Lightning Damage to Computers

Monsoon season here in the Tucson area brings lightning that can cause electric storm computer damage, power surge computer damage, and data loss.  

When lightning strikes, you get hit by power surge computer damage, or other power events take out your computer or corrupt your data, call Continental Computer Services for repair.

Is there a real risk of lightning damage to computer Tucson?

Lightning is a sudden high-voltage discharge of electricity.   A lightning strike can occur within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the ground.

According to NASA, 40 to 50 flashes of lightning occur every second worldwide.

Some estimates indicate lightning causes more electric storm computer damage than fires, explosions, hardware faults, software bugs, floods, human errors, and sabotage combined.

Computer damage and data loss from lightning storms costs almost $2 billion each year, according to the National Lightning Safety Institute

Protect against computer lightning damage

Just turning off your computer is not enough to 

protect against severe lightning damage to computers. 

We recommend these additional steps to protect against lightning damage to computer in an electrical storm:

Unplug

The best protection against lightning and power surges is simple – turn off and unplug everything. 

• Shut down the computer.
• Turn of peripherals.
• Disconnect the power cords.

Be sure to turn off and unplug the DSL or cable modem  and unplug the telephone line from the modem as well – high voltages can travel to your computer telephone lines and will zap your DSL or cable modem. 

Using the correct surge protector (see below) may help you avoid loss of data – however the most effective way to guard against lightning damage is to disconnect the computer from both the power and data signal during a storm.

Unplug during a blackout too – when the power comes back on, the rapidly changing power levels can damage a power supply.

Protect from surges.

A surge suppressor is an electrical device designed to protect equipment from sudden changes in current – brownouts, blackouts, surges and spikes.  .Installing  a surge protector between your computer power cable and the wall outlet will give you some protection from electrical storm damage that might occur when you are not around to unplug your system. 

Use surge protectors to protect from surges through network cables.  A high end surge protector allows you to feed all data and power through the surge protector to protect on both the power and data signal side.

Surge protectors have specific ratings and you will need to select a surge protector based on your specific application.  If you are trying to protect against lightning storm damage, be sure to select a device that is rated for lightning protection.  Be aware, however, that lightning creates a very high voltage spike of as much as 50 million volts. No surge protector is going to guarantee protection against a direct hit from a lightning bolt.

Note: Sometimes power strips are erroneously referred to as surge protectors even when they offer no surge protection. An inexpensive power strip from the local hardware store will not protect your computer in a lightning strike or major power surge.  Surge protectors that will protect against spikes are going to be more expensive – we can help you find the right one for your application.

Note:  DSL modems and surge protectors seem to not play well together.  A DSL modem plugged into a surge protector may periodically lose the DSL signal.  This is a nuisance – but can save you considerable expense repairing damage to a computer hit by a power surge.

Add an Uninterruptible Power Supply – UPS.

The UPS uses batteries to keep equipment running during power outages just long enough to allow your computer to shut down safely without data loss.  

Another important benefit of installing a UPS is to provide your computer with a steady supply of "clean" power, without the highs and lows of a regular power supply.  By allowing your computer to sip power just the way it wants, you will be extending the life of your computer power supply components.

Install the UPS between the surge protector and the computer.  

Uninterruptible Power Supplies are sized for the need you have in your system - we can help you determine the size that will work best for you. 

Note:  we do not recommend using a UPS for long term  "working in the dark" or keeping your system going during a power failure.  For most applications, we will recommend against plugging a large monitor into the UPS and we caution that you should NEVER plug your laser printer into your UPS.  These heavy demand devices will quickly run down and wear out your UPS, leaving you unprotected.

How do I know if my computer has suffered electric storm computer damage?

Lightning damage to computer Tucson doesn't have to be a direct strike

Safety Tips during an Electrical Storm

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that about 400 people each year are struck by lightning. Keep yourself and your family safe during a Tucson lightning storm.

Skip the chores - Leave the dishes laundry and bathing until after the storm. Electric strikes can follow the water pipes and reach you through a water faucet.

Put down the phone – Landlines can conduct electricity from a bolt of lightning right into your body.  Cell phones are safer but don’t use a cell phone outside or in a car where they can attract electricity to you because of their metal components.

Unplug - Turn off  and unplug TV and appliances and all your chargers to prevent electricity from travelling through home wiring and short circuiting your equipment or starting a fire.

Note:  laptops, tablets and e readers are generally safe to use indoors if they are not plugged in to a charger.

Step away from the window or door - Sure lightning is exciting to watch – but lightning bolts can strike through glass and around doors.

In your car – don’t touch electrical or metal objects, including the radio, cell phone charger, car door handles, foot pedals or steering wheel.  One safety expert suggests if you are caught driving in a Tucson lightning storm, pull off the road, put on your flashers, roll up all windows, turn off the engine, keep your hands in your lap and wait until the storm passes.   The ASU School of Geographical Sciences suggest that the  typical monsoon storm will pass within about 30 minutes  - not too long to wait if it saves your life.