HTPC vs Thunderstorm

[rpemb]

Questions...

1) What do you have between your HTPC and AC outlet?

2) Do you trust it enough to let your HTPC run through storms?

[mcowger]

1) An APC BackUPS 350
2) Yes, I do.

[davek]

Ha ha, great story. This is what happened according to the inspector. Lightning hit the tv antenna on my dads roof, it carried down to the basement where it arked with a copper pipe melting it and causing it to sprout a major leak, it ran to the back of 4 tvs, (one was a really expensive one) and basically melting the insides (according to a electronics shop that they were brought to) of them, then in one of the tvs the electricity ran through the S-video cable to a computer burning up the video card, then running out of the modem and network cards recking all modems and network cards and phones in the house. Amazingly all the computers still worked, but everything else was fried!

To be honest though, I don't remember to unplug anything becauase there is just too much to worry about. I just ground everything, have good power strips, and hope for the best.

[jvonbokel]

1. Belkin 1000VA UPS
2. For the most part, yes, but just the other day we had a power outage of several hours. Obviously there's not much you can do about that. Luckily, I didn't happen to have any recordings scheduled, but I was planning on installing my 2nd PVR-250 at that time, *because* of the fact that there were no recordings scheduled. Now I have to wait all the way 'till tomorrow to test out dual-tuner support in the new beta.

[Eric3a]

1. APC UPS and surge protector little power strip.
2. Yes. Florida is Thunderstorm alley, and so far so good. If it happens it happens, I can't unplug my computer every day in the summer.
I fried 2 (cheap) modems because couldn't go through the surge protector (introduced bad humming in my phones) so I know I've had destructive spikes and my computer and everything else protected survived fine.

I've gone through many blackouts with no ill effect. Short ones, the UPS takes care of them. Long ones, the computer reboot fine.
Eric

[V_D_O]

Heh. Just wait till you see mine

1) AVR (stabilizer) -> surge supressor -> UPS -> surge supressor -> UPS -> AVR (stabilizer)

2) Well, we don't have too many storms here in Pakistan, but if I trust it to run through the night where voltage can drop to 100V and then spike to over 400V (normal supply being 220V), I think I'd fare pretty well on the storm charge. And if the fluctuations get too bad, I switch on the diesel backup generator.