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Surge Suppression vrs. Lighting and Power Spikes

OK,

Here is something I have thought about on many occasions while jamming out and then being rudely interrupted by an overhead lightning storm. Should I continue my session while the storm is overhead or should I switch everything off and wait until it blows over before continuing? I have chosen to switch my equipment off but leave it plugged into the wall.

Is powered on audio equipment any more vulnerable then powered off or in standby mode audio equipment during a lightning storm or power grid spike? I mean if your house gets hit by a direct lighting strike that was the result of having an old school TV antenna on your roof or if the power station down the street gets zapped the wave of electricity is coming your way weather you like it or not, correct?

As an example, if we take 3 houses that are all on the same power grid into consideration during said event, does the house who happens to be drawing the most current at the time of the event have a higher likelihood of being the one who gets chosen by the power spike as it's target for discharge? The term magnet comes to mind as another way of thinking about it.

Now I would imagine this spike has the potential of being very powerful. I have seen some numbers on the web stating that a direct lightning strike can generate anywhere from 1000 to 100,000 AMPS of juice. If these numbers are even somewhat close to being accurate then even the fanciest surge protection/power distribution device isn't going to save your equipment.

If your lucky enough to have the direct hit occur at the power station down the road then I assume the power company has some kind of buffer device that absorbs a large portion of this electricity before it reaches your house but this is just an assumption. If they do have some kind of buffer then maybe your surge protection device has a better chance of survival since the impact would be greatly reduced; maybe even to the levels that most surge protectors found in the home can tolerate and maybe not.

It almost seems that the only real safe bet would be to fully unplug your power distribution device from the wall since we obviously can't predict how the power spike will arrive either thu a direct hit or a possible buffered hit.

I'm curious to know what the general consensus is on this topic and what others do when faced with a storm overhead?

Please feel free to post your thoughts..Thanks
eniac26
hifihvn
943 posts
 
People believe that grounded antenna attracts lightning. It is exactly opposite - ungrounded antenna attracts lightning since it is floating (separated from the circuit by input transformer) and charged by the friction of the wind to very high static voltages making your house looking (electrically) like a skyscraper.
Kijanki

I'm guessing that why the NEC (national electrical code) now requires you to bond it with the homes electric ground (if memory is correct), to lesson any static buildup that my attract a direct lightning hit.
hifihvn
943 posts
 
I should have said, all of the ground rods(antenna included), need to be bonded with your homes electrical grounding block, if my memory is correct. Years back, I think you could just use an arrester and ground rod alone, without the all of the bonding.
jeff_jones
418 posts
 
"People believe that grounded antenna attracts lightning."
I'm one of those people. Lightning follows the path of least resistance to ground.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,275 posts
 
Unplugged is safer than plugged, but why bother at all? I live in the midwest in an area that is prone to seasonal thunderstorms and the tornado sirens have to go off before I'll unplug. I leave the equipment running 24/7 and half the times a storm comes through I'm not even home. Am I living dangerously? Hardly! I imagine the added risk is akin to that of driving in a rain storm vs. driving on a sunny day. A measurable added risk, but something you don't think twice about.
tgrisham
1,291 posts
 
Its also worth mentioning here that adding a whole house lightning and surge protection unit to the incoming service lines and installed at your circuit breaker box will provide some additional protection. I use that and an individual surge protector in front of the equipment. Unplugging is the only sure way to protect your equipment. Most of the warranties on damaged equipment can require you to send the units in for repair/replacement which takes a long time. Also, it is worth protecting all the sensitive electronics in your house, including the microwaves, ranges, refrigerators, washer/dryer, and all the myriad things that have tiny chips.
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