How to protect electronics against lightning?

crazy

It's raining cats & dogs here along with lots of lightning - so I'm wondering how to protect "my precious" electronics from lightning?

Is switching off the surge-protector switch sufficient or should the electronics be unplugged?

Dennis Gardner

Surges are one thing and can be protected against, but lightning is no surge.

Unplug power, cable/sat and remove grounds, to be safe.

Polkersince85

Unplug it and disconnect the antennas, Nothing will divert a direct strike. The electromagnetic field will cook the chips.

dorokusai

I use a hobo shackled to a 20 foot ground rod on the side of my house.

madmax

dorokusai wrote:

I use a hobo shackled to a 20 foot ground rod on the side of my house.

And when I get loose I'm reporting you to the authorities. :eek:
madmax

shack

dorokusai wrote:

I use a hobo shackled to a 20 foot ground rod on the side of my house.

For the PC police around here you should probably refer to your human lightning rod as an occasionally mobile homeless individual.

kingkip

dorokusai wrote:

I use a hobo shackled to a 20 foot ground rod on the side of my house.

It's funny because he said hobo.

cfrizz

WAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Leave it to Mark!:eek:

RuSsMaN

It's not so funny once you've smelled burnt hobo.

Unplug it.

drew spelts

It's their singed Tom Selick chest hair that stinks so bad.

dorokusai

I would say the urine soaked trousers sure don't help much.

polrbehr

www.deltasurgeprotectors.com
I have installed these many times.
If you have any fears of working in a live panel, consult an electrician.

labrat

It seems to me that any voltage strong enough to jump hundreds of feet through the air (lightning) isn't going to be stopped by less than an inch gap in any switch. You are much better off unplugging the power and cable/sat/antenna connections to your components.


Just my .02
Scott

disneyjoe7

Having fixed many electronic devices damaged by Lightning / some being so damaged it was NFR "Not Feasible to Repair". Phone lines are bad coming into house, Antenna or Cable is bad so disconnect these. Switches are like capacitors in lightning strikes so being off doesn't help any, Being a power switch in device, Circuit breaker, or wall switch. So when in fear disconnect all power / Antenna / phone line.

I-SIG

You really need to watch your phone and CATV grounding. They can be very lax especially in comparison to what the electric utility does.

Induced voltage & current from a lightning strike near a utility line is much more common than a direct hit. Voltage climbs at phenomenal rates, say up to 68kv in about 20 micro-seconds. (yes micro, not milli.) At this point most lightning arrestors are just starting to bleed that overvoltage off at their full strength so voltage can continue to rise considerably. Although most primary in the US is in the neighborhood of 12.47kV properly specified systems can withstand a BIL (basic impulse insulation level) of 250-350kV. I seriously doubt any consumer electronics could handle the 68kV much less 350kV.

So, when in doubt, unplug everything.

Wes

unc2701

With the level of gear you've got (IIRC), you might want to look at Torus Power:

http://toruspower.com

They're certified to take a 18000kva hit 1,000 times without failing, plus output balanced power. Yes, they're expensive, but so is replacing all your gear.

edit: fixed link

disneyjoe7

try this link
http://www.toruspower.com/

Skynut

:eek: Yikes :eek:

Good lord thats alot of money.

unc2701

Yep, my gear isn't worth enough to justify it... but they're not cheap to build; check out the size of the power supply:

Skynut

I have a hard time believing that does not get hot.

disneyjoe7

Now I have heard of dedicated 20 amps outlets, but never heard or seen a "Dryer" outlet for audio. HOLLY ****

unc2701

i have a hard time believing it doesn't give you cancer. It looks like it could bend forks from across the room. My buddy has one of these in stock (the 20 amp x3) and we cracked open the box, but decided we'd throw out our backs just trying to get it any further. We'll probably demo it once I get into my new house.

drew spelts

Thats GD rediculous. I believe that they do not produce much heat. The only reason these do not produce heat is because they use AC current. If everything were DC then they would need moving parts and that would procude heat. We just learned about this kind of stuff in radiological science classes.

aaharvel

"Lock the door. And hope they don't have blasters."

Beekyman

Just remember..."One point Twenty-One GIGAWATTS !!" - Dr. Emmit Brown in Back To The Future.
Nothing can stop the mighty hammer of Thor! Unplug your gear just to be safe!

Skynut

Beekyman wrote:

Just remember..."One point Twenty-One GIGAWATTS !!" - Dr. Emmit Brown in Back To The Future.

I knew this would come out.
I could not remember the exact quote or I would have done it.