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God ganked my Wii...
Doomulon
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
A few weeks ago, a huge lightning storm rolled through my town, spitting out bolts of electric death. One of those happened to strike right outside my living room as I was sitting there watching TV. I didn't even realize what had happened at first. It was a clear day when I came home 30 minutes earlier with maybe a few clouds on the horizon, so what I thought was something exploded outside.
I gathered my wits and looked outside to see a torrent of rain coming down and heard thunder and saw more lightning. It was then that I realized that the explosion was a lightning strike. I immediately ran through the house unplugging everything I could, but it was too late. The damage was done.
There were surprisingly few victims among my electronics. The only thing that was killed was my Nintendo Wii. It still functions, seemingly, but has no video output. I can hear audio and get feedback from the system as I blindly poke around the menu, but what is a game console without video?
Does anyone know how Nintendo deals with acts of God, nature, or other freak accidents? I want to call them, but I want to call prepared with a little foreknowledge. Of course, my Wii is out of warranty, so I am expecting to have to pay for repairs. How much should I expect to pay?
I gathered my wits and looked outside to see a torrent of rain coming down and heard thunder and saw more lightning. It was then that I realized that the explosion was a lightning strike. I immediately ran through the house unplugging everything I could, but it was too late. The damage was done.
There were surprisingly few victims among my electronics. The only thing that was killed was my Nintendo Wii. It still functions, seemingly, but has no video output. I can hear audio and get feedback from the system as I blindly poke around the menu, but what is a game console without video?
Does anyone know how Nintendo deals with acts of God, nature, or other freak accidents? I want to call them, but I want to call prepared with a little foreknowledge. Of course, my Wii is out of warranty, so I am expecting to have to pay for repairs. How much should I expect to pay?
Doomulon on
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360 GamerTag: Culver42
Sc2 Beta ID : Culver. Culver
Yes, I agree, this will help in case it happens again.
I tried my friend's cables, both power and video, and still no dice. I'm pretty sure it's fried.
As for that wall mounted surge protector, I may order one. I've been looking for something decent ever since then, because I know it could happen again considering where I live has lots of could-to-ground lightning.
Well, I guess that was a while ago now.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
Lightning struck his computer before he could finish his forum battle entry
If it doesn't, Belkin will reimburse you up to $50,000 for the crap you've got plugged into it. The warranty covers lightning strikes, as well. Have a gander at the terms if you wish.
Anecdotal evidence from people on the internet says that it does indeed eat a lightning strike.
In my opinion it would be pretty stupid to put out a product that advertises lightning strike protection, and an explicit $50,000 protection warranty for equipment connected to said product, if it couldn't actually protect against a lightning strike.
I don't see anything about lightning strikes on the original link, hence my skepticism.
Ganked always meant theft down where I'm from. I saw the thread title and thought, "God sure is a dick."
You might just buy a new video cable from just about any store for like $10 or $15 and save yourself the trouble of getting it repaired/replaced by Nintendo. It may solve the problem.
Secondly, if you DO call Nintendo, try to avoid mentioning that lightning/thunder is what caused the damage....
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
He already tried a different video cable. That's not the part that's broken.
Also there is no surge protector on the planet that can handle a lighting strike. As a matter of FACT we don't even know how much power there is in a lighting bolt. If you get a surge protector get one that has a 5 year damage coverage, with at least $10,000 for coverage payment (the box will say how much they will cover). Its a good idea to replace surge protectors every 5 years, as over that course of time they will have received hundreds (or thousands) of minor shocks, while the little ones wont kill it they could cause the device to fail over time.
If this is true then why does the Belkin surge protector I linked advertise lightning strike protection and a $50,000 lifetime connected equipment warranty? The surge protector (the one I linked anyways) will protect your equipment from a lightning strike, though the surge protector itself will bite the dust and you'll have to put down $15 for a new one.
I never asked for this!
Having toured more than one service depot in my time I can tell you that if your device does eat a bolt it's usually a write off. The surge suppressor that AZ linked will help take that bullet for you - there's a row of "little blue circles" inside that become melted bits of blackened plastic when they get smoked. This cuts off the connection to your devices and should keep them safe. If it fails to do that - as mentioned above - they cash out.
Belkin, Monster, APC - all the biggies have policies like this on their suppressors and UPSeses. Most of them now come with lifetime warranties as well.
If you're calling Nintendo: DO NOT MENTION LIGHTNING. Simply say that the video doesn't work. Never volunteer that kind of information.
Call Nintendo and let them know exactly what happened. The answer may surprise you.
"Was cursing, in broken english at his team, and at our team. made fun of dead family members and mentioned he had sex with a dog."
"Hope he dies tbh but a ban would do."
really? you're really going to point out that someone didn't read the entire thread, when your own post a mere 7 posts sooner indicates that you didn't even read the entire first post? huh.
Source. I should be able to understand this, but I just got lost towards the end. I think the value of power in a lightning bolt that is widely agreed upon is around about 74 frakloads. A little googling has found a rough actual value of a megawatt or so (but here says several hundred megawatts). There ought to be something in a physics textbook, but there aren't any miraculously lying open on this here desk at the moment.
Anyway, that's fairly off-topic, so my apologies.
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=puns (not trying to be a dick just reminded me of it)
To OP: Sucks about the Wii, I'm sure God had a better plan for it :rolleyes:
Tofu wrote: Here be Littleboots, destroyer of threads and master of drunkposting.
excuse me for that, but I start monday at Nintendo Kirkland, WA, where Refurb is done, mark your Wii or something, I might see it.
Also, Nintendo is very awesome with repairs, my gamecube drowned in dust, and we got a free refurbed unit by going in in person, and it was way out of warranty. If by some off chance your in WA, do that.
Sorry about your wii, you can't play nmh over and over again now.