Buy A Surge Protector!

I spend a lot of time repairing customer systems that were blown up by lightning hits to nearby power lines. Why? Because they either didn't have a surge protector or the one they had was very old and inoperative.

What is a surge protector? It looks like an outlet strip, with 3 - 10 AC outlets on it that you plug your computer, monitor, radio and router into. It has an electronic device inside it that shorts out any high voltage spikes before they can get to your equipment. These spikes arrive at your home via the power lines, and since there are miles or power lines, a lightning hit anywhere on them can be directed right into your home, and zap your equipment.

Surge protectors are rated in Joules (sounds like jewels) and the more joules, the better. A joule is a measure of electrical energy, and you want to shunt to ground as much of the lightning's energy as possible, so, buying a surge protector with a lot of joules is better than one with less.

Many customers already have a surge protector, one that is several years old. Old surge protectors are probably no longer protecting your equipment. Why? The electronic device inside them that shunts lightning energy to ground can only do it once or twice effectively, then it's used up. So essentially all they have is a power strip.

The manufacturers of these surge protectors recommend you replace them every 1 - 2 years, or after a lightning storm has hit you and / or your area.

Please, if you don't have a surge protector, or your's is more than 2 years old, go buy a new one, with as many rated joules as you care to spend. It's money well spent!