RANT: Lightning strike close to my house killed my electronics!

[papaof2]

UPS units and surge protectors (even the whole house versions) do NOT protect against ALL types of lightning damage. Nearby strikes can induce current in ANY piece of wire (fencing, railroad tracks) in range and that can cause damage. We had a very close strike - FLASH!BOOM! with no obvious delay between light and sound - several months ago. The plasma TV, cable TV box, DVD recorder/player and BluRay player are all on the same high-end CyberPower pure sine wave UPS + surge protector. None of the devices died, but the HDMI inputs on the TV and the remote-controlled HDMI switch box were dead when I turned the TV on. The lightning was close enough and strong enough to induce a high enough voltage in the HDMI cables running to the switch box and the TV to do damage. Bringing a small TV up from the basement allowed me to verify that the HDMI outputs from the cable TV box, DVD and BluRay were still working. I like the plasma TV for its very wide viewing angle and because all the devices have RGB component video and audio capability, $50 on Ebay for cables and a manual switchbox had it working again.

We have a small solar system for our frequent but usually short (less than 12 hours) power outages and it has one weak link - the USB-RS485 "dongles" that connect the solar charge controllers to the laptop that monitors the system. I expect to replace 2 or 3 of those every summer from nearby lightning. Because I lost all the USB ports on one laptop to lightning, I keep a fully configured older laptop on a shelf near the solar power equipment for backup. The solar backup is my design, basically a "big UPS" because, while the solar panels outside are more than adequate to keep the system charged and ready for use, after 12 hours I may be running a generator to recharge the batteries for the next day's use.

 

[RobbieB]

As I said, nothing will protect 100% against lightning. Just like earthquakes and tornados, wildfires and hurricanes.

If Zeus tosses the bolt at your house, there's gonna be damage.

 

[sengsational]

Seems like you might be able to protect your electronics from lightning, or maybe not. And it's only happened to most of us once or never. Hmm. Maybe I'll continue my head in the sand approach: if I get hit, pay $500 (deductible), throw out a bunch of old electronics, and replace those with fresh new ones. Doesn't sound so bad.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

We have several types of surge protection, but the most effective are the 70 plus foot cottonwoods on our driveway. Several of them have lightening strike marks. Once we found large chunks of bark blown across the driveway maybe 10 ft away from the tree ..that was impressive.

We have a couple of similar cottonwoods in the treeline at the back of our yard, 55 yds from house. One afternoon last week a severe storm line was moving in so I turned off our computer & printer but nothing else.

DW and I were standing in our bedroom with the sliding door open, watching the rain fall straight down, no wind.
A gigantic bolt of lightning hit the tree we were watching. The noise was literally deafening, and the flash blinded us for a couple of seconds. When our vision returned, there were still pieces of wood flying through the air. Our back yard was littered with wood scraps mostly the size of yardsticks or paint stir sticks. Some of them landed beside the house, 55 yds. It took us all the next morning to pick them up, many were stuck in the ground like javelins.

Surprisingly, we kept electricity until about 10 minutes later when the wind blew down the power line 1/4 mile away, like it does several times every year.

More surprising, we suffered no electrical damage, not even our well pump in the back yard. The tree lost one big branch near but not at the top. The trunk has a 10" strip of bark missing all the way to the ground but looks otherwise healthy. Lucky us.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

This thread reminded me of a lightning incident that happened at my parents' home. It was an old farmhouse that had an old-time windmill in the back yard; my mother had strung a clothesline from the windmill frame to the house.

One day during a storm, lightning hit the windmill, and my folks learned that the clothesline was not a fiber line but a thin wire coated with vinyl. The charge traveled to the house, blew out the porch light and killed the phone. The vinyl on the clothesline sagged in drips, melted all along its length. Perhaps if it was a stouter wire the house would have suffered more damage.

 

[indiajust]

My favorite lightning story: Building strike that went from gas to water lines in attic and then to ground. Gas lines caused fire with spark, but pinhole leak from jump to water line was above fire. Water leak put out fire. Only real damage was drywall in bedroom ceiling from water leak.

 

[westom]

I always pay the price and get Surge Protectors on all of my electronics.

If you do not have a properly earthed 'whole house' solution, then surge damage may have been made easier.

IEEE puts numbers to all this. (But again). A properly earthed 'whole house' solution is doing 99.5% to 99.9% of the protection. Then we use plug-in protectors to maybe add another 0.2% protection.

Apparently reality is being ignored. That plug-in protector, if not used with a 'whole house' solution, can even make surge damage easier. Its numbers say its protection is only equal or inferior to protection inside appliances. Is recommended to the most naive who are so easily scammed. If found in your luggage, a cruise ship will probably confiscate it. They understand a first threat created by plug-in protectors. Apparently you have ignored these and so many other facts that say you are, essentially, scammed.

Honest people only make recommendations by also citing the reasons why and relevant specification numbers. The most easily scammed never ask why and ignore all (post no) numbers.

 

[westom]

I had a lightening strike a number of years ago. In my case nothing that was on a surge protector was damaged, but items not protected were damaged.

So replaced was the furnace, stove, all clock radios, all LED & CFL bulbs, all GFCIs, all circuit breakers, the central air, all smoke detectors, refrigerator, doorbell, all dimmer switches, all digital clocks, microwave oven, dishwasher, dryer, and what else? Some or all of those were undamaged? Then they must have been on invisible surge protectors ... using your logic.

IEEE brochure demonstrates the problem. Does not matter if an appliance is powered from a protector or is simply inside another room. A plug-in protector even earthed a surge 8,000 volts destructively through a TV in the adjacent room. It simply earthed a surge through items that made a best connection to earth. Which meant those other (and ignored) undamaged appliances were not a best connection to earth.

No protection exists once a homeowner is so foolish as to buy magic plug-in boxes with a massive profit margin and near zero joules. Only posted is an emotional conclusion justified by wild speculation, ignoring numbers, not bothering to learn how those protectors work, why they make damage easier even to appliance not connected to them, and no relevant specification numbers.

Demonstrated is but again, how easily scams are automatically believed when anecdotal evidence somehow proves something. When one forgets what was even taught in elementary school science. Demonstrated is a recommendation made from junk science. Also using Confirmation bias. Ignored were all those appliances not on protectors and undamaged.

Same reasoning also proved Saddam had WMDs. Apparently many items were on invisible protectors.

 

[westom]

Seems like you might be able to protect your electronics from lightning, or maybe not.

Over 100 years of well proven science says lightning damage is so routinely averted that damage is considered a mistake made by a human.

Best protection for appliances costs about $1 per appliance. Why would anyone fear to use solutions proven over 100 years ago? Only fear explains that denial. Facts with numbers state something definitive and substantial.

Companies known for integrity provide these solutions. That also says more than speculation or myth.

 

[ERD50]

If you do not have a properly earthed 'whole house' solution, then surge damage may have been made easier. ....

I'm in the process of checking my grounding. As mentioned earlier, I plan to verify that my ground rod at least meets the < 25 Ohm spec. My service panel (in the basement) and internet cable (also comes in very close to the service panel) look to be properly connected to that ground rod.

My copper water pipe enters the home below the frost line, through the basement floor. There is a ground connection across the meter (as it should be, from what I've read). And a ground cable that runs in a conduit (all electrical runs in conduit here in the Chicago area, different from most of the country). I will trace that out later, but the conduit is also grounded at the water pipe. I'm thinking that this may not be ideal, that creates two ground paths? I'll check, but I assume that conduit is connected to the service panel (the conduit is behind a dropped ceiling, so it will take a little work to trace it). If so, I might cut the connection to the conduit, so it is grounded only at the service panel, like the rest of the conduit. This really depends on the physical layout, but I'm thinking there would be potential for this second ground path to 'lift' the service panel above earth ground.

Will report back later.

-ERD50

 

[westom]

As I said, nothing will protect 100% against lightning.

That is an emotion. Science make decisions from facts and numbers. IEEE provides numbers that only the most easily scammed consumers ignore.

IEEE defines the 'whole house' solution as only 99.5% to 99.9% effective. So it is not perfect. Then the IEEE puts forth more facts with numbers that will always be ignored by consumers who want to be scammed.

> Still, a 99.5% protection level will reduce the incidence of direct strokes from one stroke per 30 years ... to one stroke per 6000 years ... Protection at 99.5% is the practical choice.

Only naive consumers (who make conclusions from feelings) use a 'woe is me' reasoning.

 

[ERD50]

... Best protection for appliances costs about $1 per appliance. ....

Your post may come across as a bit cryptic to many. When you say this, do you mean the couple hundred dollars for a properly installed whole-house surge protector, like the Eaton unit I linked earlier, divided by a couple hundred devices in the home? For an average of about $1 per appliance?

The "$1 per appliance" might suggest to some you are adding a $1 device to each and every appliance. Can you please validate what I'm saying, or correct me if I have it wrong.

-ERD50

 

[boont]

Didn't Ben Franklin invent the lightning rod? I know a guy who had one installed on his barn. Saved the barn in two different storms. Ruined the rod but saved the barn. You can still buy them. Why does almost no one use them anymore? Got me.

 

[westom]

When you say this, do you mean the couple hundred dollars for a properly installed whole-house surge protector, like the Eaton unit I linked earlier,

Homes routinely have 100 electronic and motorized devices.

Meanwhile that Eaton unit routinely sells for about $100. Less than that 10 years ago when it sold for $50 and $60.

Why do electricians charge more? You pay for his time buying it and driving around with a massive load of parts in his truck. His time and a truck load of parts brought on site costs money.

But the point: anyone who spends $25 or $80 for a plug-in device (that does not even claim effective protection) should suspect a scam. Effective protection should never be that expensive.

And should come with numbers that say why it remains functional for many decades after many direct lightning strikes. A "$1 per appliance" solution does that. The point: best protection even from direct lightning strikes costs much less money.

Grounding: water pipe must also have a hardwire connection to the same bus bar in the main breaker box. That water pipe connection must be where it enters a building. Exists as part of protection for human life (therefore required by electric code).

Don't know why a conduit connects to that water pipe. If someone was grounding conduit to an earth ground, well, that is a safety code violation. Conduit must be grounded to a bus bar ground in a main breaker box. Earth ground must not connect to wall receptacle safety grounds. Earth ground must connect to that main breaker box ground bus. All safety ground also must connect to the same bus bar.

The concept is called single point ground.

Water pipe should have a bare copper wire to that bus bar.

Water pipe is the only earth ground electrode that is insufficient. Some other earth ground must exist. As required by code for human protection. And also to provide appliance protection.

Again 25 ohms says less than what really matters. Does that electrode create equipotential because is has a large connection to more conductive geology? That is the art.

 

[westom]

Didn't Ben Franklin invent the lightning rod? I know a guy who had one installed on his barn. Saved the barn in two different storms. Ruined the rod but saved the barn. You can still buy them. Why does almost no one use them anymore? Got me.

Lightning strikes are rare. Especially when best connections to earth are in utility wires that act like lightning rods and make a best connection to earth.

Furthermore, many have no idea that lightning has struck. For example US Forestry Service research indicates (if I remember the number) that 95% of all trees struck by lightning have no significant indication.

A lightning rod, that is properly sized, should not be damaged by lightning. Was it an ESE device?

 

[misanman]

My favorite lightning story: Building strike that went from gas to water lines in attic and then to ground. Gas lines caused fire with spark, but pinhole leak from jump to water line was above fire. Water leak put out fire. Only real damage was drywall in bedroom ceiling from water leak.

A few years ago, DD and SIL build a house in a new subdivision. They hadn't lived there long when there was an electrical storm and a big bolt of lightening struck nearby. SIL was home (luckily) and heard a loud "pop" from the basement. He went do to investigate and their gas line, routed near furnace ducts in the basement ceiling was on fire. The lightening had come in to the house via the gas line and arc'd over to the furnace duct where they were close or touching. The arc'ing punched a hole in the gas line and ignited the gas. SIL quickly went outside and was able to turn off the gas so that the fire was extinguished. The same thing happened to two other houses. One house was unoccupied and the damage there was extensive since it wasn't discovered until neighbors saw smoke. Since then I've made it a point to know where and how to turn off the gas at the point it enters the house.

 

[westom]

He went do to investigate and their gas line, routed near furnace ducts in the basement ceiling was on fire. The lightening had come in to the house via the gas line and arc'd over to the furnace duct where they were close or touching. The arc'ing punched a hole in the gas line and ignited the gas.

Or what most often happens. Lightning struck AC electrical wires (maybe even blocks away). Incoming on AC mains. Inside and hunting for earth ground. Found a best and destructive path to earth via gas lines. Damage because a human mistake all but invited that destructive current inside. So it went hunting for earth ground - destructively.

That speculation ignores what must always exist. Current, at the exact same time it is incoming, must also be everywhere in an outgoing path (maybe four miles away) to earth borne charges.

Any conclusion that does not discuss both incoming and outgoing paths violates concepts taught in elementary school science.

What was the outgoing path?

 

[ERD50]

Sorry to dribble out the information, but I'm reporting as I have time to check things out.

So earlier, I reported that my service panel and internet cable appear to be properly connected (each a separate connection) to a ground rod where they both enter the home. So far so good.

Then I reported that the copper water supply coming in is also grounded, but it goes through a conduit that is also connected to the water pipe and both go back to the service panel (conduit is common around here for all 120/240V electrical). Today I verified that the conduit connects to the service panel. I have not opened the panel cover yet (and am not going to do it now after two beers!).

But when I do, I want to see exactly how that ground wire is run. I'll bet it just goes to the ground bus inside the panel.

Now, that's fine for protecting against a hot wire coming into contact with any metal plumbing. Instead of allowing the plumbing to become "hot" which means someone could touch a faucet and get a lethal shock (if they were grounded or in contact with neutral), the contact would draw current and blow the breaker - safe.

But, this seems to violate the 'everything grounded to one point' rule. If a nearby strike ran enough current into the whole house surge protector (which I plan on having installed), that protector would dump the current to the ground rod, as it should. But some current would also flow to the water supply pipe. Seems to me, that current surge could create a voltage difference (for a millisecond or so) along the path between 'ground/neutral' at the service panel, and that ground at the water pipe.

Seems to me that ground from the water pipe should be isolated until it connects directly to the outside ground rod. What we called a 'start ground' in audio/RF circuits.

OTOH, nothing else is tapped into that conduit to the water pipe, so maybe it doesn't matter?

-ERD50

 

[westom]

Then I reported that the copper water supply coming in is also grounded, but it goes through a conduit that is also connected to the water pipe and both go back to the service panel (conduit is common around here for all 120/240V electrical). ...

OTOH, nothing else is tapped into that conduit to the water pipe, so maybe it doesn't matter?

I am not sure what that conduit is doing at the water pipe. Conduits would be part of the safety ground system. All safety ground connections must meet at a single point - that bus bar in the main breaker box. Any connection to any earth ground must be to a separate wire from the electrode to the bus bar.

Water pipe must not connect to that bus bar via the safety ground system. It must have its own dedicated hardwire connection.

If that conduit only contains a hardwire (conducts electricity) from water pipe to bus bar, then the hardwire should not be inside metallic conduit (plastic conduit is OK).

For transient protection, single point grounds are earthing electrodes. For example, the TV cable must have a hardwire (no protector needed) that connects only to that single point ground (those electrodes). Not via safety ground wires.

A Type 2 'whole house' protector also connects to single point earth ground. It does so by making that connection via a same hardwire that connects "safety ground's" single point ground to earth's single point ground. So that wire from breaker box to earth must be low impedance (ie no sharp bends or splices).

Water pipe must have its own dedicated connection from that pipe (where is enters through a foundation) to the main breaker box bus bar.

A bypass wire also must connect to both sides of the water meter - so that electricity in pipes also can be connected (shorted) to the bus bar (for human safety to trip the breaker as discussed).

Hot and cold water pipes into a water heater must be jumpered together at that water heater. As part of the safety ground system.

Those shunts are part of the safety ground system. Do nothing to protect appliances. Are irrelevant to the earth ground system.

If not obvious, safety ground must have their own single point. Earth grounds have a different single point.

 

[Time2]

We had a hurricane come through in 2018, it knocked out all the power for 8 days. The only damage was, it corrupted the hard drive on my computer, killed the fluorescent light over my computer desk and ruined the radio next to my computer desk. Everything else in the house was fine. Well electrically, we had $90,000 of damage to our home.

 

[ERD50]

I am not sure what that conduit is doing at the water pipe. Conduits would be part of the safety ground system. All safety ground connections must meet at a single point - that bus bar in the main breaker box. Any connection to any earth ground must be to a separate wire from the electrode to the bus bar.

Water pipe must not connect to that bus bar via the safety ground system. It must have its own dedicated hardwire connection. .....

Thanks. This is all aligning with what I'm learning and applying.

It will probably be a few days before I have time to take the panel off. I'll report back when I do.

-ERD50