Solved Can thunderbolts damage PSU?

[Arc]

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]

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]

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

 

[Arc]

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]

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

 

[maxie]

Fantastic bad enough but could have been a lot worse

 

[Ztruker]

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

 

[Arc]

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]

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]

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.

 

[caperjack]

the lightning strike could and like did ruin you surge protector ,I think , it will still function as a place to plug devices in but will no longer protect

 

[Layback Bear]

Arc what is the brand of the power supply that the lighting destroyed?
The reason I ask it might of saved the rest of your computer.
The lighting hit close; how close is close?

A long time ago lighting struck a house of a person I knew. The house was even equipped with lighting rods. The lighting melted a surge protector, blew two computers up and all the phone wiring and went through a wall and blew a 6 in hole in a old iron bath tub. Presumably went to ground through the bath tub pluming.

The insurance investigators said the lighting came through the phone lines.

I asked them then and I still don't understand to this day how that can happen.
You would think that lighting would melt the phone line like a fuse before it could ever pass all the way through it. All they knew was it happens and is why they inspect claims to see for real what happened.
My phone line does go through a surge protector and I never want to find out how well the surge protector works.

That is why them call them surge protector and not lighting protectors.

 

[LMiller7]

the lightning strike could and like did ruin you surge protector ,I think , it will still function as a place to plug devices in but will no longer protect

That is a good point. Surge protectors have a device that clamps high voltage spikes. But while doing this the device itself may be damaged such that it no longer functions. Such damage is usually not visible. As the PSU was damaged that would seem likely. Of course the surge protector may have been damaged during a previous storm and was no longer working.

Incidentally devices called "surge protectors" are really spike protectors. A spike is very high voltage but lasts only for a few milliseconds. A surge is much lower in level but may last for several seconds. Protection from the latter is expensive but the problem is uncommon, except in some areas of developing countries.

 

[Arc]

Arc what is the brand of the power supply that the lighting destroyed?
The reason I ask it might of saved the rest of your computer.
The lighting hit close; how close is close?

The PSU was uMAX.

I dont know exactly how close the lightening hit, but it was very close. My room flooded with lights and my computer turned off. Then I got the loud sound. It felt like it hit my head but actually not. It fallen somewhere in the wetland that is surrounding our village from three sides.

 

[Ztruker]

Risky if you are switching PCs off this way, unless they are already powered off.