Fried power supply unit? halp plz

[InLimbo]

Pretty sure a good number of beer guys are also engineers, so I need some help. Have had 2 power outtages in roughly 6 months. The first one fried my monitor (luckily was still under warranty). The second one was last night and has appeared to have fried my power supply unit based on the symptoms my computer is presenting. My main question is could there be something wrong with my outlet that it continues to fry my equipment? All my life I've never had power outtages fry anything like this. EVERYTHING is all plugged into the same surge protector, and the surge protector has all the proper lights turned on which indicates it is doing its job. My main question is could there be something wrong with the wiring in my house? This house was built in the late 60s, and was "remodeled" in ~1980. Thanks!

 

[Bithead]

What are the specs on the surge protector. Sounds like the clamping voltage is too high or maybe the response time too slow to protect properly.

 

[Homercidal]

Sounds like you have had a string of bad luck. It's entirely possible that you have a wiring problem, but more likely that you got crappy juice from the system during the outages.

You may consider buying a decent quality battery back, which can do a better job of filtering low and high voltages. Surge protectors have been hit and miss in my experience. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

 

[kjung]

I've never heard of OUTAGES frying electronics, and we have outages here regularly (power company needs to get better squirrels!). Even when the power comes back on, there shouldn't be a huge surge.

 

[headbanger]

It may be a good idea to have your powerco test your service line (the one that comes from the transformer into your home). One side of my service line was going bad which was causing the power to go in and out of phase and reeking havoc on all my electronics. Like you, at first I thought I was experiencing outages until the one side of the service blew completely in two which resulted in a permanent brown out at my house. Apparently this was a common problem with houses built in about a three year time span due to some faulty connectors the power company was using at the time.

 

[InLimbo]

Thanks for the replies! Went from bad to worse: after some diagnostics, it turns out that my motherboard is fried, not my power supply unit Luckily its under warranty, but it's 10 times more annoying to R&R a motherboard than a power supply unit.

What are the specs on the surge protector. Sounds like the clamping voltage is too high or maybe the response time too slow to protect properly.

I know very little about electricity, but here are some letters and numbers off of the back of the surge protector:
15A 125V AC 60Hz 1875W
SUPPRESSED VOLTAGE RATING 330V

I've never heard of OUTAGES frying electronics, and we have outages here regularly (power company needs to get better squirrels!). Even when the power comes back on, there shouldn't be a huge surge.

This was my thinking exactly. But the first power outtage a few months ago fried my monitor when the power came back on. This latest outtage which lasted a couple of hours fried my motherboard.

 

[kjung]

Thanks for the replies! Went from bad to worse: after some diagnostics, it turns out that my motherboard is fried, not my power supply unit Luckily its under warranty, but it's 10 times more annoying to R&R a motherboard than a power supply unit.



I know very little about electricity, but here are some letters and numbers off of the back of the surge protector:
15A 125V AC 60Hz 1875W
SUPPRESSED VOLTAGE RATING 330V



This was my thinking exactly. But the first power outtage a few months ago fried my monitor when the power came back on. This latest outtage which lasted a couple of hours fried my motherboard.

I AM an electrician. As was suggested earlier, talk to the power company. It sounds like THEY may have surges occurring when the power comes back on, or you may have a loose connection at the weatherhead (where the power comes into the house) or the meter socket...and investing in a top-of-the-line surge protector wouldn't hurt.

 

[Fusorfodder]

Get a UPS with AVR. Aside from having time to save your work, it keeps the electricity going to your components stable.

I've been using this one for a few years and it's done well for me. APC of course is the standard name for UPS, Tripp-Lite is another that's good. Make sure what you get though isn't just a battery backup, but does the voltage regulation.