The World of Avlis

Okay . . . *breathes calmly*

A few months ago, my son's fairly old computer's motherboard dies.

Two weeks ago, my desktop's motherboard dies. It's less than 2 years old.

Five days later, my brand new laptop dies and it may be the motherboard. (Still waiting the diagnostic but that's the way they're leaning.)

My and my son's computers are not on the same power source, and they all died at "different" times. Being so close together time-wise and the fact that I've NEVER had a motherboard die on me EVER before, however, well . . . I don't need to be slapped with a trout to think this is not just a coincidence.

WTF??? I live in San Diego. I've seen lightening maybe 3 times over the last year. Should I call an electrician?

None of these were plugged into a surge protector?

And I mean a real surge protector with a warrenty, not a power strip.

If this was an electrical surge problem throughout the house, I would think that other electrical items would be having problems as well.

Hey Marleh.

Yes, they're plugged into surge protectors. No other problems in the house and still have one computer running fine *crosses fingers*.

The HQ of the last company I worked for was in San Diego and the whole office used to be hosed due to power outages once a quarter.

If you're sure the surge protectors you have are 100% OK then it might be time to call an electrician.

might be time for a UPS... brownouts can do nearly as much damage as surges

Ahhh. . . I didn't think of the outages. We just had the fires before my son's comp went this last time. And no I'm not 100% behind these surge protectors. . . now that I've thought about it a while. We've had them a long, long time. Lived here 9 years and had them before that.

What's a UPS, Alex?

Shannen Di'rithia wrote: What's a UPS, Alex?

Uninterupted Power Supply. There are a few firms making them but from a corporate point of view I've always bought APC.

Oh boy Shannen, those surge protectors really need to be replaced, really soon.

See, usually most surges, and also drops like Alex is talking about, aren't huge flaming balls of lightning, but small twinges in the power coming into the home. Just like any other shock absorber, over the years your surge protector is going to get worn down until it simply doesn't respond when a surge does come through. Also just like every other tech, surge protectors have come a ways since nine years ago. I really suggest getting new ones.

http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/cat/-13 ... okLearn.do

I have been to jobs that have had good surge protectors, but their computers have still been cooked, even the keyboard in one case.
I have heard that many surge protectors are only any good for one hit.

If you're getting a new surge protector, go all out and get one that also protects your communications line in (cable, DSL, or phone). One of my co-workers took a spike from lightning through the cable wires that took out his modem, his router, and at least one thing (can't remember which) inside his box. Wasn't very pretty.

pincushionman wrote:If you're getting a new surge protector, go all out and get one that also protects your communications line in (cable, DSL, or phone).

Don't waste money on a surge protector. Spend the money and get a UPS (Uninteruptable Power Supply). Surges won't protect from brown / black outs. Good UPS cost much more then a surge protector, but you actually get a better level of protection. I've put all my Flat Panel TV's, Computers, DVD's on them, when storms come thru (like last night) my house is a choros of "beeps" as they power goes out and the UPS's kick in, running everthing on battery until I have time to safely shut down. And do protect all the lines that come into the house, cable, DSL, phone. In my 20 years working on PC's, the phone line is where 90% of surge issues I've delt with have come from. Sadly with everyone running high speed connections now, I lost 50% of my spring / summer business where I'd be out replacing parts fried from storms.

On a side note, the batteries don't last forever. They do need to be replaced every few years.

Most the surges sold are nothing more then powerstrips with a bare minimal amount of surge suppression on them. Enought to be able to call them "surge protectors" but not enough to actually protect agains a bird taking a crap on your power line.

I get handed UPSes all the time, but their batteries are dead. I could have one in every room, but if the batteries go tits up before I have a power outage, it doesn't do any good. the batteries in these things run from fifty to one hundred or more, depending on the type you get. Go to your local computer salvage store, get the UPS, and get some new batteries from you electronics or battery store. If you go online, or try to get them from the manufacturer, be prepared to pay about three times as much as you would from a battery store. I can't count the number of times someone wonders why their seven year old battery suddenly stopped working during the first blackout. Trying to tell them that it hasn't been used until the first black out doesn't help, either.

Might also want to invest a few dollars in an ac outlet tester. Test your outlets and if you have wiring faults then spend the money on the electrician.

Edit: I had just moved all my computer stuff to another room and its on another breaker. Tested the outlets and had to rewire all the outlets in this room before I would plug one thing in. They worked for lights and such but they faulted when tested. Now that it is rewired its all green on the tester I feel better about plugging in an investment like a computer. I also plug into a ups but why risk frying it.

Move to England.

We have the best Electrical Installation Systems in the world

Thank you all for the input.
You're the best and I really appreciate it.
And on my way, G., brt

nwmblondy wrote:Move to England.

We have the best Electrical Installation Systems in the world

much like the plumbing there I heard....

I am not an expert but I do have some real experience with computers going bad over the long haul. Computers are just like cars in that they are better off operating at the same temperature and moderate power instead of turn-on, shut-off.

Some of the things I did to protect my systems:
* room temperature does not flucuate over the year more than 4 degrees
* computer is allowed to hybernate but is never shutdown ... always powered means the motherboard and RAM do not cool down and heat up... they maintain a relative constant temperature
* temperature sensor in computer case activates another fan, etc
* current motherboard has thermal protection that automatically shuts down computer if CPU detects elevated temperature that could damage motherboard or CPU
* warrantee: I make sure to keep my receipts and original box so that if a MB does go bad I return it to the manufacturer and demand a replacement (if its less than 1 year old)
* spend the money on a high quality board to begin with... what is better? buying a $60 board three times or less agrivation (and less labor) to spend the $180 up front just once?

The other thing is the electricity. The old place I lived at had power issues where I would constantly loose the red in my monitor. I figured a bad monitor but turns out after trying two video cards and two monitors, it was a power fluctuation where there was not enough amperage to the computer. When I moved I had a special 20 amp dedicated single-outlet installed for my computer and those monitor woes went away ... same monitor, more amps... no trouble. They never tell you that a 550 watt computer power supply needs extra wattage from its electrical outlet. Maybe its time to devote a single circuit breaker to your computer.

You definately want a surge protector that has a payback cost for protecing your equipment; some pay up to $10,000 for replacement due to damage getting past their surge protection. Each surge protector is rated and if you do your research you can find one for protecting sensitive electrical equipment ... it might be expensive but its money well spent.

I will tell you something about lightning too... you do not need to have a direct strike on your electric line, phone line, etc to do damage to your computer. I once had an aerial antenna that was hit by lightning at about 50 yards from my house... apparently the electricity grounded on the antenna and went into the ground like it was designed to ... scorch marks to prove it was directly hit. Trouble was the antenna was too close to my house... my 6 volt door bell blew off the front of the house to the front yard, both garage door openers were non-operational, a cordless phone answering machine went wacko and never worked again, and the only things that survived were my computer (on a $10,000 protection surge protector) and my TV / VCR that were on electrical and cable surge protection... that was money well spent on surge protection.

It's quite true that most electrical damage now happens through the phone line or the cable, rather than through the power. Buying a UPS and not putting line protection between the wall and the FIRST DEVICE in the house is like buying a deadbolt for your front door but leaving the key in the exterior lock all the time.

And if anyone else has the luxury of dial-up internet like myself, you had damn well better protect your telephone line-in. Those lines surge like mad, and the modems drop like flies.