Lightning and your modem

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Nokkie

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So a couple of years ago I left the modem on when there was a lightning storm. When I got back from school the modem didn't work anymore.

I'm just curious to know who here leaves their modems and PC's on during lightning storm's and such

Me: yea I switch it off every time.
 
off does not help whe lightening kisses the modem best is to unplug phone cable & power to pc, printer & modem....
 
hehe thanks for the tip - I guess by the answer that you also switch it off?
 
I unplug the modem if I even smell lightning. If its really bad, I unplug everything.
 
Same thing happened to a friend of mine, and his mobo was gone, as well as his Nokia N70 which was on the usb cable.
 
& remember to unplug the phone cable too

& if you're leaving the cable in the wall but unplugging it from the equipment : do not leave the cable next to the equipment as the power can jump & cause damage.

I've seen it fry a usb cable from a printer that was next to a pc & a phone cable still in the printer. Plastic was melted & both pc & printer fried.
 
Cordless phones should also be unplugged.I have lost quite a few phones and modems due to lightning as the phone lines to my house are overhead,not buried.
 
Do you know if it is possible for your VGA card or any other hardware for that matter in your pc, that can pick up some electrical interference with lightning?
Venomous said:
& remember to unplug the phone cable too

& if you're leaving the cable in the wall but unplugging it from the equipment : do not leave the cable next to the equipment as the power can jump & cause damage.

I've seen it fry a usb cable from a printer that was next to a pc & a phone cable still in the printer. Plastic was melted & both pc & printer fried.
Click to expand...
 
Nokkie said:
Do you know if it is possible for your VGA card or any other hardware for that matter in your pc, that can pick up some electrical interference with lightning?
Click to expand...
Anything electrical can get interference. Lightening is a form of static electricity (in a broad manner of speaking).
 
maybe its the heat of the VGA but one morning I switched on the PC just after a lightning storm the previous night and there was like green dots and such with blocks of pixel-lated distortions on my screen ( not the screens fault). Maybe it was just a electrical interference.
 
Usually unplug the router (power & rj11) if the lighting gets hectic. Realistically though its a calculated gamble in the end. e.g. The router is switched on when nobody is home to unplug it & one just takes that risk.

Venomous said:
& if you're leaving the cable in the wall but unplugging it from the equipment : do not leave the cable next to the equipment as the power can jump & cause damage.

I've seen it fry a usb cable from a printer that was next to a pc & a phone cable still in the printer. Plastic was melted & both pc & printer fried.
Click to expand...
o_0 You'd need a direct lightning hit to achieve that kind of electromagnetic induction, which is exceedingly unlikely.

Nokkie said:
maybe its the heat of the VGA but one morning I switched on the PC just after a lightning storm the previous night and there was like green dots and such with blocks of pixel-lated distortions on my screen ( not the screens fault). Maybe it was just a electrical interference.
Click to expand...
Green screen artifacts indicate that the GFX card isn't coping. i.e. Overheating, Clocked too high etc. Good news is you can probably get rid of the artifacts if you fix the underlying problem. Google it.
 
I leave everything on...but plugged into one of those surge protector plugs/strips. Just lost a modem about a month ago, but it was a weird one. Seems like one of my WiFi router LAN ports blew also (The one connected to the modem at the time).
 
HavocXphere said:
Usually unplug the router (power & rj11) if the lighting gets hectic. Realistically though its a calculated gamble in the end. e.g. The router is switched on when nobody is home to unplug it & one just takes that risk.


o_0 You'd need a direct lightning hit to achieve that kind of electromagnetic induction, which is exceedingly unlikely.


Green screen artifacts indicate that the GFX card isn't coping. i.e. Overheating, Clocked too high etc. Good news is you can probably get rid of the artifacts if you fix the underlying problem. Google it.
Click to expand...
The area i live in the lightening strikes ground & homes every lightening storm. That's compliments of the lightening attracting stone in the greater area. I've even seen the damage it's done to people's rooves. In out garden there is often burnt grass. So yeah direct hits happen often in some areas.
 
HavocXphere said:
Green screen artifacts indicate that the GFX card isn't coping. i.e. Overheating, Clocked too high etc. Good news is you can probably get rid of the artifacts if you fix the underlying problem. Google it.
Click to expand...

What is the avg Idling temp for a nvidia 500 series screen card?
 
Venomous said:
Switch off & pull electric plug out the wall too...
Click to expand...

That's not good enough, you also have to disconnect the phone line. Lightning does not give a toss whether the power is disconnected or not.
 
ponder said:
That's not good enough, you also have to disconnect the phone line. Lightning does not give a toss whether the power is disconnected or not.
Click to expand...
i said that already.

& yes i agree. Lightening can't be stopped.

I've seen it fry surge protectors & also what's on the otherside of it.
 
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