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Dan Carmichael

8 Years Ago

Protect Your Computers (and Other Technology)

Just a FYI...

Much is talked about in this forum about virus protection, but very little about physical threats.

A few minutes ago while perusing forum posts, the lights flickered which was followed by a large explosion. Assume a transformer exploded, and because it's raining here, assume a tree branch. It brought to mind the future - snow, ice, tree branches, etc

I can't really offer advice. A few years ago I read that even good quality surge protectors were a joke because a spike could get through before the few milliseconds it takes for one to clamp down. I don't know what current technology offers. And even wireless devices get connected periodically to recharge. So you might consider looking into wearing protection.

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Debbie Oppermann

8 Years Ago

Never leave your backup hard drive plugged into the computer, plug in as you are backing up, then unplug because if the computer goes so does your backup - this is common sense and I am sure everyone here knows that, but I have talked to a number of people that leave it in as it saves a step at the end of a day or whatever

 

Susan Maxwell Schmidt

8 Years Ago

Buy a good UPS (Uninterruptable Power Source), you can't be safer while still plugged in.

 

Crystal Wightman

8 Years Ago

We have a UPS on every single computer in this house. Power has gone out, computer has not. However, I do not continue to use the computer on the UPS backup. I will save whatever I am doing and shut down, until power comes back on.

 

Mike Savad

8 Years Ago

i have a 1500w power supply ups (cyber power) on the machine. i keep telling my father to hook his up in the office, doubt he did yet. i lost a good video card because i didn't have one. just make sure its the correct one. i think Sine wave is what people need, but double check. it won't work if its the wrong one, or it will burn out fast. i killed a few in the past, APC i think they all died and i gave up on them.


just be sure to plug in the essentials - cpu, screens, back up drive that's it pretty much. the rest can fend for themselves on surge protectors.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

 

Edward Fielding

8 Years Ago

Always thought the best is to have an electrician install lightening protection at the circuit breaker. But I just saw this "20 percent of surges originating outside a house, 80 percent of surges which originate within a house. " Some appliance or something going haywire can cause a surge.

 

Mike Savad

8 Years Ago

i think my final straw was losing a file i was working on for a day and change, it went out while it was saving and corrupted the file. the power went out because someone was playing with the circuits, and despite the panel being labeled computer only - it was shut off.

now i can leave it on for a good 20 min. i can finish typing, save all, and close it down with ease.

---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

 

J L Meadows

8 Years Ago

"Never leave your backup hard drive plugged into the computer, plug in as you are backing up, then unplug because if the computer goes so does your backup - this is common sense and I am sure everyone here knows that, but I have talked to a number of people that leave it in as it saves a step at the end of a day or whatever"

Holy cow, I didn't know that. Thanks for the info!

I do check the weather every day before I leave home, and if a storm is predicted, I unplug my computer and everything attached to it. It's a pain, but after losing a TV during a storm I'm very paranoid.

 

James Smullins

8 Years Ago

Edward, every house built in the last couple decades should already have ground rods ( 2 at least 6 feet apart) installed. It's been a code for that long. Older homes that had upgraded wiring done should have that same building code applied as well.

Having said that , those only help for ensuring breakers actually trip if there is a short circuit and give unused current from normal use a place to go. I almost died two years ago ( literally a fraction a second away ) because there was no ground in a old building and the breaker couldn't trip. If you want real protection from storms you need a separate lightening ground system not hooked to your normal system and even that isn't 100%

And if you want to extend the life of your computers make a dedicated circuit including a isolated ground with its own direct wire to a separate ground rod. Believe it or not every other thing plugged in is sending current back the ground wire and it cause computers issues. Sometimes fast and sometimes slow.

Forget those surge protectors and use UPS's those are far better for a lot of reasons.

 

A good surge protector can definitely save your electronic equipment. In my guise of hardware tech, I've seen more than one totally fried surge protector attached to a perfectly safe, untouched, computer.

I replace my surge protectors every few years (I tag them with the start date), as surges (even ones you don't notice) can eat away at the protective elements. I replace them immediately if I've experienced a 'big electrical event'. Some protectors will warn you that they're damaged or depleted; most will not.

Buy the best you can afford -- this is not the place to skimp. And do your homework -- Most Expensive doesn't necessarily equal Best!

 

Susan Maxwell Schmidt

8 Years Ago

Wendy, you must spend a fortune in surge protectors! Egads, buy a UPS gurl!

 

Susan, being connected to a UPS is not a 'magic blanket' when considering the electricity in your home or office. There are many variables in play.

No worries -- this used to be part of my job. (The job I actually made good money doing; not the art gig!) ;-)

 

Mike Savad

8 Years Ago

and beware at getting surge protectors at garage sales, more than once i've seen melted outlets on some.

---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

 

Chuck De La Rosa

8 Years Ago

Also, if you have a surge protector and it has tripped due to a surge, you need to replace it.

 

Susan Maxwell Schmidt

8 Years Ago

Me too Wendy, I was a professional geek in a past life for well over a decade. I've never seen anything get zapped on a UPS, not even in chock full server rooms on crap wiring. I sure can't say the same for surge protectors. That's not to say I haven't seen the occasional UPS come to the end of its life, but even they went down doing their job (or a battery just needed replacing, which still didn't fry anything).

Also, see previous post where I said I was going to follow you around saying, "Me too!" :P

 

I missed that post, Susan . . . now, I'm a little scared. ;-)

 

Susan Maxwell Schmidt

8 Years Ago

Fear me! }:>

 

Count on it! :-)

 

Susan Maxwell Schmidt

8 Years Ago

Oh. What do I do now? :x

 

Arthur Dodd

8 Years Ago

"... If you want real protection from storms you need a separate lightening ground system not hooked to your normal system and even that isn't 100%

And if you want to extend the life of your computers make a dedicated circuit including a isolated ground with its own direct wire to a separate ground rod. Believe it or not every other thing plugged in is sending current back the ground wire and it cause computers issues. Sometimes fast and sometimes slow."

Please don't do this. It is both illegal (National Electrical Code Art. 250.58) and potentially (pun intended) extremely dangerous, as in lethal. All grounding for a building, including grounding for lightning protection, must go to one set of ground rods/plates/whatever. Grounding PCs to separate ground rods results in a higher return current impedance, which would interfere in circuit breaker tripping in the event of a fault in the computer. Also, a fault or lightning strike to the main electrical system would raise the ground potential of that grounding system, but not the computer if it is on a separate ground. The result is a voltage difference of thousands of volts between the ground systems which could be lethal to someone using the computer at the time. Isolated grounding for computers and instruments (signal grounds) does not go to a separate ground rod system. The individual signal grounds go to a single ground point; from there, a single grounding conductor goes to the ground rods. This prevents ground loops, which can inject noise into sensitive systems. However, I have never seen a PC with separate signal grounding, so doing this isn't feasible.

Best thing is a UPS. Also consider installing UPS units for your expensive flat-screen TVs, satellite/cable receivers, and any expensive projectors.

 

Lawrence Supino

8 Years Ago

Susan (and others)...thank you for mentioning the "UPS...
is there a "top" brand name for those?

 

Brian Wallace

8 Years Ago

I bought a battery backup once. It was around $40 but it doesn't have a very long life. While it was in it's prime however, when the electricity went out, my computer stayed on long enough for me to power it down "gracefully".

We shouldn't really use the computer when we know there's a weather threat like you mentioned in the opening of the thread. We damn well know we shouldn't have it on during threat of lightning! I admit however, if it's raining but not a stormy, and not thunder/lightning, I often can be found processing images on the PC.

Side note reminder... Keep a backup of important software and all your images. Flickr recently introduced free backup of all the images on your computer automatically whenever you turn it on (if you initially agree to allow it) and they say others can not access the images without your permission. I do that plus my images are uploaded to a portable drive. They are inexpensive these days for huge drive space.

 

Dan Turner

8 Years Ago

I've used APC UPSs for several years now; they absolutely perform as advertised. However, many new computers are using PFC (Power Factor Correction) power supply boxes, which are NOT compatible with older APC UPSs. Rather than find that out the hard way, I have a new CyberPower Sinewave UPS arriving tomorrow for my recently purchased system.

If you have a new system, check your power supply. If it's PFC, you need a pure sine wave UPS.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

 

Dan Carmichael

8 Years Ago

A question about bad weather and UPS.

When there's an electrical storm in the area, I disconnect power and also network plugs (PC's not wifi but hard wired lan - cable).

Will the UPS protect from a surge over the network cable or must one disconnect from the network if they choose to remain plugged in and working (with UPS) during an electrical storm?

Wendy - on replacing surge protectors...

Would the aforementioned blink of the lights caused by a probable transformer explosion be a situation where SPs should be replaced?

 

James Smullins

8 Years Ago

Arthur, I was until last year a commercial electrician, It's called a isolated ground and it is done to protect sensitive electronics such as computers and POS devices. Most retail stores and offices will have such a system. It is not a violation of NEC. Look that up in the code book. I don't have mine any longer to give the exact wording. But you can run separate grounds. In fact it's mandatory to have a second redundant ground in medical facilities as well.

 

Vincent Von Frese

8 Years Ago

Unplug everything before the storm hits Like I do.

 

Mike Savad

8 Years Ago

i use cyberpower. works well, no issues yet, though i think we had an issue with one of the interface screens, but i was able to fix that.

and yeah, if there is a big storm out there - unplug it all.


a ups is not a lightning arrester, and my guess is, it will catch fire. not worth taking the chance. unplug it all from the wall. i do the modem as well.

my model is a cyberpower 1500pfclcd its sinewave--- and that is important that sinewave thing.
protection from the network really depends on the set up. i think there is a filter for that on the back of mine. i never really thought about it though. usually its an electrical issue. a surge, a drop, spikes, brown out etc. you'll hear it click on.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

 

Susan Maxwell Schmidt

8 Years Ago

Lawrence it's been a couplefew years since I've been in the market for a UPS, but APC and Tripplite are good brands. Just make sure you get the right one for your system, and the best one you can afford.

Dan you can get models that will protect your network, and even phone system and cable television.

 

Lawrence Supino

8 Years Ago

Thank you, Dan/Mike/Susan!

 

This discussion is closed.