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Lightning

There was a storm that I thought had passed.....I was down in the man cave just pulling a record from the turntable and pop! a lightning strike about 100 feet from the house and the lights went out. It knocked out the right channel of my 3 month old Ortofon Cadenza Red, volume control of my Raysonic SLP 120 integrated(stuck at max) Also damaged is my internet modem, wifi and alarm system- two days after I was downsized out of a job.

Unfortunately, the Raysonic was not plugged into my Furman PC since I was playing with power cords and was using an outlet strip due to the thickness of the cord. It looks like a surge went from the outlet thru the Raysonic, interconnect and into the turntable thru the Whest phono into the cartridge?

What suggestions does everyone have about protection against such events? Sure I can unplug things but what if I am not at home and a storm rolls up?
stl114_nj
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
What a drag! Not sure what I can suggest for future other than whole house surge protector, but suggest you check to see if you homeowners or renters insurance will cover it. Mine did 30 years ago when lightening fried an amp and pre-amp I had.
bojack
630 posts
 
I use an APC, but it will not protect from lightning. Short of extensive grounding in your home's electrical system, nothing will protect from a bad strike. Protection at the breaker box may be worth looking into, however. I used to unplug my APC when I went to work due to frequent lightning in my area (South Florida), but now my AC outlet is out of reach and it's a pain. Also, sorry to hear about the job. A lot of us have been thru this in the last few years (myself included)...keep your head up.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
Bijack is right. You really can't protect against a lightning strike. Its not the same as a power surge. Unfortunately, a fire policy is the best protection. If you read the details of most surge protectors lightning guarantee, you'll see that they treat it in a self insuring manner. Meaning they know their product can't actually protect against lightning, so you send them details about your system along with a copy of your dec page, and they'll pick up wherever your policies leave off.
abucktwoeighty's avatar
abucktwoeighty
1,079 posts
 
I watch the weather forecasts every day and unplug when there is a possibility for severe weather while I'm away. Never a problem with lightning yet, but a raccoon once shorted the power lines messing up a piece of equipment a few years back. Can't plan for something like that.
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