On one hand it seems like a good idea to unplug audio equipment during thunderstorms. But on the other hand the chances of getting your house hit directly by lightning seem fairly low. Some places get more thunderstorms than others. So I am curious what other people here do. Do you unplug your audio equipment during thunderstorms?
l agree with you. I always unplug between listening dates as it makes so much common sense. Leaving hi-fi on all the time invites trouble. If you are the sort of person who leaves the house regularly it probably doubles the risk of an embarrassing event. The ‘event’ does not just have to be a lightening strike but a catastrophic failure causing a fire.
It makes me wonder if insurance companies have some ducking and diving ‘riggle-room’ if a house burns down?
If the fire officers investigation discovers that the owner was out, the hi-fi was the seat of the fire, the owner admits…..’oh shucks, l always leave my hi-fi on because it sounds better that way’ how would the insurer feel about that?
As an observer, this scenario would just make me laugh. It would be so cringe worthy.
I formerly lived in Florida. Despite having a whole house lightning arrester and zero surge protection, I unplugged if the lightning is too close for comfort/
I always unplug after each listening session. My system only takes 30-45 minutes to warm-up to its' enjoyable listening state from cold, so I never take the chance. the devastating consequences of a lightening strike are not worth the risk. Since my system is never plugged in while unattended, I don't have to worry about weather related anomalies that can damage/destroy my components while I'm not at home. I do have protection on the front end via Transparent Audio conditioning, but my amp and subwoofer are not protected, as they plug into a Shunyata Cyclops, which cleans up the power, but offers ZERO surge or lightening protection.
Try your homeowner’s insurance!
Pensacola, Florida might be the thunder storm capital of the world. In the storm season, we get on average one or two a week.
My AV equipment was all on APS battery backup with added surge protection for power and all cables, e.g., antenna, internet,.into the system. So I had not been unplugging. A few years ago, a very violent nighttime lightning event and our house got zapped. Lost a nice Anthem preamp-pre-processer, a 32” Sony TV, and a satellite dish receiver.
I filled a claim with APS / Schneider and sent in the units I thought were protecting my system. APS did replace the battery backup surge-protector units. But claimed they did not fail
A friend suggested I contact my homeowner’s insurance company. I had little hope.
But my Tower Hill agent guided me through a claim process, suggesting I get an inspection from an electrical engineer. For abut $100, I got a certified testimony that my equipment was fried by an electrical surge. Yeah... it was a bit of trouble. But, after I paid a $500 deductible Tower Hill coughed up almost $6000!
We unplug now!
[By the way... Tower Hill recommendation: We also got hit by Hurricane Sally September 2020. Our 22-year old house had very slight damage-- a few shingles loose and no breach of water into the house. But Tower Hill VOLUNTEERED to buy us a new roof, gutters on house and our outside shed. This was almost $30,000, but our cost was only a $500 deductible. I know insurance companies get a lot of DESERVED bad press. But for what it’s worth, we’ve found at least one that has been good to us]
Try your homeowner’s insurance!
Pensacola, Florida might be the thunder storm capital of the world. In the storm season, we get on average one or two a week.
My AV equipment was all on APS battery backup with added surge protection for power and all cables, e.g., antenna, internet,.into the system. So I had not been unplugging. A few years ago, a very violent nighttime lightning event and our house got zapped. Lost a nice Anthem preamp-pre-processer, a 32” Sony TV, and a satellite dish receiver.
I filled a claim with APS / Schneider and sent in the units I thought were protecting my system. APS did replace the battery backup surge-protector units. But claimed they did not fail
A friend suggested I contact my homeowner’s insurance company. I had little hope.
But my Tower Hill agent guided me through a claim process, suggesting I get an inspection from an electrical engineer. For abut $100, I got a certified testimony that my equipment was fried by an electrical surge. Yeah... it was a bit of trouble. But, after I paid a $500 deductible Tower Hill coughed up almost $6000!
We unplug now!
[By the way... Tower Hill recommendation: We also got hit by Hurricane Sally September 2020. Our 22-year old house had very slight damage-- a few shingles loose and no breach of water into the house. But Tower Hill VOLUNTEERED to buy us a new roof, gutters on house and our outside shed. This was almost $30,000, but our cost was only a $500 deductible. I know insurance companies get a lot of DESERVED bad press. But for what it’s worth, we’ve found at least one that has been good to us]
Try your homeowner’s insurance!
Pensacola, Florida might be the thunder storm capital of the world. In the storm season, we get on average one or two a week.
My AV equipment was all on APS battery backup with added surge protection for power and all cables, e.g., antenna, internet,.into the system. So I had not been unplugging. A few years ago, a very violent nighttime lightning event and our house got zapped. Lost a nice Anthem preamp-pre-processer, a 32” Sony TV, and a satellite dish receiver.
I filled a claim with APS / Schneider and sent in the units I thought were protecting my system. APS did replace the battery backup surge-protector units. But claimed they did not fail
A friend suggested I contact my homeowner’s insurance company. I had little hope.
But my Tower Hill agent guided me through a claim process, suggesting I get an inspection from an electrical engineer. For abut $100, I got a certified testimony that my equipment was fried by an electrical surge. Yeah... it was a bit of trouble. But, after I paid a $500 deductible Tower Hill coughed up almost $6000!
We unplug now!
[By the way... Tower Hill recommendation: We also got hit by Hurricane Sally September 2020. Our 22-year old house had very slight damage-- a few shingles loose and no breach of water into the house. But Tower Hill VOLUNTEERED to buy us a new roof, gutters on house and our outside shed. This was almost $30,000, but our cost was only a $500 deductible. I know insurance companies get a lot of DESERVED bad press. But for what it’s worth, we’ve found at least one that has been good to us]
Try your homeowner’s insurance!
Pensacola, Florida might be the thunder storm capital of the world. In the storm season, we get on average one or two a week.
My AV equipment was all on APS battery backup with added surge protection for power and all cables, e.g., antenna, internet,.into the system. So I had not been unplugging. A few years ago, a very violent nighttime lightning event and our house got zapped. Lost a nice Anthem preamp-pre-processer, a 32” Sony TV, and a satellite dish receiver.
I filled a claim with APS / Schneider and sent in the units I thought were protecting my system. APS did replace the battery backup surge-protector units. But claimed they did not fail
A friend suggested I contact my homeowner’s insurance company. I had little hope.
But my Tower Hill agent guided me through a claim process, suggesting I get an inspection from an electrical engineer. For abut $100, I got a certified testimony that my equipment was fried by an electrical surge. Yeah... it was a bit of trouble. But, after I paid a $500 deductible Tower Hill coughed up almost $6000!
We unplug now!
[By the way... Tower Hill recommendation: We also got hit by Hurricane Sally September 2020. Our 22-year old house had very slight damage-- a few shingles loose and no breach of water into the house. But Tower Hill VOLUNTEERED to buy us a new roof, gutters on house and our outside shed. This was almost $30,000, but our cost was only a $500 deductible. I know insurance companies get a lot of DESERVED bad press. But for what it’s worth, we’ve found at least one that has been good to us]
Yes! The best app to use if you want to know what is in the area is the Weather Bug. I had my system get hit by lightening. It came through the cable into the cable box, fried my video processor via HDMI, then killed my projector. That’s when I bought my power regenerator from PS Audio which everything plugs into and all of it is air gapped. Added bonus is it lowered the noise floor significantly and the colors on the projector actually improved, and you can program everything to start and shut down in the order you need it to. . . Huge WAF for me. The system stays unplugged unless I’m listening or watching a movie. Don’t make the same mistake!
I try to unplug it all now. I have lived in my house now 36 years and used to work outside the home. Ground surges from lightning are a real issue here in the mountains of Colorado. Twice I have had equipment fried by lightning. First, one channel of a dual mono amp took a hit and proceeded to blow. It's surge also blew the woofer of the speaker it was connected to. The woofer was kindly replaced by the speaker's maker (easy install by me), and the amp was sent to the manufacturer would repaired it.
The second time, about 5 years ago, it fried the D/A processor and a different power amp. This time the repairs/replacements would have been much more expensive and the insurance company balked, telling me I had to prove it was from lightning. WTH!
I have always had "protective" surge connectors, with guarantees, but those don't mean diddly. They may protect from regular utility company surges but not from mother nature. Now I work from home and unplug when I can.
I have a Furman on my main system and a whole house on the main panel. However, if you have lots of wires (cat5, telephone, power, cable, usb, etc.) remember that lightening is agnostic, it will travel whatever is available.
Several years ago, i had a strike on a tree 50' from house. The charge came down the "dog fence" wire, to that fence's transformer (which exploded thru the space my head had been 5 min before) and then on to my PC and my Bryston integrated via house wiring. Took out my mother board but not my drives.
Bryston service repaired the integrated since it was under warranty. However, they said the "don't usually warrant lightening strikes." Pretty much only buy Bryston these days.
In our neighborhood - in last 4 years, three homes hit with lightning strikes. One was a two story...total destruction, look like a bomb was dropped. They had to build from scratch...took over a year. The 2nd destroyed anything electrical (all) and their water system. The third was not hit directly but the ground current caused considerable damage to all electrical systems. The home/property that was totally damaged was significantly lower than the rest = halfway down the hill...looked like it would be the least susceptible...just the way to storm passed through.
I jumped on this thread because just this past week had an electrician out to upgrade my audio room ...two dedicated 20 amp 8 gauge circuits. We had a long discussion about lightning strikes and home protection. He indicated there is no circuit breaker, conditioner, surge system that will stop 3 million volts...I asked about lighten rod protection systems. He felt that drawing strikes to your property was not optimal either. He said everything would need to be completely disconnected....ethernet, HDMI, all plugs/cords and as far away from main house electrical system...even then a direct hit with ground current could be an issue. I unplug everything...and keep my fingers crossed.
Yes, if I am able. So far so good although the Apt wiring is old and out of code. Use surge protectors in series and probably have dirty power but music still sounds great. Moving soon to something in code.
Absolutely unplug. I have Furman 15PFI but that didn’t save my equipment when lightning struck the ground outside my house last August. It struck the ground above my lawn sprinkler pipe which had the valve wiring in the same trench. So, the lightning strike reached the main electrical panel via the lawn sprinkler control box. I lost several outlets, the ac air handler blower, electric car charger, the Furman plus several pieces of gear plugged into it. I have insurance (5000 deductible) but it was quit a hassle proving the lightning strike and it took 3 months to get equipment repairs and music playing again. I sent everything in for inspection, including pieces that seemed to work, just to be sure that everything met the original specifications. Lesson learned - UNPLUG if there’s a chance of a lightning storm.
@jimintallyI went to the precaution of throwing my coax back out the window as well!
@mtaudio406Hey my handle of Guscreek refers to my old place outside of Missoula and Alberton. Summers in the Rockies brought very predictable thunderstorms building around 330. The possibility of severe lightning was certain so I unplugged every morning. That was nothing compared to eastern Montana. HOURS of unending lightning (way funner to watch when its not going set the forest around you on fire). Again, about 330 the Monster Cumulonimbus would start to build and the portable music came on. Had a bolt hit the street and you would have thought a bomb had just gone off.
Starting in March I unplug the rig from the wall every time I’m done with a listening session. I start leaving the rig plugged into the wall around late October.
A fellow audiophile had his new AR integrated tube amp blow up from a lightning strike last year!
One evening the ex and I, sitting in the TV room, had a bolt hit that side of the house. An arc came out a outlet on the far side of the room, split between us and went in an outlet behind us. Just the proximity to the TV killed it. If it had happened on the other side of the house, in the audio room, I believe it would have killed the system. It was one of the freakiest things I've ever seen.
@taoist just reminded me. Used to live near Boston and used DirecTV. Lost a couple of DirecTV receivers, but it wasn’t actually to lightning. It was to wind storms. The wind would cross the surface of the antenna depositing an electron charge. It would eventually build up and ZAP!! Probably no more of a charge than you get on a dry night when you walk across the carpet and touch something or some one that's grounded.
No lightning, no power surge needed. The solution was installing a coax surge protector. BTW, it was grounded externally. That was not why.
Quite a few years ago I lived on the outer banks of N.C. And went through several hurricanes there. Lost one power board in my preamp while I lived there. Sent it back to the manufacturer for repair. The second time the power board went out was because of a power surge to the house, no hurricane involved. I live in an area that is growing quickly and neighborhoods go up quickly. You can be sitting here and the power goes out and five minutes later it comes on with a surge. That was enough that to take that same preamp out again. So this time I found a guy that had some power boards at a reasonable price and I purchased 2. Since that time I keep the preamp unplugged unless it is in use.
As an aside to your question, I would encourage everyone to read the fine print in their home insurance policy, as to any limits that may be imposed in the event of a major loss. My own policy protects my system to the full value of the policy. No restrictions on the stereo. I posed the question directly to the insurer, and gave them the $$$ risk should the system be lost to fire, flood, theft and yes, lighting. I have the answer back from them in writing. After the event is NOT the time to become an expert on your insurance coverage. Cheers.
I had lightning strike a tree to the side of my house, it travelled across granite underground to to rebar in my foundations, jumped to internal power, ethernet and coaxial, took out every router, pc, tv, amplifier
My system if plugged into 2 Furman surge protector power strips. I always turn off the strips when storms are present but dont bother unplugging the strips. Takes 2 secs to turn off the strips.
As one person above said, if there is a ground strike near your house, it raises potential of the ground in the immediate vacinity to incredibly high voltages which feeds back into anything that is connected to the house ground AND POOF
Whole home surge protectors generally prevent a surge on the power phases of the supply, but not on the ground
We had a ground strike on our street and it caused damage in about a dozen houes and the cost came to many thousands and the damage varied widely from one house to the next. Fridges, underfloor, heating, tv, networking devices on surge protectors, nothing was safe. Some houses had house surge protectors.
My current system is on a dedicated 20 amp circuit supplying power through a hardwired isolation transformer, and then a non-sacrificial line conditioner/surge protector/voltage regulator. We don't get that many thunder storms in my area, but the the service has an annoying habit of randomly blinking off and on with accompanying brown outs and surges, necessitating the protection I use.
Yes I live in Montana have a whole home surge protection for the service comes into our meter and yet there was a lightning strike hitting the power line 2 years ago that blew all the fuses on the power poles for miles. The whole surge protection breaker did not trip and fried all of our televisions bedroom sound bar and my recently purchased PS audio m700 monoblocks. I have added a Furman just in case but yes I absolutely unplug now.
Yes, I do. We have a lot of thunderstorms here in the Tidewater area of Virginia. I plug all my equipment into a Silver Circle unit, so I only have to unplug that one unit, which makes it a lot easier.
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