lightning storm

My system was hit by lightening, it traveled through the coax cable line into my video processor via HDMI and then hit my projector. I had everything on quality surge protectors but it didn't matter. The electrician I took the equipment to for insurance purposes said that lightening likes to have a path in and out so having things plugged into different wall outlets is an issue. I have since purchased a PS Audio P15 Powerplant power regenerator. Not only do I have zero static on my line I power everything from one outlet (yes it is a pain to have a 50ft cord going to the projector along the ceiling in a wrap with the HDMI cord). The pool of capacitance it has is fantastic and it lowered the noise floor, the base is much more effortless, and the colors pop on the projector believe it or not. Plus there is a huge quality of life bonus, I've programmed everything to turn on and off in the correct order, what a luxury. Now the system is unplugged all the time, I check for any weather before hand with "The Weather Bug" app which tracks lightening in real time. If I sniff the ozone of a storm the system stays unplugged, as well as the computer. I'm playing chess that evening on my Chessnut, no music or movies for me!

I was living in a loft apartment at the time in the end unit of five in a row. I don’t know if the building was grounded properly. I did not have the coax going though a surge protector which probably was the issue as you describe. Of course the lightening went through the HDMI and fried my video processor, then projector and went out the wall through a surge protector which did not trip. So now all power runs through one plug via the P-15 and everything is streamed in 4K, it is all air gapped. Now I know for sure it’s safe, and I double check the Weather Bug every time I fire it up! The tech (30 year electrician and device repair man) was very clear, one path in for power and all connections or you risk creating a loop that encourages the lightening to travel around and exit after the damage is done. 

@jea48 and @erik_squires 

Great suggestions but why create any risk at all? I literally have one wall plug for the entire system including the projector, content is streamed in 4K HDR wirelessly for movies, and same for music that isn’t on my server. 
 

Thanks,

Steve

@erik_squires Wi-Fi seems like a no brainer for lightening damage mitigation, which is what this topic is about. I have my computer hooked up to the network via CAT8 ethernet wire directly for day trading because latency could be an issue. I have never had a Wi-Fi outage or any issue related to Wi-Fi playing movies or music even with Wi-Fi 5 technology, which is up to 7 now. I live in a large apartment building in a signal dense neighborhood, there are over 30 networks to choose from when I search for one; I think interference is a thing of the past. I don’t want anyone scared to try this who may be in a lightening heavy area or simply wants the best way to secure their system based on assumptions. I unplug the computer from power and ethernet after each use, all three monitors including a 55” OLED are plugged into one surge protected distribution array with one plug into the wall. The router is on a surge protector. After experiencing the loss and time and effort to replace damaged equipment from lightening, the 10 seconds it takes to unplug everything is definitely worth my time and would encourage others to do the same. 
 

Thanks,

Steve 

@erik_squires Free is always best!