Can damage from a electrical surge be delayed?

groze · 21 Sep 2014

Can damage from a electrical surge be delayed?

My all-in-one computer wouldn’t even turn on for a while.
At first.
Keyboard error (went away)
Bios reloaded
Lost one internal usb port
Lost one Ethernet Port
Lost external 2.0 usb & fax modem
Lost high speed cable Ethernet ports, wireless still works (can exchange modem to use on old computer)

Did the online and offline including bios manufacture test of all the hardware, memory, etc installed all passed. For some reason, none of the test could see the bad Ethernet or bad internal usb port.

Then a lot later,
For some reason, all the USB slots quit after a restored from a backup that I just made. I just hope it will be covered under warranty. Any way to load the reload without a keyboard or a mouse?

I think surge protectors are a joke, the don’t work. Expensive or cheap.

Ranger4 · 21 Sep 2014

It certainly looks like the surge has done some damage.
I doubt it will be covered by warranty as power surges usually aren't covered, but certainly worth trying.
Surge protectors are designed to provide reasonable protection, but no surge protector can protect from a major surge, such as lightning strike on or near the power line.

LMiller7 · 22 Sep 2014

Surge protectors can be damaged by power spikes with no apparent signs but greatly reduces or nullifies the protection they provide. The device may have been in this state at the time of the incident.

Hardware failures, whatever the cause, don't follow any set of rules. The results of a power surge or spike are unpredictable. Symptoms may not be immediately apparent but appear only at a later time.

Layback Bear · 22 Sep 2014

I had a voltage spike and it took a couple of months before I give up on the computer. Hardware would go bad piece at a time. I finally gave up and got rid of it.
Their are no rules or rhyme or reason. Sometimes nothing bad happens, sometimes everything goes bad and sometimes it take a period of time.

groze · 23 Sep 2014

I am getting a new motherboard along with new ac adapter and they will install the motherboard here at home.. I think it was caused by the power coming back on two quickly or at least it seem that way. What was strange, everything passed the all test before the USB port totally quit. I may have to call Microsoft once I get it working. My other other computer was turned off but either its network card or pci slot got damage, I won't knoe that till later.

ThrashZone · 23 Sep 2014

Yep the majority of fires from electrical shortages are caused by the surge of power coming back on,
This can repeat many times before staying on

Very damaging to electronics/ appliances....

Arelem · 23 Sep 2014

That's why I bought a line conditioner. It evens out smaller power fluctuations and the big ones it softens the dip or spike some. I also have really good APC breakered power strips. The combo has worked for me for 4 years.

bigmck · 23 Sep 2014

groze said:

Can damage from a electrical surge be delayed?

I think surge protectors are a joke, the don’t work. Expensive or cheap.

When I bought my first big screen TV, I spent $80 on a surge protector. Everything was fine for a few years, but the big surge hit. The surge protector burned, but nothing happened to the TV. I immediately went out and spent big money on another surge protector, they do work.

groze · 26 Sep 2014

My computer windows 7 is working now :) for the moment.

Bigmck,

Is that surge protector you have one of those line conditioners?

bigmck · 26 Sep 2014

groze said:

My computer windows 7 is working now :) for the moment.

Bigmck,

Is that surge protector you have one of those line conditioners?

No, it is just a regular surge protector. I am not sure what a line protector is, but on the box it said Surge Protector. A good one will save you from damage. I stress you have to pay for a good one. The ten dollar ones are not worth even having. A week after the story I told above, I had another surge and again it fried the surge protector and saved the TV. I then decided to call the power company and they came out and repaired some stuff in the line that was causing the surges.