Fail to boot after thunder storm

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Level 1

1 points

Fail to boot after thunder storm

Early yesterday morning a sever thunder and lightening storm came through. My iMac was off and attached to a surge protector. today, i went to boot the iMac up and found that it would not boot. I also noticed that my panasonic phone system was not working properly (digitial phones are not functional).

the building was NOT hit by lightening nor can I find any nearby location that was, but we did lose power for several hours while the power company sorted it out.

i brought the iMac to the local Mac store and tech support tere says it is getting power, but fails to continue the boot cycle which they think is either the logic board or video card, but will not know more until tomorrow.

Has anyone ever heard of a "none" lightening strike fried a computer?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jun 30, 2013 8:38 PM

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Answer 1

GilTaylor Author

Level 1

1 points

Jun 30, 2013 9:22 PM in response to GilTaylor

i should note that it wasn't just a surge protector, it was also a battery back up. Just seems odd that the computer was off yet effected

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Answer 2

MartinR

Level 6

19,061 points

Jul 1, 2013 6:53 AM in response to GilTaylor

It doesn't take a direct lightning strike to fry delicate electronics like a computer or phones. And surge protectors do not provide any protection against lightning whatsoever.

The lightning strike could have been miles away, it would not have to be right at your building. There could even have been a ground strike in your neighborhood that has no physical evidence you could see. And it wouldn't even have to be a ground strike - cloud-to-cloud strikes can generate as much EMP or EMI as a ground strike.

The EMP/EMI induced by lighning could also have come in via your phone line or internet connection, not just the power line. Even the ground line can end up being a conductor.

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