Gear is unstable; it's unclear if it's still functioning.
Gear is unstable; it's unclear if it's still functioning.
Hey everyone, I’ve had some gaming setups hit by what seems like a massive power surge in early January. One pole outside our home was damaged, and two main cables fell onto our 440V local circuit. We’re not sure if the 11k or 33k volt hit first, but it caused the street fuses to blow, fried the meter, shattered the powerboard, destroyed the lights, scorched the sockets, and even melted the cords of our hanging lights. The surge also arced through the plastic power strip, melting a cooling fin and damaging the screw mount on my desk. After we rewired the house (some wires were ruined), everything failed—my PC died. RIP those rigs (i7 4770 GTX550t and Ryzen 7 2700 GTX980Ti). Luckily, the house didn’t catch fire, but we have no insurance to cover the loss.
I tested the gear with a fresh PSU afterward, and it was all dead. I’m wondering why one worked while the other didn’t. Should I be okay using any of these that survived? Would it be wise to hire an electrical expert for a deeper check? Or would the expense of testing match the cost of buying new parts? Some drives seem fine now, so I’m trying to back up data from what I thought was lost.
I’ve been stuck on this Win7 dual-core system (usually just a media device) for two months and it won’t even run Discord or games. My hobbies are all tied to my PC, and I’m getting really anxious. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks from NZ.
the situation where the power supply broke down could have actually protected the rest of the parts. regarding the unexpectedly functional hardware, I’d avoid any power supplies linked to that incident unless necessary. otherwise, don’t second-guess it—just run it if it starts. it might be useful to perform some simple inspections and consider updating the BIOS on surviving motherboards to rule out corruption. for boards that fail to activate, if there’s no clear damage, replacing the BIOS battery for a short period and trying again could help. also, regarding the melty fuses and breaker box, they seem to be functioning as intended—they’re built to handle sudden failures. in the power supply, the initial protection is usually a surge suppressor that likely failed, followed by a fuse that probably blew during the event. if each safety component mitigated the impact, the final voltage reaching the electronics is reduced significantly.
Thanks for your message. It’s reassuring to hear you’re hopeful about understanding the PSU better. I’m not sure about the exact wiring sequence, but generally power flows through cables in a specific order—like 24-pin then CPU, then PCIe. As for which part is most vulnerable, it usually depends on the setup, but any sudden impact can cause serious harm.
I think the device most at risk is often the one closest to the source of the shock or the weakest point in the circuit. In your case, the repeated zaps and the way components failed suggest a pattern of stress points. The fact that some devices survived while others didn’t hints at uneven exposure.
The blast left a lot of damage—capacitors melted, soot covered everything, and even switches got affected. It’s strange how circuits handled it differently. I’m glad you noticed the lack of bulging parts; that’s a good sign.
Your caution about the PSU is wise. The soot and scorch marks are clear signs of intense heat. The fact that some devices survived while others didn’t points to a mix of design and luck. I hope your new PSU works out better—maybe it’ll be a bit more resilient too.
I’ve been helping friends and family with basic checks, so I usually bring spare PSUs around. Unfortunately, my current one lacks the right connectors for your motherboard. I borrowed one for testing but it’s no longer available. I just ordered a new one with extra ports, hoping it’ll help.
Your monitors passed retesting, though they look a bit damaged. The street fuses did take some heat, but most of the damage was already done. I’m curious—why don’t we see firebreaks in the wiring? Maybe a section with less insulation and a direct earth connection could help.
It seems the powerboard failed completely after the impact, even though fuses blew. It must have been a sudden surge that overwhelmed the system. The cat’s account is interesting—he was close to the panel when it exploded, but he only got a scratch. The smoke and glass were everywhere. We had experts come in, but nothing matched what happened.
For your reference, I’ve attached a photo of the pole where it stopped. The one with the car shows the new pole right next to it. He skimmed the second pole when he passed, left no skid marks, and went through a ditch cleanly. It was like he just bumped into something solid.
Houses nearby suffered heavy losses, and the kiwifruit packhouse lost over a million dollars. That’s a tough situation—hopefully, this incident won’t repeat.