Lightning + burning smell = large bill?

benlanky

benlanky

benlanky

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477
Oh dear, got home last night to find my pc running, although no one had switched it on.... the lights were on, fans going crazy, but no picture on screen, I bent down to turn it off and smelt the unmistakeable stench of burning electronics :(

Immediately unplugged it, left it for a while then connected it again. This time - nada.

So, the obvious guess is that the psu is dead and hopefully it will just be a new one that's needed.

Weird thing is that my NTL broadband router was also dead - plugged in, but no lights showing at all. My wife told me there was a huge crack of thunder and lighting half an hour before I got home, but all other electronics (and there's a lot of them :cool: ) are all working fine.

So, after the long starter for ten, do you think it is just my psu that's dead? Is there any way to test it? Could a lighting strike have done it?

Any suggestions for a replacement? The dead one is a Tagan TG480-UO1 if that helps.

Thanks
 
benlanky said:
Oh dear, got home last night to find my pc running, although no one had switched it on.... the lights were on, fans going crazy, but no picture on screen, I bent down to turn it off and smelt the unmistakeable stench of burning electronics :(

Immediately unplugged it, left it for a while then connected it again. This time - nada.

So, the obvious guess is that the psu is dead and hopefully it will just be a new one that's needed.

Weird thing is that my NTL broadband router was also dead - plugged in, but no lights showing at all. My wife told me there was a huge crack of thunder and lighting half an hour before I got home, but all other electronics (and there's a lot of them :cool: ) are all working fine.

So, after the long starter for ten, do you think it is just my psu that's dead? Is there any way to test it? Could a lighting strike have done it?

Any suggestions for a replacement? The dead one is a Tagan TG480-UO1 if that helps.

Thanks
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Ouch.

Are you sure it wasn't on? It seems unlikely that a power surge would jump start a PC.

Anyway, from the sound of it, if you're lucky your PSU will be dead and possibly the motherboard, if you're very unlucky the motherboard and every component attached to it could potentially be fried!

Have you opened up the PC and taken a look? Burn marks on components are a sure sign that they're fried.

The reason it didn't effect anything else in the house could be because the other equipment is on a different electrical circuit.

~mac.nub
 
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squiffy said:
Why didn't the wife switch everything off prior to the electrical storm?
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good question :rolleyes:

Mind you, it was a quick one, I got caught out while driving home and almost crashed :eek:

What's weird is that I have a big hi-fi system, plasma screen, xbox etc etc and not even a fuse blew anywhere else. Maybe the psu went and took the NTL router out too? It's a mystewy.

May be a chance to change my case at the same time though, how about a Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Case - EarthWatts 500W PSU - good enough?

Thanks
 
macdotnub said:
Ouch.

Are you sure it wasn't on? It seems unlikely that a power surge would jump start a PC.

Anyway, from the sound of it, if you're lucky your PSU will be dead and possibly the motherboard, if you're very unlucky the motherboard and every component attached to it could potentially be fried!

Have you opened up the PC and taken a look? Burn marks on components are a sure sign that they're fried.

~mac.nub
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That's what I'm worried about, but I had a good poke around and everything else seems fine, the smell is only coming from the psu too. Fingers very crossed.

The only other possibility is that a friend had been round earlier in the day with her kids & one of them may have switched it on, but with the concorde style noises from my fans I would have thought someone would have noticed...
 
macdotnub said:
A EarthWatts 500W PSU should be fine considering your old one was just 480W

Hope everything works out for you OK!
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Although my old one did just go up in smoke :p

Thanks, hopefully it's just the psu, or I'll be trawling the mm for some new kit!

Actually, I kind of hope it fried my gfx card, hmmmmmm
 
benlanky said:
What's weird is that I have a big hi-fi system, plasma screen, xbox etc etc and not even a fuse blew anywhere else. Maybe the psu went and took the NTL router out too? It's a mystewy.

s
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Do you have a surge protector?
 
Energize said:
Do you have a surge protector?
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No, and the pc was connected to the same ext lead as my speakers, usb hd, monitor and a few other bits, so I would have expected them to go as well.

The NTL router was on another extension on the other side of the room, only connected to the pc via ethernet, which also went through my Belkin wireless thingy, which is fine!

The lightning might be a red herring, 2 year old might have switched it on & it went bang anyway.....

Any views on the Antec case & psu? I don't want to melt another one :o
 
I'd guess that the lightning strike was actually on the phone lines and that a surge passed thru the router and earthed via the lan & thru your mobo and psu to the wall socket. Doesn't sound good though.
 
Hmmm, that sounds feasible, but wouldn't that have affected my wireless router too? That seems to be the only bit that's still working!

Might have to call the insurance company then, this could get expensive :(

Thanks for the help
 
Not necessarily, router is probably connected to the mains via a brick (low voltage adapter) which although it has three pins the earth is a dummy so the router body is actually not earthed. Current will take the most direct route to earth so it just carried on down the cat5 to your pc.
 
Remember evern when the pc is turned off, theres still power going though it. So it dosnt matter if its turned off or on, a thunder storm can kill it either way. Always disconnect pcs during a thunderstorm or buy yourself a ups.
 
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The router connects into my Belkin wireless router, then into my pc, but maybe the Belkin isn't grounded either? So it just passed straight through the ethernet....

As an aside, I obviously need to buy a new psu, so I may as well get a case too (the Antec Sonata III mentioned above) and, as I'm paying for the postage anyway, a new hd I've been meaning to get for ages. Is the Samsung Spinpoint any good? It's pretty quiet isn't it? Can I run ide and Sata together?

Cheers


ps. I wonder if it's worth trying to get NTL to pay for it.... the lightning must have come from their local hub ;)

edit: UPS on the way!
 
Problem here was that I wasn't at home when it happened and my wife didn't think about it. Mind you, the whole storm lasted about 5 mins, so I can't blame her really. I'm just glad everything else survived.
 
Can't blame the wife. I wouldn't bother turning everything off in a storm if I was doing something. Like you say it probably wasn't the lightning, just a fluke. Slightly OT my cousins house got struck by lightning a couple of weeks ago. Blew the chimney and trashed pretty much everything that was plugged in, so you may have been very lucky :)
 
benlanky said:
Problem here was that I wasn't at home when it happened and my wife didn't think about it. Mind you, the whole storm lasted about 5 mins, so I can't blame her really. I'm just glad everything else survived.
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I had 1 of those storms about 5yrs ago,, a huge crack of thunder, then no more pc. I clamed of the house insurance tho, so not too bad, but was left without a pc for about a month or so tho.
 
Ah well, unfortunately I changed my house ins before Christmas and all the details of the new policy (and who it was with) were on my e-mail. Which is on my pc. :o

I'm just going to get the new psu / case and hope it works - fingers crossed.

Any opinions on the hd? I'd like to order today if poss.

Cheers
 
benlanky said:
Ah well, unfortunately I changed my house ins before Christmas and all the details of the new policy (and who it was with) were on my e-mail. Which is on my pc. :o

I'm just going to get the new psu / case and hope it works - fingers crossed.

Any opinions on the hd? I'd like to order today if poss.

Cheers
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I think it would have killed everything inc the hard drive, but I could be wrong and I hope I am mate.

Surely evern a ups cannot protect your pc if you get a huge crack of thunder, evern if it could, the ups would be nackered???
 
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