Yeah so on the 4th of July lightning hit the utility pole about 2 doors down, sent a voltage surge throughout the house ( and a few of my neighbors.)
This blew out a number of devices fully (IE: Router, Switch, rokus’ etc), others it caused partial issues. For example My modem would boot but it blew out the DOCSIS module so it couldnt connect. My TV works, but thinks 3 HDMI devices are plugged in that arent and now tosses me warnings its running hot at 90C. The PS4 had the USB interface, wifi and HDD blow out only and the HDMI port seems to work on some TV’ s (IE: the one it was connected to, but not the Samsung Plasma TV in our living room). So I was able to restore that from backup, but cant connect it to the internet now and cant connect more devices…I even had ome cables went out as well. The DP to HDMI cable from my RTX3060 to my TV went out, a couple HDMI cables also are now bad etc.
That said, no my computer wasnt plugged in. I actually play on a laptop these days when i upgraded off my i7-4790/1070 build. So i use an eGPU when im at home. This had the 3060. It either took the voltage through the UPS, or more likely through that DP cable connected from the TV (which wasnt on UPS power). Either way, after the storm the 3060 would only spin fans at 100% and would not be recognized, either in the eGPU or in my old desktop that was in the attic now. I popped that old 1070 into the eGPU it ran fine. So the eGPU, its boards, and the PSU in it were fine but the 3060 are effectively dead.
That said, the UPS’s I use are just line interactive ones you get at Best Buy, not expensive double conversion. The difference is that with line interactive there is a relay switch, and when it detects voltage changes it will switch from power off the AC/wall to battery (in under a second). Thats typically fast enough that capacitors can still deliver power to their devices. But a VERY fast voltage change (ie: from a lightning strike) can get passed through.
Schneider Electric/APC does have a warranty on their devices and those connected to it. So i did open a case with them. its still ongoing. I am not sure if they will honor it. They probably should but who knows. They did have me send the UPS devices back to them (and sent me new ones to swap out, which was nice). Whether they replace the stuff blown out…i dont know. It was pretty expensive, but not enough to hit my Insurance deductable, which I have to keep really high to get any coverage these days in Florida.
That put me in a weird spot for this game release. I waited a while for APC to get back (its still in limbo) but finally just replaced the GPU. So i have played this game on the same laptop, but with 3 GPU’s now. The 1650ti Max-Q that is onboard the laptop (it only has 4GB of vram). The Strix 1070 8GB that is basically my old card but was used as my main for a couple months. And the 4060ti 16GB that i just got a few days after release.
Yeah I live in florida. Its just not feasible, this time of year we get thunderstorms daily after 2pm.
I put UPS systems on the expensive stuff and just let it ride.
Its happened before too. So not my first rodeo. When my daughter was born lightning hit my actual house directly, like melted my grounding rods hit, piuctures fell off the wall and shit. My iphone at the time wasnt even plugged in, just sitting ont he table but it blew out the wifi and bluetooth chips… I probably lost more in that one. Homeowners covered the loss there though. The insurance situation in Florida is in need of some government regulation to step the fuck in these days. I have to keep my deductible at like 10k now just to have coverage.
I’ve honestly considered asking that Louis Rossman guy to see if he can fix the 3060. I would bet it’s some rando voltage regulator chip on the 3060 board that he may be able to solder. Once the claim with APC is done I was going to see if he would even give it a look. Worst case he tosses it for me.
I have to ask about the lightning story….was your computer on during the incident or was it powered off but just plugged in??
Yeah so on the 4th of July lightning hit the utility pole about 2 doors down, sent a voltage surge throughout the house ( and a few of my neighbors.)
This blew out a number of devices fully (IE: Router, Switch, rokus’ etc), others it caused partial issues. For example My modem would boot but it blew out the DOCSIS module so it couldnt connect. My TV works, but thinks 3 HDMI devices are plugged in that arent and now tosses me warnings its running hot at 90C. The PS4 had the USB interface, wifi and HDD blow out only and the HDMI port seems to work on some TV’ s (IE: the one it was connected to, but not the Samsung Plasma TV in our living room). So I was able to restore that from backup, but cant connect it to the internet now and cant connect more devices…I even had ome cables went out as well. The DP to HDMI cable from my RTX3060 to my TV went out, a couple HDMI cables also are now bad etc.
That said, no my computer wasnt plugged in. I actually play on a laptop these days when i upgraded off my i7-4790/1070 build. So i use an eGPU when im at home. This had the 3060. It either took the voltage through the UPS, or more likely through that DP cable connected from the TV (which wasnt on UPS power). Either way, after the storm the 3060 would only spin fans at 100% and would not be recognized, either in the eGPU or in my old desktop that was in the attic now. I popped that old 1070 into the eGPU it ran fine. So the eGPU, its boards, and the PSU in it were fine but the 3060 are effectively dead.
That said, the UPS’s I use are just line interactive ones you get at Best Buy, not expensive double conversion. The difference is that with line interactive there is a relay switch, and when it detects voltage changes it will switch from power off the AC/wall to battery (in under a second). Thats typically fast enough that capacitors can still deliver power to their devices. But a VERY fast voltage change (ie: from a lightning strike) can get passed through.
Schneider Electric/APC does have a warranty on their devices and those connected to it. So i did open a case with them. its still ongoing. I am not sure if they will honor it. They probably should but who knows. They did have me send the UPS devices back to them (and sent me new ones to swap out, which was nice). Whether they replace the stuff blown out…i dont know. It was pretty expensive, but not enough to hit my Insurance deductable, which I have to keep really high to get any coverage these days in Florida.
That put me in a weird spot for this game release. I waited a while for APC to get back (its still in limbo) but finally just replaced the GPU. So i have played this game on the same laptop, but with 3 GPU’s now. The 1650ti Max-Q that is onboard the laptop (it only has 4GB of vram). The Strix 1070 8GB that is basically my old card but was used as my main for a couple months. And the 4060ti 16GB that i just got a few days after release.
Aw hell man…your story is the reason why I unplug all my expensive items whenever there’s a thunderstorm.
Yeah I live in florida. Its just not feasible, this time of year we get thunderstorms daily after 2pm.
I put UPS systems on the expensive stuff and just let it ride.
Its happened before too. So not my first rodeo. When my daughter was born lightning hit my actual house directly, like melted my grounding rods hit, piuctures fell off the wall and shit. My iphone at the time wasnt even plugged in, just sitting ont he table but it blew out the wifi and bluetooth chips… I probably lost more in that one. Homeowners covered the loss there though. The insurance situation in Florida is in need of some government regulation to step the fuck in these days. I have to keep my deductible at like 10k now just to have coverage.
I’ve honestly considered asking that Louis Rossman guy to see if he can fix the 3060. I would bet it’s some rando voltage regulator chip on the 3060 board that he may be able to solder. Once the claim with APC is done I was going to see if he would even give it a look. Worst case he tosses it for me.