Computers: Saving the Power Supply Unit

If ever in your life you've opened the back of a computer box - not the monitor of course, the actual computer. You've probably noticed a square-shaped box that contains an electrical sticker or a hazard symbol.

Um.. yeah..

That's the computer's power supply, and you may want to be careful with that!

It isn't very common that the computer supply unit blows, nevertheless, when it does go, it isn't the greatest thing in the world to replace. The computer supply unit is plays big contribution in what helps your machine power on, shut down and reboot. It's kept inside of that square box to prevent "geniuses" from altering with the wiring. The computer power supply is a severe electrical component that is capable of causing serious injury if one were to mess around with it.

Safeguarding yourself from a blown unit.

During fierce weather conditions, unplug your computer:

This is one of the first steps to ensure that you don't have to deal with replacing the power supply unit. In fierce weather conditions, if your power were to go out and suddenly jump back on, a large amount of high voltage electricity could shoot through the machine via its electrical cord and destory the unit. An analogy of this disaster is about the same as pouring water into a glass that's already filled. There's already plenty of water in the glass, but when more comes pouring in, it overflows.

That's about as close as an analogy as you can get. By leaving your computer plugged in, even with it off, there's still electrical activity between the wall and the machine. When the power goes out around your neighborhood, with your computer still plugged in, it still has electrical currents that are active. When the power kicks back on, it sends even more electric transmission to the power supply, more than it can withstand in some cases.

If it begins to thunder fiercely, or your catch the clouds roaring right before rain fall, unplug it right away! This move can save you anywhere from $75.00 - $80.00 for a power supply, and much more for an installation.

Not all computer power supplies can be found easy:

The computer power supply is not an easy object to find at a local store. Given the guess that your computer is 3 or 4 years old, if not older. Computers generally update every year or two, which would make the one you have 'old news.' With more and more technology arriving on the market, it would be fairly impossible to find a computer power supply for a 2001 Macintosh at a Best buy or Circuit city. Why, that would be like walking into a Chevrolet dealer and asking for a manual to a 1985 GMC Chevrolet!

The best thing to do in the awful event that your supply blows is to contact the computer manufacturer. The manufacturer should be able to help you out with that. Manufacturers generally specialize in specific computer needs; something a Best buy or Circuit city cannot. Local computer stores can only assist you with general needs. Unfortunately, the power supply may take up to 3-6 weeks depending upon its manufacturer.

Avoid severe impact to your machine or computer area:

Do not beat on the computer! If your computer receives enough severe impact, it can damage the power supply. Dropping, drop-kicking, punching, slamming, slapping, any of the above is unacceptable. Hard impact is likely to send damaging shock waves that can interrupt its power, permanently.

Buy a separate power surge protector for the computer area:

Investing in a power surge for computer components specifically is a good way to go. It wouldn't make sense to have a power surge connected alongside a computer, television, fish tank, hair-iron, refrigerator and VCR. The idea is to keep the power supply from over working itself into a blowout. Use the power surge for computer components only!

Do not power on and power off too much or leave your computer running all day.

Allow your computer time to rest. Its not a good idea to leave it powered on all day and night. Nor is it safe to continuously power it on and off like a light switch. Conserving your power usage is a must in helping your computer last as long
as it possibly can.