Computers & Lightning

They could use more durable surge supressors or UPS's (you can get expensive surge suppressors with close to 3000 joules even) &/or have their own backup generators.

PS. You can easily get surge supressors that have a connection for a dial-up modem, so I imagine you can find one with a connection for your cable modem as well. Never seen one meself though.

Monger- But would the equipment that you mentioned survive a direct hit?

A good surge suppressor & battery supplied power (as in a UPS) + a backup generator should take care of it. By the way, if you have a good quality surge suppressor (get one with at least 600 joules if you can) there really isn't a need to turn off your computer. In the event of a power spike the surge suppressor will either short & kill itself or automatically turn off. Either way your devices connected to it should be OK. They'd lose power, but there'd be no physical damage.

Monger- Thanks for the info!

Anytime, Phoenix.

PS: No suppressor will protect you if the strike is strong enough. It would prolly be better to not take my advise, and instead take no chances & unplug your computer. Also, not all electrical systems are created equal. How your wiring is installed and managed has a lot to do with your system's reliability.

PPS: While popular opinion blames electrical storms as the main source of voltage spikes, they are actually caused by a variety of things including switching by a company's utility grid, and use of some equipment like photocopiers, laser printers, and even fluorescent lighting. It doesn't help that local retail discounters often sell devices labeled "surge-suppression strips" that would be more aptly named "short protectors" that will prevent fires but not necessarily all physical damage to your computer. "You get what you pay for" is especially true when it comes to these devices. Talk to a good salesman who's knowledgeable about these things when buying a surge suppressor or such.

Actually, as for your question about mission-critical systems that need to be able to withstand a direct lightning strike, they would prolly install lightning protectors (which get destroyed during a direct hit) as an additional layer of defense. They're large panels with massive grounds and generally placed between the public power supply and the main power panel in a building.

Phoenix
I had this conversation at one time with my brother who is a computer tech and he says that I should always unplug my computer during a thunderstorm. When I told him I had a surge protector he laughed and said that it wouldn't make much of a difference, so I unplug my computer every thime.

We've had several thunderstorms here as well lately.

Some surge protectors cost more than the computer and are bigger than the computer.

Some work, others don't.

Some are just plain stupid (e.g. they will protect your power cord but not your modem, lightnig crashes and your computer is fried through the modem).

Monger
I did see what you wrote. I just wanted to add what I had been told as well ;-)

Craven- Fried modem is a popular dish 'round these parts. A number of my neighbors have had that experience!

Oh - I just learned that my"surge protector" probably won't protect 'er at all. Damn.

OK Bunny,

So you really thought that one of those lil' ole plastic plugs was gonna save your computer from a lightning strike??? C'mon.

By the way, any appliance plugged in during a lightning strike will suffer the same fate, and ,yes, you could die if you were on the phone when your house got hit,....but the chances are very slim that it would happen.

To be safe, rather than sorry, you should unplug all electrical equipment.

Phoenix, since your area gets so much lightning, what are the suggested safeguards,,....do you have a lightning rod?

I knew about phones - one of my friends has been zapped twice on a phone - hmmm. If I really think about it, I didn't expect it to protect from an actual lightning strike on my nearest electrical pole or something - more from all the weird **** electricity does when there is a strike somewhere else.

For that kind of thing, a good surge protector should work.

But if you were to get a "large charge"(direct hit, 50 points), I doubt that much'd help.

JerryR- We don't have a lightning rod, but we do have surge supressors all over the house. In a direct hit, I don't think that much of anything would help. The biggest problem here (short of a direct hit, of course) is the fact that during a storm, the electricity often shuts down for an instant. At least the surge protectors prevent the spike in the electricity when the juice back comes on.

For some weird reason, the phone which has my answering machine does not have a backup, and every time the electricity goes off, it loses my greeting. I got sick and tired of recording it over and over again, so now I just use the default message.