Just wondering if any of you have experience with a power outage damaging electric components?
Last night in Kenmore, there was a small section of our block that a transformer on a pole got knocked out. We lost power for about 3 hours.
Now, I have surge strips (heavier duty) UPS units in my office hooked to all my computer hardware. After the power kicked back on, my Vonage/Linksys wireless router had no power. I did connect it to other outlets and it didn’t power up either. The cable model downstairs is fine.
Also turning on my computer, it wasn’t getting a video signal. Shutting off the monitor and turning it on, it would say no video signal. The computer would power up, but nothing would display on the screen.
I haven’t got to do much more in diagnosis with it yet. I am getting a new Vonage unit and a credit to buy a new wireless router. But in the case of my computer, am I able to file a claim with Niagara Grid? I believe the UPS/surge have some type of protection also.
I had this problem with a friends computer the last big wind storm we had (like a month and a hlaf awo now). Seems like it fried his motherboard, processor and video card…possibly the RAM as well but didn’t get that far.
I had the same symptoms that you are having, everything would power up, but no video signal at all.
don’t some surge protectors have weird warranties like it covers up to X amt of your equipment connected to it. I would not know how you would claim/prove this to them.
i’ve never seen a surge company pay out.
how old is your protection?
if only a strip, how many joules?
if only a strip or a UPS w/out automatic voltage regulation (AVR) … fail
your best bet is just to pick up another power supply, swap it in and hope for the best. If that doesnt do it… return it.
hopefully it’s just some of the components… network, video, power supply. You may get lucky and be able to disassemble everything and reassemble with some luck - I know it works after some shorts.
Yep, I lost power about a week ago and now my computer will not power up…at all. I ran a surge protector too, I have no idea what ‘broke’ on my computer.
If your power supply is older, the hit could have just fried it. Worth a cheap fix and try to buy a new power supply if your PC doesn’t power up and work from there.
In… I dunno, 17-18 years I never had problems with leaving computers on during thunderstorms/wind/blizzards and losing power.
Always just boots up fine afterwards.
I just use a swarm of surge protectors w/ a light switch to turn everything on/off.
Howeverrrrr.
Has anyone ever had their powered subwoofer do crazy things?
Last night… I get in bed, about 10 minutes later after I get rly tired… My subwoofer just starts clicking and popping and sounds like some kinda alien transmission or something.
Just keeps going beeeppboopboopboopboopbeepbepp.
Then it would stop, and 30 seconds later start up again.
Scared me shitless lol. (granted it was like 2-3am)
And my cell phone lost reception at the same time, and in 3 years i never lost signal before except in the Adirondacks.
I unplugged it and sat up in bed for 30 mins before I felt safe again =] haha.
edit, and it was right next to the woofer.
So… mhmmm.
Thanks ;]
2nd edit;
Now for the differences in cell phones…
Cell phones that use a GSM network (AT&T or T-Mobile are the major carriers that do) use a pulsing radio frequency to communicate with the cell towers, which is what you are hearing through your speakers.
GSM phones will create the pulsing interference at different levels for a number of reasons: prior to and during an incoming or outgoing call, sending and receiving text messages, transitioning between coverage areas or just as an ongoing way to register location with the system.
Another issue is the power needed to communicate with the cell towers; if your phone is having to crank up its wattage in order to connect to a weaker signal, it can introduce noise from a farther distance because it is transmitting a more powerful signal.
Cell phones that use the CDMA network, which consist of most phones from Alltel, Sprint/Nextel and Verizon, don’t use the same pulsing radio frequencies as GSM phones, so they don’t usually have this issue near computer speakers.
A possible exception for CDMA based cellular phones are the newer “world phones” that incorporate both CDMA and GSM technology in the same phone, but only when they are communicating with a GSM network.
Generally speaking, moving your phone away from your speakers (and the wires) or turning it off will reduce or eliminate the noise. Higher quality speakers can also help, but make sure to perform “the cell phone test” at the store before buying any new speakers!
An article on slashdot today actually about this. It talks about iPhones but it happens with any GSM phone.
I had cheap DELL Speakers on my desk at work that it went nuts all the time. Threw them out and got a decent setup and works 100x better. Havent had any noise yet.