Lightning and electronics and my Macbook Air


A couple of nights ago lightning came over my house. It seemed everything was fine until I tried to turn on my Macbook air. It's' a total brick and no amount of different resets are working.  My next step is to attempt a battery removal.

Every other PC (3 of them) and audio gear is on a surge protector.  The Macbook was left charging directly into the wall.  I had completely forgotten about it when the thunder started.  In fact the charger is still working fine. Just the Macbook.  So whatever surge came through managed to find the weakest link in some bit of silicon.

I want to point out that this happened in spite of having a whole house surge protector which is still telling me it's fine.

So, as I was saying, belt and suspenders are the way to go. Whole house surge protector + surge protectors at your point of use for anything more delicate than a washer and dryer.
erik_squires
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your whole house surge protection, is that covered by the power company?
Power company is not going to cover anything. They have zero responsibility (all that fine print on your bill or agreement) and especially when it comes to lightning (act of god or nature for our atheist friends). 
Only recourse is through your homeowners insurance and I am sure it is not worth the time as the cost of a MacBook will not ring the bell on the deductible. 
That is where the home warranty can come in though. Had a friend in Florida have a similar issue and blew out every appliance in the house except a 15 year old refrigerator in the garage. Between the HO insurance and the warranty she got all new appliances. Granted that’s are on order as most of these Korean built stoves, microwaves and refrigerators are all sitting on the water waiting to dock in a port. 
BTW all her audio and video gear was safe on their own surge protectors. All of them the cheap crap you buy on Amazon.



“Power company is not going to cover anything. They have zero responsibility”

if the power company offers protection then it depends on what protection. one purchased as it could meter based or individual surge protection.

the meter based protection is for large appliances , individual surge protection is for more sensitive equipment.

in our area , there are two power companies and depending on the area, one company will cover everything, while the other one only covers big appliances if you buy that protection