Am I being over protective?

[navenjohnson]

I was doing some recording tonight when a storm started heading in. So far it hasn't gotten bad but there is a good bit of lightening. All of my gear is plugged into surge protectors but just to be on the safe side I shut down and unplugged the surge protectors from the wall. Am I being too nervous? I have lost a computer and a router to a surge once but I believe that came through the network line which was not surge protected. Thoughts? Go ahead and tease me if I deserve it. I can take it.

 

[loudboy]

Not at all.

Not sure what kind of surge protectors you have, but the cheap ones are useless in a lightning strike.

Actually, everything is pretty useless in a lightning strike. <g>

 

[mattball826]

^ last line is more correct!

surge protected outlets from home depot and dept stores are gimmick. those are just convenience outlets with a simple circuit breaker at best. i have yet to open one up and see any protective devices like an mov or similar. those may help in a surge but not lightning which is unpredictable.

best to remove power from any components you don't want damaged. unplug them from the receptacles and disconnect hard wired ethernet cables to your computer.

 

[Rex Anderson]

You are a wise man. Never trust lightning. Several people were killed here this summer by it. Storms pop up very fast and there are so many thunderstorms during rainy season (June through the end of September). Florida has the highest number of lightning strikes in the country. We watch the radar very closely and make sure we walk the dogs when the skies are clear. First sign of lightning and we're heading in.

Always protect your gear when you know lightning is happening near your house.

 

[mixwiz]

I always un plug my recorder when not in use whether it was a computer or my hd24.

 

[navenjohnson]

Thanks for the feedback y'all. We don't get frequent storms here in central Texas but when we get 'em - we get 'em. Based on the feedback I will continue to unplug my gear when the sky starts lighting up.

 

[Irreverent]

Wise move, OP, wise move.

 

[Nelson89]

I always unplug everything in a thunderstorm. Even some of the best surge protectors will do nothing in a lightning strike...

 

[RGB]

Me too...I've seen what can happen as well.

Actually, I never leave my gear (or computers) plugged in unless they're in use and I'm home...that way I don't have to worry if some adverse weather happens while I'm away from home.

 

[eclecto-acoustic]

Surge protection is only really good for some guy making a goof-up while working on the local line, or when power is restored after a black/brown out.

A surge caused by a lightning strike...not much is gonna stop that. If it has determined that your house is the path of least resistance to the ground, a breaker probably won't do a damn thing, let alone the chintzy ones inside a power bar. That jolt of electricity can travel 5 miles without breaking a sweat. You think a few millimeters is gonna make a difference?

Like everyone else said, good on ya. I unplug everything except the fridge when I leave home for more than a day, and that includes phone and network cables. If it is attached to the wall, that's all she wrote.

 

[TDJMB]

We had a bad storm and lightning hit close to my neighbor's house and, in addition to frying a bunch of stuff, a bunch of plugs actually jumped out of their sockets.

 

[2HBStrat]

IMO old sayings are old sayings for a reason, i.e. "better safe than sorry".

 

[kludge]

A friend of mine works in a pro tv studio. A lightning strike took out half their equipment, even though they had state-of-the-art surge protection.

The next day, they cranked out a two hour show in one day in a fried studio. That's what professionals do.