Power Failure

0121danwilliams84 · 10 Sep 2017 at 21:36

Hello,

When I was gaming, someone pushed the test button on the house RCD circuit breaker (because they thought it was a light switch) and the power went out in part of the house including the PC. I am probably being paranoid, but does anyone know if this could cause damage to equipment? I heard shutting off power and turning back on can cause a surge. I had to flip a load of switches on and off to get power back, as I am a complete noob when it comes to this sort of stuff. Anyway, I thought I would ask people who know more than me! I have since gotten an APC surge protector as it got me thinking about protecting valuable stuff. PC seems to be working OK since...

Thanks.

Plec · 10 Sep 2017 at 21:53

0121danwilliams84 said:
I am probably being paranoid, but does anyone know if this could cause damage to equipment? I heard shutting off power and turning back on can cause a surge

It's always possible for a sudden cut of power to cause a problem - harware/software.

Power cuts happen all the time - twice a year, at least, for me with storms or roadworks deciding to play with the cables while digging up roads. PC usually, does a couple of boot loops when switching back on and then settles. I may have to reapply my clock, but then all back to normal...

0121danwilliams84 said:
PC seems to be working OK since..

But yours appears to fine - i wouldn't worry.

new boy · 11 Sep 2017 at 02:10

Yeah, its fine man. I'm on an electric meter, I accidentally let it run out maybe 4 times a year, nothing bad has ever happened to my PC in the 8 years its been putting up with that. Obvikously you should shut it down properly when u can, but 99.99999% chance it will be fine having power cut to it.

mistersprinkles · 11 Sep 2017 at 17:23

You should always unplug your PC and other electronics before you turn the power back on, or the power comes back on after a blackout, as it often surges when coming back on. Having a surge protector both in your home electric panel and for your PC is helpful.

0121danwilliams84 · 11 Sep 2017 at 18:42

mistersprinkles said:
You should always unplug your PC and other electronics before you turn the power back on, or the power comes back on after a blackout, as it often surges when coming back on. Having a surge protector both in your home electric panel and for your PC is helpful.

Yeah I'd heard that was the case. That's why I was worried. Sometimes you wouldn't be in or you might not notice a brief power cut. So you wouldn't think to disconnect anything. I guess in that situation you would rely on the surge protector? I got one from Malpin for 15 pounds. Although I was looking at one with a higher joules rating. Maybe that is overkill but I am being super prepared now. :-)

mistersprinkles · 11 Sep 2017 at 20:00

First stage of paranoia is a cheap surge protector, second stage is an expensive surge protector and another in your electrical panel. The final stage is a high end sine-wave UPS- but every time I have enough money for one I upgrade my GPU or my peripherals or I buy an expensive monitor... I'm bad. May whatever gods read this protect me from power surges.

On the advice of my ex gf's current bf who knows a lot about electronics, I swap out my surge protector every year since they slowly lose capacity to stop surges with time.