RI Tech Tips – Lightning and Outages?
Power outages may be caused by many things, but one thing all power outages share are surges.
When the power is off for even a short period of time and then returns, a power surge can occur. This voltage surge is what can damage your computer, even if it was turned off at the time! The first line of defense is the power supply. Often this will succumb to the surge and burn up, preventing further damage. If the surge gets through the power supply, the next items in line can be your motherboard, the CPU (Central Processing Unit), your CD / DVD drive and possibly your hard drive. If the hard drive is hit, it is likely you will lose your data (documents, invoices, pictures, etc…).
All of this can be avoided with a small investment in a Surge Protector or better yet, a UPS.
Don’t be confused by power strips. Surge protection is rated in Joules. The higher the Joule rating, the better the protection. Many off the shelf surge protectors
are only rated at about 300 Joules. To be very safe, never use one rated at less than 1000 Joules. We live in a storm prone area, especially during the summer season. Power outages come with the territory, so be safe! Invest in a good surge protector and keep on computing. If your computer acts weird or refuses to act at all after a power outage or electrical storm, call us. Better yet, come in today and let us show you how to avoid the whole mess in the first place!