Computers got fried

[Shrykull]

My Aunt's family's house had a thunderstorm while they were away, and two of thier three computers got fried by a power surge, even though they had surge protectors. Even the cable modem isn't working correctly.
When I was in school they taught us the only sure way to protect your computers from power surges is to unplug them, just wish you could know when a surge is going to hit, What is that needs a constant supply of electricity that won't get it while it's unplugged, the CMOS chip is one, how long can it last without it?

[TrailerParkJawa]

The batteries in your computer are good for like 5 years. They are just a calculator battery. If you ever look at your motherboard you will see a little flat, silver battery that is a circle.

[Shrykull]

The batteries in your computer are good for like 5 years. They are just a calculator battery. If you ever look at your motherboard you will see a little flat, silver battery that is a circle.

I know, the CMOS battery.

[Pu-239]

Low end urge protectors only protect once or a few surges, after that no protection. A good one will tell you if it doesn't protect by way of a light or something. For goood protection, get a UPS. Kind of expensive though, but it will let you run you computer for about 15 minutes or so after the power goes out. You probably don't need that though.

Also, modems can get fried by surges, which can also damage your motherboard.

Oh, and the data stored in the cmos often lasts a few minutes after you remove the battery. Some nicer motherboards don't have a battery, instead having a capaicator or something.

[Shrykull]

Low end urge protectors only protect once or a few surges, after that no protection. A good one will tell you if it doesn't protect by way of a light or something. For goood protection, get a UPS. Kind of expensive though, but it will let you run you computer for about 15 minutes or so after the power goes out. You probably don't need that though.

Also, modems can get fried by surges, which can also damage your motherboard.

Oh, and the data stored in the cmos often lasts a few minutes after you remove the battery. Some nicer motherboards don't have a battery, instead having a capaicator or something.

I meant just unplugging the computer from the wall outlet, how long can the CMOS battery last then? Is there anything else that requires power to keep it's contents?

[Pu-239]

CMOS uses batteries to store data, so you can unplug the comp and not worry about it. I don't think anything needs power to keep it's contents.

However, I'm not sure about those computers with a capacaiter or something. Probably have battery backup or something so the user does not have to enter CMOS settings when bought though.

Most motherboards use a battery though, since by the time it runs out, the computer is obsolete.

[phongn]

There are other methods to protect against surges - 'whole house' surge protectors that act at the point-of-entry will generally do the trick. Good ones aren't too cheap, though.

The little strips you get at Wall-Mart generally won't do all that much good and tend to burn out after awhile. The indicator light is not neccessarily accurate as to whether the MOVs have degraded or not.

[Pu-239]

MOVs

So that's what those things are called. What does it stand for again? Metal Oxide something?

I used to have a decent one with a crude circuit breaker which protected some stuff when the basement flooded. Got damaged due to having nightlights plugged into it, which sort of melted the case. Too bad it was being used as a powerstrip for a microwave , rice cooker, and a minifridge.

Did I mention my dad leaked all of the freon (coolant, whatever you call it these days) out trying to chip ice out with a hammer and screwdriver .