Surge protectors and lightning
Most people think surge protectors will help shield a computer from damage in the event of a lightning strike. Ooops! Not so. I certainly thought this was true till I took a computer in for repair a few years back. The tech told me two capacitors had been exploded by lightning strikes. “What!?” I said “But I have five, count ‘em FIVE surge protectors!” “Well” he said “You do live in Florida.”
Point taken. I’m pretty sure Florida is the lightning capital of the world. Oh well.
So, what do surge protectors actually do? They guard against smaller surges. I know - I always thought electricity came in a perfectly smooth stream. Don’t know why I thought that… it’s pretty silly to think anything created in a big stinky coal fired plant and shoved through miles of wires would come into my house in a perfectly smooth form. It’s not smooth. The voltage varies, everything varies. Hey – nothing is perfect! You want some really crummy quality power? Use a cheap generator (more on that later.) But I digress. We were discussing surge protectors.
The only way to protect anything – like your computer – from a lightning strike is to completely remove the plug from the outlet. Not something one is likely to do every day, but a good idea if you are heading out for a few days…
… and live in the lightning capital of the world.
