Can thunderbolts damage PSU?

Arc · 15 Aug 2014

A thunderbolt very near to myhome caused by computer shut down. Now it is not starting up anymore.

Iam thinking that the PSU might be burned. May it happen? Or some major problem?

LMiller7 · 15 Aug 2014

Can thunderbolts damage PSU?

It certainly can. Lightning is a danger to all electrical devices (electronic devices in particular) that are plugged in during the storm. Whether the device is turned on or not makes little difference. Surge protectors offer little protection. The only real protection is to unplug the device.

maxie · 15 Aug 2014

Hopefully it is just the PSU you would need to test every thing

Arc · 15 Aug 2014

Thank you. I am taking it to teh repair shop right now. They may check it better.

I wish my motherboard is not damaged.

Arc · 15 Aug 2014

Thank God! It was the PSU only. Everything works perfectly after it is replaced. :)

maxie · 15 Aug 2014

Fantastic bad enough but could have been a lot worse

Ztruker · 15 Aug 2014

Is the computer connected to a surge protector or UPS? That can give you some isolation from power spikes caused by lightening.

Arc · 16 Aug 2014

Ztruker said:

Is the computer connected to a surge protector or UPS? That can give you some isolation from power spikes caused by lightening.

Yes sir, it is connected to an UPS. Plus I have an inverter in home that supplies uninterrupted power in case of powercuts.

Thunderbolts and lightening are very common to my region in this time of the year (tropical monsoon climatic region), but such an incidence never happened earlier.

LMiller7 · 16 Aug 2014

Lightning is an electrical discharge of millions of volts with currents of many thousands of amps. In some cases the current has exceeded 100,000 amps. A lightning strike typically consists of many individual discharges occurring within a fraction of a second. A nearby strike will induce high voltages in the electrical system that can travel quite long distances. In such cases an inverter or surge protector will usually provide effective protection. Closer by it can overwhelm and destroy even heavy duty protection systems. Lightning can destroy heavy duty power distribution transformers. Electronic devices are particularly sensitive to such voltage overloads. Physical or electronic switches offer little protection. The best protection is to unplug electronic devices when lightning is nearby.

whs · 16 Aug 2014

I bought a remotely operated power switch (similar to the old Clapper) in Home Depot. All my units are operated via that switch. When the weather gets ugly, I just turn that switch off and all my electronics are off-line. This is an example.