Lightning Surge Damage

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TallPaul

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I was awakened Tuesday morning by a huge thunderclap that sounded like a bomb. Apparently it hit something nearby because it burned out the GFCI outlet in the bathroom, a timer light switch, one fuse in the electrical service, and took out my computer modem (no I did not have a surge protector on it). Anyway, since it is a 6.5 year old laptop that I bought used for $350, I sure am not going to fix it. Probably get another laptop, nothing fancy, just use it to surf the net mostly.

Would a surge protector on the phone line have spared me? I tend to think it is a maybe.
 
After the lightning jumps 1 1/2 miles through the air do you really think a surge supressor will stop it ??!!
On the other hand, if the strike was a distance away, perhaps the supressor will do it's job. Modems aren't too "hearty" anyway, nor too expensive. A good surge protector may exceed the cost of a modem ?? My
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I think that it would. If the wire didn't get physically fried in the process, then surely a shunt designed to cope with it should work.
 
If you have a serial port you can get an external modem, if that is the only thing fried. Or if you also have a desktop computer you can set up a proxy server and wifi network connection.
 
One of the problems with surge protection is that they wear out over time. People should replace their surge protectors every two years more or less but forget them and then bam, they get fried.
 
I prefer the surge protectors that you install on your electrical panel (through a knockout). Intermatic makes them, Home Depot sells them for about $40. You connect them to two circuit breakers on each 120V leg and to neutral and ground.
 
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One of the problems with surge protection is that they wear out over time. People should replace their surge protectors every two years more or less but forget them and then bam, they get fried.

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Or you can buy a surge protector that shows if the MOV is still functional.
 
There is supposed to be surge protection on the phone line inside the telephone network interface, but there are a lot of houses out there which still have the 1950s-era protectors.

Also, the ground may be loose or not even be connected. (When I had telephone problems involving my line being crossed with my neighbors, I opened up the telephone network interface and noticed that the telco access only side was open and the ground wire loose. It wasn't like that before. I tightened it up. All I can guess is that Verizon must have cut back on employee drug screens and I got one of the end results of that policy visting my network interface).


Another common problem is when the electrical service and telephone/cable TV service attach to the house at opposite ends. This can cause large voltage differences between those systems in the event of a nearby lightning strike, and is not a recommended configuration. The cable/phone/electric services should attach to the house on the same side.
 
about 10 years back there was a lightning strike about 50' from the bedroom window. the EMP fried my UNPLUGGED brand new stereo, VCR, and the video card (the at the time smoking S3 trio) in my also unplugged computer.

my point is, not even a surge protector is going to save you sometimes.

a lightning strike from 50' away is not something one wants to experience very often.
 
Quote:

One of the problems with surge protection is that they wear out over time. People should replace their surge protectors every two years more or less but forget them and then bam, they get fried.

Click to expand...


There are surge protectors available which do not use the "sacrificial" components (MOV's) which wear out over time. Unfortunately, they aren't cheap.
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That's what I love about this site. While it is about oil, I can get information on just about anything. We have a lot of knowledgable folks here. Thanks. I will see if I have a serial port.
 
Good story by Bret. Surge suppressors will not protect equipment from a direct lightning strike. It will help protect equipment during marginal conditions when you get a surge from a near strike. But not always. It depends on the intensity of the surge. Read the manufacturer's product data. This is what they tell you.
 
Brian mentioned a whole-house surge suppressor. It certainly helps, but there are many potential sources for voltage spikes after the service panel, which are generated from inside the house. Ideally, one should still use surge suppressors for each outlet.
 
Hey I'm on with the laptop. Picked up a U.S.Robotics 56K Faxmodem and hooked it up. It is working. Only problem, it says I need a Pentium II, 300MHz, and 128 MB Ram. I have a Celeron 550 MHz, but only 96 MB Ram. Seems to be working fine though. When I installed it I got an error message from my Juno Turbo that it detected there already was a web accelerator running (modem claims to speed up internet access).

Well, it's working, so I see no need to return it, unless I can get a lower priced modem. I paid $50 for this one and it allows me to receive calls, but apparently not call out as I tried it.

Will the lack of RAM be a problem?

Anyway, yeah 96 MB Ram is pathetic. This also is the laptop computer where the fan died and I installed a larger fan with a Valvoline Synpower bottle neck for an adapter, so it has a funnel like fan setup glued to the back. Works anyway.
 
problem with lightning is it can jump air gaps. a surge supressor does no good when the lighting can jump right through it and still knock everything out. surge supressors are only good if the strike is far away and weak enough to not be able to bridge any air gaps.
 
I'll feel lucky if lightning misses me by a hair and nukes my computer, tv, stereo, pet etc.
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I think it's much more likely to be close to a lighting hit than actually being hit bit it. And you are talking to a guy who was trapped in a tram during the worst kind of lighting storm, half a mile above ground for 30 minutes. I'll never go to Merano 2000 again!
 
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Lost a SONY 53" RPTV and a Yamaha DVD player due to lightning, had APC surge protector as well as online power conditioner, no one can win against nature's wraith.
 
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Brian mentioned a whole-house surge suppressor. It certainly helps

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Look at it this way. What's the ground connectionn on a whole-house surge protector? Directly to the ground/neutral bus which is connected via a large-gauge wire to both a ground rod and the waterpipe where it comes out of the foundation.

What's the ground connection on a plug-in surge protector? A skinny little ground prong connected to an outlet that may or may not be making very good contact (depends on the age of the outlet and how many times it has been used) with it, connected via a hundred feet or more of 14-gauge wire with a bunch of wire nut splices in it.

Now which path do you think a surge is gonna like better?

Oh, one addtional thing a whole-house surge protector can do that a plug-in cannot--it can protect against line-to-line surges (a surge between the two incoming hot wires).
 
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TallPaul, that's a good modem. You should be happy with it. As far as memory requirements, It's the FAX that needs the memory. It should do FAXes ok, but it probably will be slow.

On power surges, a lightning strike generates a massive magnetic pulse. Think of your house wiring as a stator of a large generator. That magnetic pulse creates a giant current spike in all of the house wiring, including phone, TV cable, HVAC controls and of course the ground wiring. Over the years, I've lost several 24VAC transformers used in HVAC controls.

In 1997, my previous house was hit by lightning and was 80% distroyed by fire and water damage.

Way back, when I was a teenager I got hit by a secondary strike that hit a tree out by the road, jumped to the phone wires, came in the house and jumped to the house wiring and the Thermostat wiring. Burned out all the appliance controls including the furnace. All of the low voltage wiring in the house including the phone wiring was vaporized. Jumped on to the pluming. I was in the bathroom washing up for supper. It jumped to the metal trim that was on the vanity and to my large belt buckle. I was Slammed back against the far wall, about 8 Ft., and was out cold for several minutes. I was lucky. My back and leg muscles were sore for a week.
 
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