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Protecting Your PC
With
the storm season now upon us, many of our customers
have stories of lightning, heavy rain, hail, and high
winds. Some have had damage to their property, crops,
cars, or gardens. But something that can be damaged
during a storm on the inside of your home, is your PC.
Being
an electrical item, most people know to switch off
their computers when lightning is close. This also
goes for your TV, VCR, digital receiver, refrigerator,
washing machine, etc. It is actually more advisable to
pull the plugs out of the power points as well, as an
added precaution.
However,
what many people do not realize, is that lightning,
when it strikes close to your house, will also travel
down your telephone line. Customers who own PC’s
with internal modems, often report they cannot access
the internet after a storm goes through their area.
Nearly every time, this is because the phone line has
been left plugged into the back of the computer while
the lightning was striking close by, and has burnt out
their PC’s modem. While it is not expensive to
replace these modems, it is an avoidable cost. All
they needed to do was, before the storm, remove the
phone line from the back of their computer.
So
while you’re pulling out all the electrical plugs in
your house because a storm is coming, don’t forget
the telephone line into the back of your computer. If
your modem is an external one, or even if it is an
ADSL modem, remove the phone line from them too. That
way you are really protected.
But,
you might ask, what if I am not home when a storm is
coming? How can I protect my PC for those occasions?
There
are several products on the market that are designed
to prevent electrical surges from damaging your PC.
You can buy a surge protected power board which
protects not only your power points, but also your
telephone line. They cost around $35.00. They works by
acting as a breaker point between the wall and phone
socket, and your PC. These power boards however are
designed for low power surges, and will not help if a
lightning strike gets close.
A
better, but more expensive measure to protect your PC,
is purchasing an Uninterruptible Power Supply. These
units sell for about $270, and will protect you from
all but a direct lightning strike to your house. The
other advantage of the UPS, is that should the power
go out altogether, you can still use your PC for up to
20 mins. You can run your phone line through the UPS,
and protect it as well.
If you do have the
unfortunate event of your PC being damaged by a power
surge caused from lightning, and you have house and
contents insurance, you can claim your PC repairs on
insurance. We do repair assessments and can report to
your insurer on your behalf. We are here to help you.
You can contact us on 4163 8061, or email us at info@mcsyarraman.com.au.
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