What do people unplug these days in a lightning storm ?

[MathWizard]

I sadly don't get much lightning here, but my power was flashing a few times tonight, and tripped my PC and scope a few times. I unplugged them for a while, during the worst of it, the storm is gone away now, but the grid is still flickering.


So I'm just wondering who, unplugs what these days ? Most of my light bulbs have a SMPS, with some decent MOV and input filters I hope, but who knows.

[bicycleguy]

Their brains

[gnavigator1007]

Here in Florida, I pretty much try to only have things plugged in when I'm actively using them. Lost an ethernet port on a higher end Dell Precision laptop few years ago and have been paranoid ever since. Really should get around to fixing that someday, but the wifi still works. Cloud to ground lightning strikes are very common here. I think the only thing I leave plugged in all the time is my coffee pot just because it's cheap and I will fail at life if I forget to reprogram it.

[rdsi]

Lots of lightening where I’m at.  I typically get a few strikes around the house per year.  I finally put a whole house suppressor on the meter box and then separate units on key equipment like the HVAC.  I also use high-end surge protectors on all my computers & test equipment.

Thought I was pretty safe until the last strike.  It got into my Ethernet cabling taking out 3 routers, 3 computers and 1 piece of test equipment.  It also took out my GPSDO with outdoor antenna.  The active antenna has lightening protection built-in which I though would protect the GPSDO but no.  It’s has about 80’ coax between the two so I now have protection at both ends.

I’m figuring the stretch of Ethernet cable between the house & my workshop was the culprit.  In most cases only the LAN port was destroyed.  Netgear replaced all of my routers under their lifetime warranty.  I was able to continue using two of the effected computers (actually CNC controllers) with a USB to LAN port adapter.  The third computer was trashed.

The 1 piece of test equipment that got hit (SDG6022X) was fixed under warranty – needed a new LAN PCB.  It’s funny that that this piece of equipment was plugged into a 16-port router that also got fried, but 10 other test equipment units plugged into it were unaffected.  So I’m guessing the SDG6022X was the weakest link & sacrificed itself.

Anyway, I now have Ethernet surge protectors on all my routers.  Also, I had 1 Insteon light switch get zapped in the workshop.  I’m figuring I need to install a suppressor on it’s sub-panel because of the distance to the house.

Yeah, in my case it’s too much stuff to unplug given the number of thunder storms we have.  So I’m very dependent on surge protectors & they do work.  Of course there’s not much you can do for a direct hit except kiss your stuff good bye!

[MarkF]

I unplug all my electronics:  tv, stereo, electronic test equipment, etc.
In the past, I have also unplugged appliances:  frig, microwave, etc.
I also try to keep the well pump and heat pumps from running.

Sounds kind of anal to do...  But, let me tell you some tales from when I was little:

• My cousins in on the farm had an old rotatory desk phone on a small table in the living room.  There was a lightning storm and I saw the handset jump up off the phone and fall onto the floor.
  
  
• My grandfather use to make fun of us for hunkering down and unplugging things during a storm.  Until one day when he was visiting during a storm and the tv lit up.  (The tv was unplugged and the antenna disconnected.)  No more jokes from him after that.
  
  
• During another storm, I was in the bathroom where we had a medicine cabinet with a mirror and a florescent light bulb down each side and a switch and plug at the bottom.  A lightning strike sent a 5 ft spark past my shoulder and across the room.  Near miss. 
  
  
• My mother had a strike that hit the house a few years ago.  It went down one side of the house taking out switches, lights and plugs.  The other side of the house was untouched.  It also went under the driveway and took out three overhead door operators in the garage.  In one of the bedrooms there was a receptacle that looked perfectly fine when looking straight on.  However from the side, it was sticking out a 1/2" from the wall and only the metal parts were left.  The plastic back was all vaporized.

[J-R]

My opinions on this:

If your house is susceptible to being struck by lightning directly, then you need lightning rods at least.  I used to live in a house near the top of a ridge and we had them on all the roof peaks.

Whole-house suppressors & arrestors are are good for when lightning strikes the power lines but don't help much if the house is struck directly because it travels inside your house wiring.

For data, comm. and etc. you will need to address those individually as well.  Some UPSs have a pass-through RJ-45 jack to help protect the computer.  Building to building and inside to outside the go-to solution is to use fiber (use media converters to make the air gap if necessary).


For intermittent power quality issues of course get a UPS.  At the workbench I suggest a pure sine wave UPS.  Pure sine wave is more mainstream these days so the prices are reasonable and the output is far better for sensitive equipment.


Sometimes during winter storms I've gone days without power, so I installed this last year:

[Cymaphore]

I unplug nothing.

I have full multi level surge protection installed in my home confirming to the latest standards and recommendations.

[mansaxel]

I got hit perhaps 10 years ago, taking out a Cisco ADSL router, the TV, a Cisco switch, and a Logitech Squeezebox.  The modem chip in the router was literally blown to pieces, that were rattling around inside the case.

Cause was a nearby lightning strike that created potential between mains and phone line, which is why the ADSL router got hit worst.

Since then, I've

• Installed MOV protection on the in-coming three-phase.
• Repaired the TV (New motherboard)
• Installed lots of potential equalisation between various equipment locations
• Disconnected the phone line in favour of a fibre connection, both for phone and Internet.
• Replaced the copper Ethernet cable to my garage/workshop with a 12-fibre cable.
• As long as I had a phone line, I also had suppressors on the incoming LSA-Plus Type 237 Module

On-going projects are:

• More fibre cable between islands of copper Ethernet
• Better grounding of antenna farm
• Better intake plate for antennas
• I'm considering another level of mains overvoltage protection

I usually limit myself to disconnecting my ham antennas when lightning is around. Then I watch Blitzortung religiously..

[VooDust]

Is it simply a matter of being exposed to lots of lightning strikes, maybe if you live in rural areas? Here in central Europe I think I've never had an equipment failure due to lighting strike, less heard of someone who had. Was I just lucky?

[mansaxel]

Is it simply a matter of being exposed to lots of lightning strikes, maybe if you live in rural areas? Here in central Europe I think I've never had an equipment failure due to lighting strike, less heard of someone who had. Was I just lucky?

Probably. A "very good" way to get hit is to have overhead power lines after the power company transformer, which is not something i can recall seeing much of in Schweiz.

[srb1954]

Is it simply a matter of being exposed to lots of lightning strikes, maybe if you live in rural areas? Here in central Europe I think I've never had an equipment failure due to lighting strike, less heard of someone who had. Was I just lucky?

It can depend a lot on the area where you reside and also the soil conditions.

Early in my career I worked for a telephone company that included a small mountain village in its service area. This area was notorious for the number of lightning strikes it suffered but the effect of these strikes was worsened by the low conductivity soils in the area. When a lightning strike hit the ground in this area it usually coupled directly into the underground power and telephone cables as these represented a much lower resistance path than the surrounding soils. As a consequence the telephone cables suffered extensive damage and had to be frequently repaired.

One particularly bad strike near the main incoming telephone cable was conducted all the way through to the exchange building. All that was left of the exchange equipment was a black scorch mark on the wall where it was formerly mounted.

[pcprogrammer]

Is it simply a matter of being exposed to lots of lightning strikes, maybe if you live in rural areas? Here in central Europe I think I've never had an equipment failure due to lighting strike, less heard of someone who had. Was I just lucky?

Probably.

During my live I have had a couple of broken equipment due to lightning. Both in a rural town in the Netherlands as here in a rural town in France. Even though I use UPS'es with surge protection I disconnect everything except the fridge and refrigerator (no electronics in those, just old fashioned thermostats) the moment a thunderstorm comes close.

Evaporating ic's is no stranger to me, but also failure after a while. You think wow my equipment survived this one, and then months later it starts to fail

So always very cautious when lightning is around.

[mawyatt]

Here in Florida, I pretty much try to only have things plugged in when I'm actively using them. Lost an ethernet port on a higher end Dell Precision laptop few years ago and have been paranoid ever since. Really should get around to fixing that someday, but the wifi still works. Cloud to ground lightning strikes are very common here. I think the only thing I leave plugged in all the time is my coffee pot just because it's cheap and I will fail at life if I forget to reprogram it.

Also live in Florida, Tampa Bay area (some consider as lightning capitol), our Stanley Cup Champion Pro Hockey team is the "Lightning"!

We've also lost some electronics, and agree the safest is unplug sensitive electronics. Also known a couple folks that have been "hit" indirectly by lightning, one was killed.

Best,

[Cymaphore]

Here in Florida, I pretty much try to only have things plugged in when I'm actively using them. Lost an ethernet port on a higher end Dell Precision laptop few years ago and have been paranoid ever since. Really should get around to fixing that someday, but the wifi still works. Cloud to ground lightning strikes are very common here. I think the only thing I leave plugged in all the time is my coffee pot just because it's cheap and I will fail at life if I forget to reprogram it.

Also live in Florida, Tampa Bay area (some consider as lightning capitol), our Stanley Cup Champion Pro Hockey team is the "Lightning"!

We've also lost some electronics, and agree the safest is unplug sensitive electronics. Also known a couple folks that have been "hit" indirectly by lightning, one was killed.

Best,

How widespread is full surge protection there (SPD T1 + T2 +T3, correctly coordinated and dimensioned to local supply situations)? In my experience this eliminates pretty much anything that comes in via the distribution system and even provides some protection to direct hits, depending on the power of the individual situation (not personal experiences, but presented results in a seminar)

We had to replace SPDs on testing sites at schwäbische Alb a couple of times without the local equipment being harmed by the events that triggered them.

Just "unplugging" the industrial appliances is obviously not an option, so proper surge protection is a strict requirement there.

[coppice]

The value of unplugging depends a lot on where you live. If your power feed is entirely buried its probably a waste of time. If there are overhead cables you may well avoid damage. Things like MOVs will protect against minor surges, but a strike on a cable, even far away, is a whole other level of hit. Overhead telephone wiring makes unplugging a modem a good idea. I've seen a few fail during thunderstorms, without any obvious local strike. Just a bright flash from some way off, and the modem dies.

[mawyatt]

How widespread is full surge protection there (SPD T1 + T2 +T3, correctly coordinated and dimensioned to local supply situations)? In my experience this eliminates pretty much anything that comes in via the distribution system and even provides some protection to direct hits, depending on the power of the individual situation (not personal experiences, but presented results in a seminar)

We had to replace SPDs on testing sites at schwäbische Alb a couple of times without the local equipment being harmed by the events that triggered them.

Just "unplugging" the industrial appliances is obviously not an option, so proper surge protection is a strict requirement there.

Don't know about our power company distribution protection system. Our cable service is fiber optic, so better than coaxial cable to the house. However at the house junction then this is wired and uses the house AC mains.

When I mentioned unplug, this includes the AC main power to the equipment (remove the 3 prong plug from the wall).

Best, 

[CatalinaWOW]

I don't typically unplug, and haven't had any known issues in spite of living in fairly high lightning zones much of my life.  But I recognize that it would help sometimes.  The problem is that lightning is such a high energy event that nothing will protect you from a close enough strike.  Surge protection and the like helps in the zone between "you are toast" and "you are fine".  In most of the world the latter zone is far larger than that protected zone, which is in turn a fair amount larger than the "you are toast" zone.  So the odds are with you.

Some anecdotes including those above illustrate the problem.  If the unplugged TV lights up there is real chance of damage.  You are clearly in the "you are toast" zone. 

I have been less than 100 meters from the strike point of three different lightning strikes.  In one I was stopped at an intersection when the lightning bolt hit a power pole on the corner.  Secondary arcs to multiple points within a dozen meters.   I was really glad I was in the partial Faraday shield of the car with its rubber insulators.  This strike had no effect on my vehicle, but I have no idea how others and the buildings around the intersection faired.  In another case the lightning struck the ground about 100 meters from my home.  I knew it was close because the flash and bang were as close to simultaneous as I could detect by ear.  I found the charred strike point near my mailbox, and followed the glass tubes formed from the vitrified sandy soil for several meters in a couple of directions.  I found no damage to my electronics from that strike.  The third occasion involved a strike about 50 meters away in the backyard of a neighbors house.  This was prior to transistorized equipment, making damage less likely, and indeed there was none to my knowledge.

So in my opinion it is a low risk to leave things plugged in.  But as the reports here show, the risk isn't zero, and given the high value of our electronic setups it might be worth it.  Maps are available of the historical frequency of lightning strikes, I've attached one showing density in strikes per square kilometer per year.  If my experience is any guide the "you are toast" zone less than 100 meters on a side or 0.01 sq km.    Which would indication that in most of the developed world your odds are pretty low of being zapped.

[james_s]

Lightning is rare here. I unplug my radio gear from the outdoor antenna but don't usually bother to unplug anything else, I've never had anything damaged by a storm. In parts of the country that see a lot of lightning it's a serious problem though and no surge protector will stop a direct strike. I've seen pictures of all sorts of damaged stuff, traces blown off PCBs and parts vaporized. When I was a kid my uncle was a traffic signal electrician and he had to go fix one of the control cabinets downtown. A nearby lightning strike blew up the surge protector and tripped all the breakers in the cabinet. He reset them and there was a shower of sparks from a power supply and it turned out the incoming power wire had been blown off the switch and was touching the grounded chassis.

[David Hess]

I am in Missouri and we get some big thunderstorms.  I have lost radio gear, CFL and LED bulbs, and electronically commutated motors to lightning.  All of my test equipment and computers and chargers and such have online UPSes.

[MarkL]

The value of unplugging depends a lot on where you live. If your power feed is entirely buried its probably a waste of time.
...

We have buried service lines and I thought that too.

A couple of years ago we had lightning hit a large tree in our front yard.  It blew a strip of bark off the tree from the top all the way to the base, traveled horizontally for about 10 feet where it scorched the ground, and then dove into the ground where it hit our buried 240V service line.

We lost a bunch of minor appliances, a TV, a DVR, a couple of computers, two Ethernet hubs, some test equipment, and oddly, about a half dozen GFCI outlets.  I was able to fix most of the damage, but replacement cost would have been around $6k total.  I think we were lucky.

We now have surge protection on all conductors coming into the house.  Don't know if it will stop another direct strike, but hopefully its better than nothing.  We've had trees get hit two other times on our property.  Maybe we're just in a bad place.

I do unplug expensive test gear now.

[med6753]

I live in an apartment and the breaker panel is in the living room. Both my benches are on one breaker and if there's a severe storm I trip the breaker. It also shuts down the internet router but obviously I would have to disconnect the incoming line but typically I don't. If there's a direct strike the arc would probably jump across the breaker but at least in case of nearby strikes and surges there is protection. I also unplug the window A/C. 

[james_s]

With a direct strike or even a very nearby strike all bets are off. It can induce huge currents in wiring and other metal objects and behave in unpredictable ways. There's just such a huge amount of energy involved that all you can really do is disconnect everything you can, and make sure there is a good solid path to earth that doesn't pas through any of your equipment.

[Circlotron]

Rooftop solar panels and associated inverter would have to be a vulnerable and expensive target.

[guenthert]

With a direct strike or even a very nearby strike all bets are off.

     Indeed, but you can prepare.  I spent Summer 2017 in Berlin which was exceptionally (or so I thought then, remembering Berlin of the 90s) wet.  I stayed in an apartment with clear view to the Fernsehturm (t.v. broadcasting tower in middle of formerly east Berlin) and watched how multiple strikes went into it during a thunderstorm (the operators count hundreds of strikes a year).

[rdl]

I had a thundercrack blow out my cable modem a couple of weeks ago. It was very weird.