Cayars' lighting strike

[doncote0]

I'm glad you are okay, Cayars.

Quick facts:

The air around a lightning bolt is superheated to about 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 5 times hotter than the sun's surface).

The total energy in a large thunderstorm is more than that in an atomic bomb (about 1 billion watts or 1000 megawatts). It would take the Hoover Dam 12 hours at full capacity to generate that much power. It has 300,000,000 amps of current flow. (It takes .1amp for 1 second to kill most people. Since normal resistance (dry) is 300 ohms, an external shock of 30 volts can kill you.) One bolt of lightning is usually 5-6 pulses for a total time of 200-250 milliseconds. Most electrical ratings are only at 30% to 40% effectiveness based on the repetition and intensity. It doesn't matter what kind of surge suppressor you have--it may fail or the charge can jump through or around it. Even if the suppressor works, enough current may have gotten through before it activates (clamping time).

Be glad that you and anyone else that lives with you are okay.

[mbrown3]

Originally Posted by doncote0

I'm glad you are okay, Cayars.

Quick facts:

The air around a lightning bolt is superheated to about 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 5 times hotter than the sun's surface).

The total energy in a large thunderstorm is more than that in an atomic bomb (about 1 billion watts or 1000 megawatts). It would take the Hoover Dam 12 hours at full capacity to generate that much power. It has 300,000,000 amps of current flow. (It takes .1amp for 1 second to kill most people. Since normal resistance (dry) is 300 ohms, 30 volts can kill you.) One bolt of lightning is usually 5-6 pulses for a total time of 200-250 milliseconds. Most electrical ratings are only at 30% to 40% effectiveness based on the repetition and intensity. It doesn't matter what kind of surge suppressor you have--it may fail or the charge can jump through or around it. Even if the suppressor works, enough current may have gotten through before it activates (clamping time).

Be glad that you and anyone else that lives with you are okay.

Thanks Mr. Wizzard!

I mean this sincerely, I'm really not poking fun...I never knew so much about lightning. Fascinating stuff, though it of course makes me nervous about my equipment now.

[jason531]

My house was hit by lightning back in October. We were extremely blessed in that the house didn't burn down and no one was hurt. My computers, however, were not so lucky.

All of them are on UPSs, but the surge came in via the phone line. Since I have DSL, the surge fried my DSL modem, went through to my hubs, and on to every single PC on my LAN. Five PCs sustained damage ranging from dead NICs to fried motherboards, etc. Fortunately no data was lost!

We had damage to items on five "networks"
- LAN - Five PCs damaged
- Phone - All phones in the house died
- Electrical - Double oven in kitchen, garage door opener, etc.
- Plumbing - Various leaks in copper pipes
- Coax - All DirecTV receivers died (this my have been from the phone line)

I recommend surge protectors on every single line that enters your home. Furthermore, I have protected each PC with an ethernet surge protector.

[lovingHDTV]

I had a similar lightning surge that came through the cable modem, throught my bridge and fried the mode, bridge, router, and all NICs. Most of my nics were integrated, but now they are all taking a PCI slot

[korben_dallas]

Hey, I've found an upside to my less-than-desirable wifi connection!

[Menehune]

And the other family members look at me weird when I shut down and disconnect my computers when a thunderstorm comes thru town.

After seeing a lightning bolt jump 20 miles from one side of a bay to the other, a little 1/16" gap in a power strip's on/off switch does not seem very comforting.

[doncote0]

Smart man, Menehune. That's good advice (even though it may not work). Do what you can to minimize the threat to your data and family.

People make fun of the diet coke with a banana split, but just because you are exposed to one risk doesn't mean you have to throw all caution to the wind.

It is also a good idea to follow the 30 second rule:

If you cannot count off 30 seconds after a lightning strike before you hear the thunder, you are too close -- seek cover immediately (and not under trees).

[aperry]

The last house we owned had a tree next to the driveway that had been hit by lightning. Left a "bald spot" about 20 feet long on the tree. Amazingly, the tree is still alive and doing well despite its huge scar.

Sure am glad I didn't live there then... My heart probably couldn't take it...