IT Solutions See Surge in Repairs After Thunderstorms

Ciphertek Systems, LLC has received a surge in repair calls after severe storms damaged computers.

Trent Bemount is the Market Technical Supervisor at Ciphertek.

“We always deal with a lot of problems after a power outage. A lot of it is on schedule with reboot,” Bemount said.  “They will reboot out of sequence, things won’t boot back up. Or the power will damage network cards and things can go beyond that with the motherboards. ”

Bemount said computer owners can prevent power damage during storms.

“Well for the average homeowner and computer user, I always recommend a battery backup. It conditions the line against surges and over and under power,” Bemount said. “Your brownouts will really damage your equipment a lot more than your blackouts. But it protects from over surges and it’s like a little piece between it.  People like the radio station, schools, hospitals, will use a generator on top of that.”

Brownouts occur when the voltage drops in electrical power but does not blackout completely.

When thunderstorms cause surges and blackouts people should check on their devices and equipment, Bemount said.

“Basically just make sure everything powers back up and everything is working operationally. Check your networking equipment, your router, your modems,” Bemount said. “Then go to your computer and if anything is not powering back up or if there are no lights, contact a local computer store or your local power company.”