Several months ago, we discussed using or not using surge
suppressors with Powerbooks, and I found out the hard way that we
came to an erroneous conclusion.
We concluded that the power adapter would protect the
Powerbook from a surge. Turns out this is not true.
There are few absolute truths in the world.
Well, there are surges, and then there are surges. A surge
protector will protect your kit against things like switching
transients and the like - the "typical" kind of thing that happens
on a distribution system, but it would be an inappropriate
expectation if you thought that it could protect you against a
close lightning strike.
You can have installed a "whole house" protector, at the breaker box.
They are larger, and more $$$, and thus handle larger surges.
The whole key to lightning is it's like dealing with a cornered
politician: give him an easier way to escape, a lesser target, and
he'll go that way every time. That's two steps: make another route
easier [Gas Tube or MOV across the line] and make your system less
attractive [inductance in series]
Even unplugging the appliances isn't a guarantee that they would
be spared. The surge can jump the gap between the plug socket and
the end of the cord on the floor (remember, it just jumped a gap of
a mile, so this gap of a foot is nothing). And it can certainly
pass through and destroy your surge protector, fusing metal on the
way. There is a tremendous amount of energy in a lightning strike,
and to think that some little circuit in a plastic box is going to
stop it is sheer folly.
But it IS lazy; with an easier out; it will take it.
What can you do? Well, if you are worried about a close strike,
you should power down all of the computer gear, then unplug the
cords and move them away from the wall outlet as far as you can. If
you have a laptop, either use it on a battery or shut it off too.
If you get a lightning strike just outside of the house the air
around you will have a very high field strength, and it could
damage your computer even if it is unplugged. You'll feel it on
your skin. Remember, we're talking about tens of millions of volts
here. And relatively speaking it doesn't take a lot of voltage to
damage silicon. Putting the PowerBook in a metal box would help.
For most cases this is overkill. If you work in S. Florida and have
14 towers in your yard.....
Also note the OTHER route into your laptop. Modem connections are a
favorite route. Ethernet is less of an issue since it's transformer
isolated, but the breakdown voltage is a mere 1500V.
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