lightning storm

EMI damage? Recently my F150 sat next to a pine tree that took a hit. $5k damages to the electrical. Luckily no damage to my HT/music system however my modem & charger to my laptop did not fare so well. $1k deductible on the Ford so not as bad as it could have been. 

EMI damage? Recently my F150 sat next to a pine tree that took a hit. $5k damages to the electrical. Luckily no damage to my HT/music system however my modem & charger to my laptop did not fare so well.

I don’t think the damage was caused by EMI. More likely from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

Edit:

I ran across this device on the Net. Does it really work?

EMP & Lightning Protection for Vehicles (DC-12V-W)

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The Internet is filled with stories about lightning coming in via the cable modem and taking out entire HT systems via burned out Ethernet ports. 

Most Internet users rely 100% on Wifi, but for those of us who use it professionally or just don’t like to have Wifi problems we wire all our big gear up.  Our work computer, TV, music streamer, etc. and so I take a paranoid approach.   Using Ethernet is great for reliability but also leaves us more exposed to incoming surges.  

I use an external coaxial surge protector with gas discharge tube.   Internally I air gap the modem and router with fiber/Ethernet converters and at the end of long runs I use Ethernet isolators (not surge protectors) which are tested to UL 60-601

The lightening is 2.3km away from you. 

At the first sign of a storm simply go outside and hold up a tall metal pole to attract the lightening and hopefully divert it from your house. Works every time.