I just came back from a live-aboard in the Philippines, and I'm wondering about an equipment failure.
My beloved Atomic Cobalt computer suddenly stopped charging when using the AC side of the power block. My roommate has the same computer, and we tried various configurations of cords and power blocks. We are pretty sure that the failure was in the power block, on the AC side (the USB side still worked). Interestingly, she has had to replace a power block previously because of a failure on the AC side.
Question : could the two power blocks both have been fried by power surges? If so, would a "travel" surge protector have been useful in protecting our systems?
I have done some Googling, and I keep finding posts saying that if you don't have a ground plug (and I often find that there is no third wire when travelling in remote places...), a "surge protector" is basically useless.
Wisdom, please???
My beloved Atomic Cobalt computer suddenly stopped charging when using the AC side of the power block. My roommate has the same computer, and we tried various configurations of cords and power blocks. We are pretty sure that the failure was in the power block, on the AC side (the USB side still worked). Interestingly, she has had to replace a power block previously because of a failure on the AC side.
Question : could the two power blocks both have been fried by power surges? If so, would a "travel" surge protector have been useful in protecting our systems?
I have done some Googling, and I keep finding posts saying that if you don't have a ground plug (and I often find that there is no third wire when travelling in remote places...), a "surge protector" is basically useless.
Wisdom, please???