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Can power outages damage components over time?

Tags:
  • Power Supplies
  • Power
  • Power Surge
  • Computers
  • Components
  • Hardware
Last response: in Components
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November 18, 2013 2:14:24 PM

Can my computer components get damaged from a sudden power surge? I am thinking about getting a Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS). I would not want one if my components are absolutely invulnerable to power outages that may happen once or twice every year.

More about : power outages damage components time

a b ) Power supply
November 18, 2013 2:17:05 PM

Components can be damaged by surges and sags, not just outages -- a UPS is generally a great idea to protect your expensive hardware. I have a least a dozen of them for computers and my expensive pinball machines.
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a b ) Power supply
November 18, 2013 2:20:28 PM

Anytime an electronic device doesn't get the correct amount of power, there is a risk. A power outage isn't likely to do much damage (except to a hard drive in the middle of a write) compared to a surge, though.

I'd look into getting an uninterruptable power supply even if you only have a couple of outages a year. Most decent ones have line filtering built in, which helps with power surges and the slight drops in power that you may not even realize happen.

Casey
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November 18, 2013 2:20:49 PM

UPS helps me once or twice a year protecting what I work on my computer when power goes out without warning. At home, I don't use UPS, but has a surge protector connecting my PC to wall outlet, just in case of power surge. If power surge really happened, without me knowing it, it really protects my computer. Otherwise, at least I enjoy peace of mind. However, it doesn't prevent my PC from powering down due to power outage, for which you need UPS.
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November 28, 2013 4:11:18 PM

cklaubur said:
Anytime an electronic device doesn't get the correct amount of power, there is a risk. A power outage isn't likely to do much damage (except to a hard drive in the middle of a write) compared to a surge, though.

I'd look into getting an uninterruptable power supply even if you only have a couple of outages a year. Most decent ones have line filtering built in, which helps with power surges and the slight drops in power that you may not even realize happen.

Casey


Thank you for your informative answer.

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