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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
magfan
1,583 posts
 
Yep, Troy, I hear you. Florida Flicker and Flash was the power company.
I lived in Florida, both N.Miami and Tampa until I was 20 or 21, so I never even rented, let alone bought a house.
But for darn sure, i'd have whole house surge protection, in addition to what is your usual practice.
After all, you can't unplug everything. Your fridge? a couple computers and maybe a clock radio / Ipod dock?

Be careful with the unplug routine, too. Current can arc from the plug to ground at the peak of potential, maybe.

If I lived in tornado alley, I'd follow the same routine.
noble100's avatar
noble100
2,419 posts
 
I agree with the above responses stating the only true protection is to unplug your equipment. The purpose of grounding tv/radio antennas is to prevent them from having a neg or pos charge that would attract lightning. These grounding systems do nothing to dissipate the electricity from a lightning strike, you would need a grounding cable about 6 ft in diameter to even get close.

If your house suffered a direct lightning hit, the surge of power would travel through your house's electrical system wreaking havoc with any components and appliances connected to it. Surge protectos would be fried and be of no use against such a surge. So make sure your antenna is grounded and unplug any components and appliances you value during storms.

There have even been cases where lightning traveled out of tv screens. You'll need lightning quick reflexes ( actually a bit faster than lightning quick) to avoid those. Thanks.
jeff_jones
418 posts
 
"The purpose of grounding tv/radio antennas is to prevent them from having a neg or pos charge that would attract lightning."

I don't think this is true but am looking for reference material to verify or dispute the concept, not arguing.
When you ground you intentionally make the antenna negatively charged relative to the atmosphere, that charge difference is why lightning wants to find ground in the first place. An ungrounded antenna would seem unlikely to be as negatively charged as a grounded one, if it were positively charged that would make it less attractive to lightning.

"These grounding systems do nothing to dissipate the electricity from a lightning strike, you would need a grounding cable about 6 ft in diameter to even get close."

They do create a path of least resistance which improves your odds of reduced damage to property or personnel. As noted, the cable will be overwhelmed but should help establish an ionized air (ionized = low resistance) path to ground along the way.
You could say that a tall tree does nothing to dissipate 30,000 amps or so of lightning current, but sometimes it does protect lower things in its vicinity by establishing the initial (or one of the initial) paths to ground.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,450 posts
 
Jeff_jones,

You can find confirmation on static built-up here:

http://www.dvb-brasil.org/how-to-ground-tv-antenna/

My antenna isn't grounded since I'm lazy but it is required by law (NEC). In case of lightning damage insurance won't pay me a penny. Problem with grounding is that it has to be done (to be legal and insured) with at least gauge 10 wire to ground rod with bends of no smaller radius than 6".
gbart
290 posts
 
I only read the first two paragraphs of the OP. When there is lightning or threat of it, I always unplug my system. the small gap in a power switch or breaker will not stop lightning. No kind of surge protection is a match for a direct lightning strike. Unplugging is the best insurance.
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