" with a "surge protector", which is why I'm mentioning it.

Seriously, if they only have a power strip (like one of those $6 for 6 outlet strips you buy at Wal Mart) then maybe you should nudge them into spending a little bit more for a strip with some protection.

Honestly, I live by my various UPS backups... In the middle of heavy thunderstorms, I'm still on the computer working away with no problems. The peace of mind is just worth it in my opinion.

johnnymk

So who makes a decent surge protector? I unplug everything in my house when I am expecting a storm.

Jeffbx

IMHO, Tripplite & APC are the best


http://www.tripplite.com/EN/products...?txtEntryID=19

http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=12&subid=65

DarkFury

I trust APC and Tripp Lite myself.

I don't unplug anything when a storm comes. I just don't feel the need to with all the protections I have enabled.

attgig

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...03940%20Joules

I've been using belkin and i think it gives me good protection.

300k warranty on stuff plugged into it... shrug.

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