Friday wasn't the greatest.

[tothemax93]

Got home from work. Storms were coming in so I told the kid to get the lawn mowed (2 1/2 acres) and I'd buy them a pizza. Got it done. On the way to get the pizza my caravan didn't shift right. By the time I got home, I lost my overdrive :damn angry:. I figured I would deal with it Sat. Decieded to watch a movie with the kids. About half way through the movie a bolt of lightning hit very,very near by or actually hit the house. It blew out my dish network jeani, HDMI cable and HDMI board on my big screen. it destroyed the TV in the basement and also took out my computer. It fried the internals that allow the computer to go on line. The computer plug bar says its a surge protector, but not so much. Interesting part is there were other devices plugged into the same plug bar, and were not effected. So in a matter of a few hours I rang up about $3000. I'm typing this on my new computer. and now I'm going to google the local tranny guy and see what Kind of a hit, thats gonna be.:bang head:

 

[dannymax]

Wow....'it it weren't for bad luck....' ey? That sux man but on the bright side, no fire!

Lightning does pretty much whatever it wants to do which can include some very wierd shit!! Glad nobody got hurt! unk:

 

[tothemax93]

Tranny guy gave me a little hope. He said that tranny is computer controlled, and it has a limp mode with any problems. It could be as simple as a sensor. Yea Danny, everybody jumped out of their seats when the flash and bang of the lightning hit. I know it could have been a lot worse. I just have to vent a little.

 

[johnpclynch]

Build a faraday cage around your house - it won't fix your overdrive though.. or your wallet

Lightning is pretty cool, but as with most of nature's magic show tricks - it has the potential to destroy anything it touches

 

[ZackDaniels]

That blows.

If nothing but the computer fried on the strip then the strip likely did it's job. It could have been toasted via a network or modem cable that was hooked into it and got surged up too.

 

[Redbone]

I have my TV and computer hooked up to UPS' but if struck by a direct or near direct hit it probably wouldn't help. The surge would probably come through all the wiring (electrical/ cat 5/6, and cable) Most of my plumbing is plastic but my natural gas is run through steel black pipe. It's all externally grounded to code but a direct hit would probably over power that I would guess.
I am thinking that when I build my garage (someday hopefully I'll have the money) I'll put in surge protectors to include all wiring coming into the house and garage (most likely separate units since garage will be detached).

 

[ZackDaniels]

Yeah it's hard to say really. Lightning does some wicked stuff and you can only be so protected. It's weird though that only the comp got blown and everything else on the strip was fine.

One time around 2am I was launched out of bed by a strike of lightning hitting right above the bedroom. It was so loud that I was on my feet and moving before I was even fully concious.

Ran outside to check it out. Found the roof on fire.... hosed it down, called the FD to confirm it was all good.

Insurance repaired the roof, and the TV that got fried via the over-the-air antenna coax that was plugged into the back of it.

When I replaced that coax cable the rubber shielding was super brittle, and some of it split to reveal absolutely nothing inside of it but dust. The lightning had vaporized the copper!

 

[donnelly317]

Wow that's crazy!!! That suck man we had a party tent set up for a family reunion it survived thank god

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Fire-medic]

Thank-god no one was hurt, the bright side. A kid here in FL was knocked out of a tree he was in when a bolt struck nearby, he's lucky to be alive. It just was in the paper.

Positive side, everyone's OK! Possessions can be replaced. Yes, sometimes $$$. But your family is safe.

Lightning doesn't like turning corners, so if you run a ground wire from a spike on your home's roof, don't run it next-to the eaves from the roof, following the contour. A direct path, as-much as-possible, will be your best bet for having the ground work. Read this:
http://www.uscg.mil/Petaluma/TPF/ET_SMS/Manuals/NFPA_780.pdf

unless you have a short-attention span, and don't really want to know how to better protect your home, your electrical equipment, and your family.:confused2:

 

[jethrobolas]

I must have a really short attention span.

 

[Fire-medic]

I must have a really short attention span.

Well, it is technical, it's how your local Building Dept. determines whether or not your contractor who installed the lightning rod system did it correctly, and whether or not the design submitted to them was designed correctly. You had better-hope someone read it, if you want it to work! Ask tothemax93 how he feels-about it.

 

[Rollie]

Got home from work. Storms were coming in so I told the kid to get the lawn mowed (2 1/2 acres) and I'd buy them a pizza. Got it done. On the way to get the pizza my caravan didn't shift right. By the time I got home, I lost my overdrive :damn angry:. I figured I would deal with it Sat. Decieded to watch a movie with the kids. About half way through the movie a bolt of lightning hit very,very near by or actually hit the house. It blew out my dish network jeani, HDMI cable and HDMI board on my big screen. it destroyed the TV in the basement and also took out my computer. It fried the internals that allow the computer to go on line. The computer plug bar says its a surge protector, but not so much. Interesting part is there were other devices plugged into the same plug bar, and were not effected. So in a matter of a few hours I rang up about $3000. I'm typing this on my new computer. and now I'm going to google the local tranny guy and see what Kind of a hit, thats gonna be.:bang head:

Call your insurance agent and ask about your homeowners coverage. Good chance some of the damage , less deductable , is covered.

 

[cgswss]

Call your insurance agent and ask about your homeowners coverage. Good chance some of the damage , less deductable , is covered.

Having been a victim of lighting strikes, you may find other things affected in the weeks to come. I found my fridge was not cooling (but still running) the electric dryer was working, but not heating, and my sound system worked, but the equalizer no longer worked. So check EVERYTHING that was plugged in or connected to the internet.

 

[tothemax93]

Having been a victim of lighting strikes, you may find other things affected in the weeks to come. I found my fridge was not cooling (but still running) the electric dryer was working, but not heating, and my sound system worked, but the equalizer no longer worked. So check EVERYTHING that was plugged in or connected to the internet.

Good advice. The newest thing I've found is the phone charging unit not working.