Blog

This Summer has been the time for rain, rain, and more rain. And with rain, comes thunder, lightning, flooding, wind, and worst of all, electrical outages and surge damage. We thought we were out of the woods - or the storms, in this case - but even the end of July is proving to be a continuation of the wettest months on the record.

In which case, obviously, protecting your electronics is a concern. We’ve already had a lot of service calls for zapped equipment - and even if we’re on the way to your house now, check out our tips to save your systems in the meantime.

High Winds & Flooding

• Debris can go flying when high-winds are involved.  Especially if your home is in an extremely high-risk area, you'll want to make sure your windows are covered, and that - if possible - you've moved your electronic equipment as far away from windows as possible.
• Elevate any equipment that's on a floor to protect from water damage.

Lightning

• If you don't have surge protection on your equipment (Read why this is so crucial), you'll want to make sure you've unplugged the equipment prior to thunder & lightning storms to protect it from any lightning strikes.
• Surge Protectors are great for the unexpected, but even with a surge protector, when you have fair warning you'll still want to unplug everything including the COAX cable from your cable box or satellite box, as those can also lead to surge.
• Be aware that surges can also occur when the power comes back on!

Loss of Power

• Remember: Wireless devices do not always mean they don't have wires!
• Be prepared that extended loss of power can reset equipment back to the factory default settings. So, when power returns, items may require a service call to have audio/video and/or calibrations settings reset.  If you find this is the case, please give us a call and we'll be happy to get a field technician out to your house ASAP.

BOREDOM:

• Lots of entertainment options go out the window when there's no power!  Having battery-powered items (like the Bowers & Wilkins T7 or Sonos Play:5) & battery-powered chargers for small items, such as your phone, iPod/iPad, and Portable DVD player can come in handy, especially when the boardgames just aren't taking care of the kids! Are your playlists up to date?
• Here's a list of offline activities to share with your kids!
• To our streaming music fans out there (perhaps you have MOG, Rdio, or Spotify): Be sure that playlists have been downloaded.
• Headphones are always a great resource for during a power outage (as long as your iPod's charged up!), but keeping yourself calm & occupied are always important.  Remember, if your headphones use batteries, to keep extra batteries available.

INSURANCE

Make sure you are prepared for the worst: In case of the need to submit an insurance claim, make sure you have pictures of your system pre-damage! Read more about that here.

Stay safe, and stay informed!