blue109 Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Lightning hit the big palm trees in front of my house about an hour ago. Went up like a Molotov cocktail. the wind was howling and blew the fire away from my house thankfully. the whole corner of my yard is black and most of the bushes are gone. 2 TVs and a modem are toasted despite being on surge protectors. I'll try and get some pics up. Pretty scary stuff. After the year I've had I'm not sure I could handle my house burning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robocop1051 Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Holy shyt man! Stay outta the weather and keep safe brother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magwa Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Just be glad you and yours are safe.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNP Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Damn man! Stay safe, glad your house survived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Glad everones is ok brother.We have been hit with a couple of go storms.Lost power for 6 hrs. a few days ago,first time.Got an old tree in the middle of the yard about 70/80 ft. tall.If it goes the family room takes a hit,we have gone to the kitchen a few times already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planeflyer21 Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Dang blue! Now I'm curious as to what kind of surge protector failed? Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue109 Posted July 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 I'll have to check the brand...but I'm not sure they failed. Right when it hit a smoke alarm and my disconnected home alarm both chirped. Anyone know if lightning strikes cause some sort of EMP effect? Maybe just a burst of static? The TV and modem still power on...they just don't do anything else. Our cell phones both went a little crazy too and we had to reset them several times to get them working. I knew it hit us because I could smell it, and it was LOUD. I told my wife to check all the rooms and then we heard neighbors yelling outside. My outside lighting is toast also. Had a ground light right at the base of the.tree. The breaker was tripped and pops soon as I flip the lights on now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Prolly welded the outside lights. As for indoor stuff that's nuts, I had a close one the other night that as about the same instant of the flash my batt. Powered smoke alarms also chirped and I wondered the same thing. Gotta be some static pulse?!? When I was in 6th grade my parents and I were in a camp ground in SD by mt Rushmore. I was sitting under out canopy of our camper eatting break fast in a small rain/thunder storm when BOOM less then 100 yards across the valley from me a bolt of lightning came down and blew me out my chair. The next day at lunch sitting in the same spot I saw a trickle of smoke coming from the woods, so we had the camp office call the FD and sure'nff it had been smoldering all night. There were a few 100 fires sparked that way that summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Wonder if a whole house surge protector is the way to go??I have been thinking of getting one myself.Some surge protectors say they will rembuse cost of devices damaged with there protectors. <dontknow> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue109 Posted July 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 (edited) Dupe Edited July 1, 2013 by blue109 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue109 Posted July 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 (edited) Here's a pic a neighbor snapped. I didn't get any because my phone was going crazy. Edited July 2, 2013 by blue109 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 No pic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 (edited) Sorry double post Edited July 2, 2013 by shepp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue109 Posted July 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 Hows that? Never posted pics from my phone before! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKSHEEP Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 I'll have to check the brand...but I'm not sure they failed. Right when it hit a smoke alarm and my disconnected home alarm both chirped. Anyone know if lightning strikes cause some sort of EMP effect? Maybe just a burst of static? The TV and modem still power on...they just don't do anything else. Our cell phones both went a little crazy too and we had to reset them several times to get them working. I knew it hit us because I could smell it, and it was LOUD. I told my wife to check all the rooms and then we heard neighbors yelling outside. My outside lighting is toast also. Had a ground light right at the base of the.tree. The breaker was tripped and pops soon as I flip the lights on now. Glad everyone's ok!, Blue that ground light at the base of the tree was very likely the entry point into your house for the high voltage surge. That HV "probably" back fed through that lights wiring(and conduit if it was metal) into your breaker box which "probably "distributed a surge to everything or at least everything on that phase. I would recommend that you or a qualified electrician pull that breaker out and inspect the bus bars and panel wiring for damage.(use your nose also) Electrical burns cause loose connections, loose connections generate heat which leads to many house fires. Check the ground rod to make sure your connection is still good, not burnt and tight. Lightning does wtf it wants to! If lightning can arc miles across the sky it can easily arc across any surge protector known to man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 That's better holy tiki torch!!!! Blksheeps spot on too I'd get that poop checked out or At least torque your breakers if you feel comfortable doing so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrtMA Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 Wow, I second that statement about at least you and yours are well. I witnessed many incredible lightning strikes while stationed at Ft Carson in CO. Some were less than a 1/4 mile away on open flat land. A couple of guys on base were struck during various lightning strikes while I was there. That sucks about some of your other things being ruined. I protect my living room media stuff with a monster power surge protector. It has clean power stage filtering which also helped my plasma and LCD TVs with color enhancement...don't ask...all I know is that it actually works. Monster is fairly reputable and a little pricey but worth it and I believe it comes with a warranty against damaged property. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The _Mentalist Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Lightning also radiates static electricity. You can be close to a strike and your hair will stand up like holding on to a tesla coil. I have seen close strikes take out the computers on semi truck engines. It was probably the radiated energy that fried your appliances and sent your phones squirrelly. Unplug everything and allow it time to discharge any static and it may come back. However, the newer TVs tend to fry the mother board. Good luck and glad all the family is OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue109 Posted July 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Been all over the internet. Gonna pull the TV apart this week and see if its something I can fix. Watched some tutorials on troubleshooting and replacing capacitors and things like that. Cox had to replace my modem and the entire cable run from pole to house but they didn't charge me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Just remember brother that capacitors hold a charge.Be careful for could get zapped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planeflyer21 Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Just remember brother that capacitors hold a charge.Be careful for could get zapped. Yeah. Make sure and videotape you taking it apart blue, so in case you make a mistake we know what not to do. Yeah, that's it. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue109 Posted July 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Fo sho! I spent 5 years in satcom including a year in the maintenance shop so I'm not a total noob...but its been a while. I'm sure it will all come back to me after the first zap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 Just remember brother that capacitors hold a charge.Be careful for could get zapped. Second that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue109 Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Finally got one down!!! Feelin pretty manly. don't talk smack....but I've never cut a big tree down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shibiwan Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 I hate palm trees. They need too much attention and upkeep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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