If you've ever experienced a power outage while using the PC, you might know the horrors and frustrations of losing all your progress. While you restart the PC, have you thought about the damage a power failure could cause to a PC? What about the "opposite" of a power outage, the dreaded power surge? Are they harmful to your PC?
ContentsPower outagesHow to beat themSurgeHow to beat themSurges and blackoutsTo answer these questions, let's take a look at what happens during both, how it affects your hardware, and how to avoid damage.
If a PC is needed for what you're doing, you can try an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPC) instead. They are like backup batteries for your PC so that you always have energy after the cut. Batteries aren't designed to keep your PC running for too long, but they do give you enough time to tell the PC to shut down so you can prevent your work from getting corrupted.
While a power outage doesn't do too much damage aside from potentially corrupted data, a power surge is far more deadly. These usually occur at the end of a power outage or are caused by something like a lightning strike hitting the electrical system.
Each electrical item in your home has a specific threshold of how much power it can take. If plugged into an outlet and the outlet is turned on when a power surge occurs, the device is flooded with more electrical charge than it can handle.
If it's a small power surge, it can cause mild excess heat or arcing that slowly degrades device components over time. If it's a big one, the surge will be so strong that it will downright fry any component it touches.
With your PC, the first component affected by a power surge is where electricity enters your system; your diet. If the surge is low enough or the power supply is made of high-end components, the surge may damage or destroy only the power supply. If not, the surge may continue through the power supply to the main computer, where the real problems begin.
Computer components aren't the best at withstanding voltages outside of their range, so a strong surge through them will likely fry those components. It is not uncommon for motherboards, processors and graphics cards to be rendered completely useless after a power surge. This is why surge protection is so important for expensive computers; a big power surge can kill a PC instantly!
If there's a thunderstorm overhead and you're worried about your power cables being knocked over, turn off all electronics and unplug them as soon as you can. Power surges cannot touch unplugged objects!
Also, if you can, try to get a surge protector. These are resistant to the effects of power surges so your components don't have to and are usually pretty cheap (or at least cheaper than a new PC!)
Power outages and power surges can both damage a computer in different ways and with different severities. Now you know how each occurs, how they can harm a PC, and how to avoid them.
Have you ever suffered damage caused by a power outage or power surge? Tell us your stories below.
