Lightning shut down PC

[sceadugenga]

I just had a lightning strike on or very close to the house that turned off my PC.

It bypassed the UPS box to do this, that and everything else connected is working fine.

Ditto all other electrical in the house including laptop that was plugged into the power.

 

Any ideas to fix it?

[RichCor]

8 hours ago, sceadugenga said:

Any ideas to fix it?

Can you describe what needs to be fixed?

So far you've only written that it, "turned off my PC".  What needs to be fixed?

[bbi1]

Did you have a surge protector between your computer and the wall power point?

[sceadugenga]

I had a UPS box that is undamaged, the PC went off instantly and will not restart.

Nothing else in the house is effected.

 

I'll take it to town today and try to find something open, there's quite a good place (Technocom) owned by Indians that don't worry much about Buddhist holidays. 

[Peterw42]

Hopefully a new power supply will be all that is needed unless the lightning has damaged other components. A new motherbooard etc is often not economically viable as other components may also be damaged.

[sceadugenga]

Looking at options now, just in case...

 

My files are pretty well backed up, actually sent a heap to MEGA a few hours before the bang. 

[loong]

Some years back a lightning strike took out my desktop. I was using an aircard for the internet connected to an antenna and the lightening hit the antenna.

It damaged the power supply, hard drive and motherboard. Amazingly the shop repaired it under guarantee. As parts had different guarantee periods and it was just over a year old the power supply was not covered and I had to pay for that myself and had to buy a new aircard.

After that I made sure to disconnect everything when a storm was brewing.

[gabruce]

Was the PC plugged into anything else? Such as wired ethernet to a router, or an externally powered usb anything? I would think there would have to be some route into the computer. I just realized reading this that my computer is wired ethernet to the router which is plugged into the wall. Looks like I have some changes to make. The positive thing is the I have fibre (3BB) internet, which should prevent lightning coming in via that route.

[Gary A]

In some areas the electric grid is very stable. In other areas, like where I live, there are many interruptions, surges, low voltage and lightning strikes. The very best way to eliminate all your problems is to take your computer totally off the grid. You can do that for not a lot of money. And no, I'm not talking about a solar system. A very large UPS that will run your computer for several hours is VERY expensive. You can make your own that will be better than a UPS. You will need a large deep cycle battery, maybe 150 AH or even larger. You will need a small pure sine wave inverter, 500 or 600 watts is plenty. Finally you will need a small automatic battery charger. If you are still worried about lightning strikes, you can get a surge protector for the battery charger. That would be the only thing in danger. Your computer will always run off the battery thus not on the grid. Peace of mind is well worth the small loss of electric efficiency. You can run your computer, a few LED 12 volt lights directly from the battery and a small fan for as long as the grid is down.

 

I started out that way but since I live in a house, I added two solar panels and a charge controller, so basically I have free electricity. When the house and neighborhood goes dark, I'm still happily enjoying my computer, lights and a fan for when the air con is off.

 

ADDED - My router also runs off my battery bank and I have fiber Internet. Before I had the fiber, I used an air card.

Edited July 8, 2017 by Gary A

[shady86]

If you use a good power supply most probably you need to replace the power supply or charger. Other parts should be fine.

[RichCor]

8 hours ago, sceadugenga said:

I had a UPS box that is undamaged, the PC went off instantly and will not restart.

 

4 hours ago, gabruce said:

Was the PC plugged into anything else? Such as wired ethernet to a router, or an externally powered usb anything? I would think there would have to be some route into the computer. I just realized reading this that my computer is wired ethernet to the router which is plugged into the wall. Looks like I have some changes to make. The positive thing is the I have fibre (3BB) internet, which should prevent lightning coming in via that route.

    ^^^ Yep

 

Static charge probably came in on an alternate path.

 

Sometimes an attached peripheral will be compromised and prevent the power supply from starting. 

Try disconnecting all external components and see if the case-only will power up.

If not, you could try opening the case and disconnect peripherals one at a time and retest. 

 

Hopefully it won't be a blown power supply or motherboard.

[sceadugenga]

It's in the shop, they flim flammed me saying it was open, which it was, just no techs there till Monday.

I'll hear the news then. 

[KittenKong]

If subjected to a very brief power surge/cut many PCs will appear totally dead but only need to be completely disconnected from the mains power for a minute or two in order to reset themselves. But the disconnection must be complete.

 

This has happened to me and my customers more times than I can remember.

[peergin]

20 hours ago, sceadugenga said:

I had a UPS box that is undamaged, the PC went off instantly and will not restart.

Nothing else in the house is effected.

 

I'll take it to town today and try to find something open, there's quite a good place (Technocom) owned by Indians that don't worry much about Buddhist holidays. 

Precisely the same thing happened to me except that the lightning was quite far away. All software was ok but the operating system (Windows) did not work anymore.

[chrisinth]

11 hours ago, peergin said:

Precisely the same thing happened to me except that the lightning was quite far away. All software was ok but the operating system (Windows) did not work anymore.

Sorry, might have misread this.

 

If your operating system wasn't working, how were you running your software?

[Beats56]

A surge protection will not stop lighting from taking out electric devices. Too many volts. Just un plug everything that matters to you. I know as a lighting strike took out my stereo receiver..tv and sat dish.

Surge protectors are on good for power dips or spikes from the electrical company.

 

[peergin]

9 hours ago, chrisinth said:

Sorry, might have misread this.

 

If your operating system wasn't working, how were you running your software?

A computer shop fixed the problem with the operating system. I suppose they re-installed Windows. (They definitely did not re-install the other programs.) After that everything, including all the programs, worked just fine.  

[sceadugenga]

OK, just rang the shop about my PC.

 

sceadugenga: Give me the bad news, how much?

Techie:  Velly solly Khun sceadugenga, computer start straight away we press button.

 

Hmmm.... 

 

Thanks for all your help, looks like the static effect of the lightning, as mentioned by a poster, tripped some sort of switch which has popped back onto place. 

[peergin]

On 7/8/2017 at 10:50 AM, Gary A said:

In some areas the electric grid is very stable. In other areas, like where I live, there are many interruptions, surges, low voltage and lightning strikes. The very best way to eliminate all your problems is to take your computer totally off the grid. You can do that for not a lot of money. And no, I'm not talking about a solar system. A very large UPS that will run your computer for several hours is VERY expensive. You can make your own that will be better than a UPS. You will need a large deep cycle battery, maybe 150 AH or even larger. You will need a small pure sine wave inverter, 500 or 600 watts is plenty. Finally you will need a small automatic battery charger. If you are still worried about lightning strikes, you can get a surge protector for the battery charger. That would be the only thing in danger. Your computer will always run off the battery thus not on the grid. Peace of mind is well worth the small loss of electric efficiency. You can run your computer, a few LED 12 volt lights directly from the battery and a small fan for as long as the grid is down.

 

I started out that way but since I live in a house, I added two solar panels and a charge controller, so basically I have free electricity. When the house and neighborhood goes dark, I'm still happily enjoying my computer, lights and a fan for when the air con is off.

 

ADDED - My router also runs off my battery bank and I have fiber Internet. Before I had the fiber, I used an air card.

Gary, a VERY interesting message. It is obvious that you are very knowledgeable in this respect. Unfortunately, I am not. I could never buy the necessary equipment and put it together by myself. I did not even know that there is such a thing as a DEEP CYCLE battery or an AUTOMATIC battery charger. Therefore, please allow me to ask:

1. I presume you live in/near Bangkok but do you know whether all of these items are available in Chiangmai?

2. If not, I will go to Bangkok. Where to buy them?

3. Where should I try to find a knowledgeable electrical professional (engineer?) here? All we have here are the little boys with a screwdriver/tester. They call themselves "electrician" but they know nothing. Do you think one of the local universities could point me in the right direction?

Thank you for your courtesy.

 

Edited July 10, 2017 by peergin
correction

[shady86]

Gary, a VERY interesting message. It is obvious that you are very knowledgeable in this respect. Unfortunately, I am not. I could never buy the necessary equipment and put it together by myself. I did not even know that there is such a thing as a DEEP CYCLE battery or an AUTOMATIC battery charger. Therefore, please allow me to ask:
1. I presume you live in/near Bangkok but do you know whether all of these items are available in Chiangmai?
2. If not, I will go to Bangkok. Where to buy them?
3. Where should I try to find a knowledgeable electrical professional (engineer?) here? All we have here are the little boys with a screwdriver/tester. They call themselves "electrician" but they know nothing. Do you think one of the local universities could point me in the right direction?
Thank you for your courtesy.
 

You can try looking for these in Lazada.