Power Outage and Surge Possible Damage?

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shawnofthedeadz

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Jul 26, 2013
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Hey Everyone,

Last night I was testing my newly built PC in my basement when lighting (which I didn't even know was there) took out my house's power. At the time I did not have my computer plugged into a surge protector (which is annoying because I normally do) and it lost power.

Fortunately, the computer turned back on and everything seemed to be working fine. From what I could observe, there was no damage.

What I am wondering is whether or not I should still be worried about my computer? Is it likely the surge prior to the outage damaged my computer and I have yet to realize? Or that it has created an instability in my components and they will no longer last as long? Or am I just overacting because I spent a lot of money on my computer and don't want it to be ruined within the first week of usage.

Also, I have a Antec HCG 900w PSU. They talk about things like over current protection but I don't know if that helps against surges.

Thanks guys for helping me out here! This will really put my mind at ease.
 
Solution
chugot9218
Everyone will suggest a high quality PSU here because it touches all of your other components, you picked one of the best manufacturers, they have high quality protections in them that will either stop the failure at the PSU or to certain extents prevent a failure at all. you should be good to go, just throw a surge protector on there. Just an FYI, probably not applicable but I figured I would mention, if you plug something like a Coax into your MOBO if it had a TV tuner, you will want to route that through a surge protector as well, many now feature both Coax protection and CAT-5/Phone line protection. I had a flat screen TV that was plugged into a quality surge protector, and even the cable box was, however a lightning strike near...
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lostsurfer

lostsurfer

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Mar 18, 2013
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I wouldnt worry to much, power probably failed and your pc might be alright. Definately put a surge protector on it, get one with a high Joule rating. I would just keep using your pc as normal and only time will tell if there was any damage caused. Usually if there was you would noticed it immediately. Sometimes your power supply especially the one you have will overload a capacitor during a surge and it'll pop. It helps to protect your mobo/components from the surge however it bricks your ps, small price to pay seeing that if it didn't stop it you could be replacing a lot more. From the sounds of it you should be ok!

p.s- put a surge protector on it, don't depend on your ps for protection :)
 
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chugot9218

chugot9218

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May 8, 2012
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Everyone will suggest a high quality PSU here because it touches all of your other components, you picked one of the best manufacturers, they have high quality protections in them that will either stop the failure at the PSU or to certain extents prevent a failure at all. you should be good to go, just throw a surge protector on there. Just an FYI, probably not applicable but I figured I would mention, if you plug something like a Coax into your MOBO if it had a TV tuner, you will want to route that through a surge protector as well, many now feature both Coax protection and CAT-5/Phone line protection. I had a flat screen TV that was plugged into a quality surge protector, and even the cable box was, however a lightning strike near my home went through the COAX, into the cable box, fried the cable box, and fried the main board on the TV through the HDMI.
 
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shawnofthedeadz

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Jul 26, 2013
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Both awesome answers and really help put my mind at ease. The last question I have, is that do you think it is worthwhile to test the PSU to see if it was damaged? Or would a high quality psu like mine automatically shut down if it was being inconsistent?
 
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lostsurfer

lostsurfer

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Mar 18, 2013
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More then likely it would shutdown if inconsistant. What happend to you was a close call. If the psu was damaged you would know it, like shutting off after a few minutes. The fans inside your pc would spin once and then stop and your pc wouldn't power on. IF you have a psu tester you could test it but if not, don't worry your good.
 
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shawnofthedeadz

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Jul 26, 2013
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Thanks! I did a bunch of research into this and I have determined if it was actually a power surge my other electronics probably would of been damaged. What occurred at my place was a transient fault (lighting hit a power line which powered my house and caused a momentary loss of power). I did not get a power surge so I was lucky.
 
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