God still have mercy on my iMac!! (But I don't think it'll happen again, so help)

[iSayuSay]

Just to cut things short .. I plug my iMac on my home to automated voltage regulator, a standard issue just to prevent brown out because I hardly having a blackout, so I thought UPS or surge protector might not be necessary.

And yesterday .. I just went to work when I put my iMac to sleep mode and there goes the heavy rain with continuous thunder.

My brother was staying at home when a thunder suddenly strike to my home and fried my voltage regulator, the one that being plugged to my iMac (it was on sleep mode, luckily), great huh? Of all voltage regulator on my home, thunder strikes the one on my computer room. Dang there were sparks and smoke coming from my computer room.

Well my brother simply unplug from wall-terminal and it stops. However I came home in panic hearing that story and yeah .. actually my $2000+ iMac is still okay, the regulator is fried though.

So yes .. I thank God for still have mercy on my hard-earned possession. I don't know if this is just some miracle or what. But I surely don't want it to happen again, so what should I do now?

1. I'm thinking to get myself a UPS, is it necessary? Does all UPS featured with surge or lightning strike protection? Or do I have separate device for those purpose?

2. If so .. what kind of UPS is good for my iMac and all the peripherals? What brand? what type? anything I should look particularly for what I need? I heard Eaton UPS have quite a good reputation, is it true?

Please help .. if thunder strikes again, i don't think my iMac would have another chance .. dang I still feel amazed and shocked. So please I need your input here, thank you.

 

[Spike88]

Will Backup UPS provide 100% protection from brown outs, spikes and lightling strikes? NO. But most of the time, it does provide increased level of protection.

As a suggestion, install Main Panel Surge production on our home's 200A Service. For example, Sycom unit or Intermatic unit. I've used both brands and they work great. For example: http://www.sourceresearch.com/Sycom/Sycom-pdf.cfm?PdfPage=SYC-120-240-T2.pdf in my previous home. My new home uses much better Intermatic brand. re: http://www.intermatic.com/products/...ential hardwired/ig1240rc3 and ig3240rc3.aspx

At the wall outlet, I'd use Backup UPS as well. Thus, 2 x tiers of protection. re: Main panel (whole house) and wall outlet.

APC company with their Smart UPS that produces "pure sine" between 850A to 1000VA will work great for iMacs. I'm sure there's other great Backup UPS units as well. Regardless of brand, use "pure sine wave" output UPS on iMacs. If wondering, my iMac uses APC 1300VA with its USB cable connected. my home also uses Main Panel protection as well. They both work great.

For $2,000 iMac, using a up to $200 Backup UPS unit is a given. Especially if your outlets have unstable power - like my remote region home.

.

 

[BarkingGhost]

Its important to know that a rather bad lightning strike in the vicinity can cause an electrical surge up the ground conductor, AND there is zero protection for ground.

Twelve homes on my street learned that lesson the hard ware about two years ago. It took several days for the electric, cable, satellite and telephone companies to repair, plus a nice bit of insurance company traffic covering a lot of claims.

I personally lost a PS3, a plasma HTDV, and some smaller items. Everything in my home in on some level of protection, but as I said ground is a conductor, can conduct a surge in the wrong direction, and can cause a good bit of damage.