[olug] One Point Twenty-One Jigawatts

[Jesus Cash]

I've had one bad run-in with lightning and an improperly grounded surge 
protector. So no matter how lazy or cheap you are DO NOT use a two prong 
adapter. Turn it into a grounded socket or have some one else do it, 
just do it.

Also, on the cheaper surge protectors; I had one really cheap one and 
one day I head some crackling and popping. I traced it to the surge 
protector. Through the thin plastic bottom I could see a nice light show 
going on. Arcs from terminal to terminal and black marks on the plastic. 
Shut everything down right away and replaced it. I opened the surge 
protector up and saw bare terminals and nothing much else but a small 
circuit breaker. After looking the thing over, I notice there was no UL 
seal. I didn't buy it, in fact I have no idea where it came from. I 
didn't even think that things like that could be sold in the US with out 
the UL seal.

Joe Catanzaro wrote:

> I didn't grow up in a place that has lots of lightning like the 
> Mid-west, so I have several questions regarding best practices for 
> lightning and computers. Just like many of you, I have about 6 
> computers running 24/7 and would like to prevent the loss of data and 
> fried hardware as much as possible. And bear with me here, I'm not 
> very smart when it comes to lightning strikes.
>
> When a storm rolls in, do you turn off the computer? Rely on a cheap 
> surge protector? Rely on an expensive surge protector? Unplug everything?
>
> How does the lightning get to my computer? Does it strike the power 
> pole in the back ally and then travel through the circuits in my 
> house? Or does it hit my house directly?
>
> Are lightning strikes common and is it worth getting that OPPD "whole 
> house surge protection?"
>
> I grew up in Hawaii and the last thing we were concerned with was a 
> bolt of lightning.
>
>
>
> Joe Catanzaro
> joecatanzaro at cox.net
>
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