House took a lightening hit, electronics fried

Montoya

Montoya

Administrator
Staff member
Oct 31, 2013
10,082
55,657
3,180
RSI Handle
Montoya
Hey guys!

I might be a bit AFK this weekend.

We had a nice rain storm pass through last night and the one single thunderbolt seems to have hit my house.

TV's, aircon and tons of electronics looks to be toast.

Computer was on surge protector, but the ethernet is no longer working, looks like it might have taken a surge.

Some other functions on the motherboard like temp sensors not working, is that possible?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Snakey, CrudeSasquatch and Blind Owl
NKato

NKato

Grand Admiral
Apr 25, 2014
1,202
1,207
960
RSI Handle
NKato
Montoya said:
Hey guys!

I might be a bit AFK this weekend.

We had a nice rain storm pass through last night and the one single thunderbolt seems to have hit my house.

TV's, aircon and tons of electronics looks to be toast.

Computer was on surge protector, but the ethernet is no longer working, looks like it might have taken a surge.

Some other functions on the motherboard like temp sensors not working, is that possible?
Click to expand...
I've heard of some components of a desktop PC losing functionality after a lightning strike. You may be looking at a rebuild.

Did you insure all of your electronics against lightning strike damage?
 
  • Like
Reactions: CrudeSasquatch and Blind Owl
Montoya

Montoya

Administrator
Staff member
Oct 31, 2013
10,082
55,657
3,180
RSI Handle
Montoya
Grimbli said:
Wow, again? That's some unlucky bullshit right there. Hopefully insurance covers it all.
Click to expand...
There have been a few power surges in this neighborhood in the past, but this looks to be a direct hit since no other neighbors reported problems.


NKato said:
I've heard of some components of a desktop PC losing functionality after a lightning strike. You may be looking at a rebuild.

Did you insure all of your electronics against lightning strike damage?
Click to expand...
Insurance will come back today or tomorrow, the PC is not as important as the aircon, its getting damn hot out there!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Xaing, Snakey, CrudeSasquatch and 2 others
BUTUZ

BUTUZ

Space Marshal
Donor
Apr 8, 2016
3,628
12,288
2,850
RSI Handle
BUTUZ
Oh no!!! Yes it's possible for the Ethernet to have pumped a load of volts directly into you're motherboard and broked it.

Maybe next time you should curse at the gods less :o
 
  • Like
Reactions: RipVanDan, CrudeSasquatch and Blind Owl
Montoya

Montoya

Administrator
Staff member
Oct 31, 2013
10,082
55,657
3,180
RSI Handle
Montoya
If Im not getting any temp readings, does this mean things will get hot and no fans will spin up?

 
  • Like
Reactions: Blind Owl
Takran

Takran

Admiral
Feb 8, 2016
63
139
860
RSI Handle
TakranG
We recently had a lightning surge in our house (it did not hit directly, hit the lines on our street). My computer died - thus my new build, see the computer showoff thread - and my roommate's PS4 died, but quite interestingly the only function that seemed to be damaged on his computer was his motherboard's Ethernet port. So, yes it's quite possible for certain functions to be damaged without destroying the entire board, which may or may not necessitate a complete replacement. My roommate has had no issues with his computer once he picked up a simple USB ethernet adapter.

Damaged temp sensors will only affect fan functionality if they are PWM fans (4-pin, not 3-pin, mobo-controlled). If a sensor isn't returning a reading, the motherboard most likely would just run them at 100% all the time (which is what non-PWM fans will do regardless). If the fans aren't spinning, then power isn't being delivered and something is very wrong.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CrudeSasquatch and Blind Owl
WarrenPeace

WarrenPeace

Space Marshal
Jul 17, 2014
4,209
8,451
2,920
RSI Handle
Shortspark
Montoya said:
If Im not getting any temp readings, does this mean things will get hot and no fans will spin up?

Click to expand...
At the very least, you should be able to manually set the fan speeds to maintain cooling. Double check to make sure they're actually turning, though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CrudeSasquatch and Blind Owl
marcsand2

marcsand2

Space Marshal
Staff member
Officer
Donor
Mar 15, 2016
7,007
22,018
3,025
RSI Handle
marcsand2
BUTUZ said:
Oh no!!! Yes it's possible for the Ethernet to have pumped a load of volts directly into you're motherboard and broked it.

Maybe next time you should curse at the gods less :eek:
Click to expand...
Yeap, surge protection only protects your power supply from an overload. everything else connected to your PC can still kill your PC, every cable that is close enough to the magnetic field caused by the lightning passing to the ground.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blind Owl
Montoya

Montoya

Administrator
Staff member
Oct 31, 2013
10,082
55,657
3,180
RSI Handle
Montoya
Takran said:
So, yes it's quite possible for certain functions to be damaged without destroying the entire board, which may or may not necessitate a complete replacement.
Click to expand...
This might be the ticket, I tried everything, no ethernet connection available.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blind Owl
NKato

NKato

Grand Admiral
Apr 25, 2014
1,202
1,207
960
RSI Handle
NKato
Montoya said:
This might be the ticket, I tried everything, no ethernet connection available.
Click to expand...
Yup, it's replacement time. This is why you want to put surge protectors on the ethernet cable. It's the one route that so many computer owners forget about, and it comes back to bite them in the arsch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blind Owl
Black Sunder

Black Sunder

Rock Raiders
Officer
Jun 19, 2014
8,270
26,834
3,045
RSI Handle
Black_Sunder
NKato said:
Yup, it's replacement time. This is why you want to put surge protectors on the ethernet cable. It's the one route that so many computer owners forget about, and it comes back to bite them in the arsch.
Click to expand...
Can you link to an Ethernet surge protector? I've never heard of such a device.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blind Owl
Montoya

Montoya

Administrator
Staff member
Oct 31, 2013
10,082
55,657
3,180
RSI Handle
Montoya
NKato said:
Yup, it's replacement time. This is why you want to put surge protectors on the ethernet cable. It's the one route that so many computer owners forget about, and it comes back to bite them in the arsch.
Click to expand...
Never heard of this issue until now, but it makes sense, its the only incoming connection with no surge protection.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blind Owl
Takran

Takran

Admiral
Feb 8, 2016
63
139
860
RSI Handle
TakranG
Black Sunder said:
Can you link to an Ethernet surge protector? I've never heard of such a device.
Click to expand...
Most modern surge protectors (or at least, any that cost more than $5 at Wally World), and certainly any UPS systems, come with coax input/output for your cable TV/internet, as well as phone line in/out for those neanderthals still using landlines.

edit: Example: http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BE112230-08-12-Outlet-Surge-Protector/dp/B000J2EN4S/ref=lp_761520_1_1?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1461959358&sr=1-1

edit edit: To be clear, that's not strictly an "Ethernet" surge protector, as Ethernet cables are only used to talk between devices that should already be covered by electric/coax surge protection.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Blind Owl and Black Sunder
maynard

maynard

Space Marshal
May 20, 2014
5,148
20,430
2,995
RSI Handle
mgk
NKato said:
Yup, it's replacement time. This is why you want to put surge protectors on the ethernet cable. It's the one route that so many computer owners forget about, and it comes back to bite them in the arsch.
Click to expand...
for me. it was a modem on the phone line back in the day.

If I had a high-end video production / streaming rig I would protect it with a Tripp-Lite sine wave uninterruptable power supply. They cost upwards of $500 when I was building networks at the turn of the century.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blind Owl
ACrzyRussian

ACrzyRussian

Captain
Donor
Jan 30, 2016
63
108
260
RSI Handle
ACrzyRussian
Black Sunder said:
Can you link to an Ethernet surge protector? I've never heard of such a device.
Click to expand...
A lot of surge protectors have ethernet protection built into them.

Heres a decently cheap one: http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Protector-Ethernet-Protection-BE112234-10/dp/B000HPX46U

Montoya said:
Never heard of this issue until now, but it makes sense, its the only incoming connection with no surge protection.
Click to expand...
Power surges can do really weird things to electronics.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Blind Owl
Blind Owl

Blind Owl

Hallucinogenic Owl
Donor
Nov 27, 2015
20,938
74,084
3,160
RSI Handle
BlindOwl
Damn. Sorry to hear that boss. Looks like I'll be buying a few new surge protectors. Considering where I live, and the amount of lightning storms we get, I'm amazed this isn't been an issue as of yet. Knock in wood.

Best of luck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Forgot your password?