First time I’ve had lightning damage. It blew the fuse at the pole and killed the transformer although it did not so much as smoke.

So far I have found it took out the cable modem and the router - killed the Ethernet port, otherwise it functioned. The garage door opener is also dead. Strange that it blew. I can see the items attached to the cable line but the opener I would have never guessed.

At least my new modem is twice as fast, even on the antique router I dug out of the closet.

Hopefully I can find an opener that mounts exactly like the 20 year old 1/2hp Liftmaster. I doubt the old extra remote can be used.

The generator I bought several years ago ran great, even powering the central AC. Burned about 5 gallons over 9 hours. Hopefully I don’t need it again for many years.

So, what’s a good Netgear router now? The last time I looked a few years ago, some were being made with crap chips.

Click bait

We got zorched two years ago and the casualties included the garage door openers. Weird. Apparently the computer control boards that manage the radio signals from the clicker don't much like voltage spikes.

When I lived in NH my home was hit. Took everything out. Even ended up replacing some outlets and switches.

Insurance company not particularly helpful.

Haha, funny guy!

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
.................
So, what’s a good Netgear router now? The last time I looked a few years ago, some were being made with crap chips.

I recently bought a Netgear Nighthawk, and D/L the app on my Iphone. It does all I need!

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Click bait

Now that's funny right there, uh huh.

We’ve had houses hit 3 times, and every single time we lost garage door openers. The last one actually blew the opener through a surge protector. In all but one instance it was a change of the mother board that was needed. A very simple task with the part being ordered online.

Hell, I got zapped opening a gate and lighting hit the chain link fence. That wasn't the last time either.

My neighbors tree 80 yards away from my house got hit a coupleofyears ago, the lightning traveled down the tree, cut the hostas down like a weed eater, crossed 20 yards of grass to the house hit the main coming into his house, blowing every breaker, and setting fire to the wall. Fried two T.V.s catching the cable T.V. line on fire, which burned all the way to the poll 30 plus feet.

Blowing tree bark to my house which was embedded into my wood siding, and stuck to the brick where to remove it, I had to use as pressure washer!

Wild stuff Lighting.


ARman

No matter the protection, ALL bets are OFF with Lightning!

I worked for a phone company and 40+ years ago started off as a residential installation and repair man. I was was working inside a house where the telephone drop terminated directly to the phone jack in the living room. There was no protector.

I was working with a pair of needle nose pliers and had ahold of the end of the drop wire. It was sunny outside and I heard a very faint clap of thunder miles away. There was a sudden flash and when I looked down, there was a half inch of the End of the needle nose Klein pliers gone.

We got hit last year and it fried an outlet in the wall. Fortunately the box was metal and not plastic and it contained the fire. My Toyota FJ did not fare so well , insurance guy said they would fix it and by the time it was said and done (3 months) the bill for parts was over $13K and labor just under $8K. He got caught up in the dealer saying "it's just this part" too many times and was too deep into it to total it. I have had zero problems since then and my deductible was $100.00 !

Back in the late 1980's, lightning struck a tree about 75 feet from the house and fried everything that was connected to the antennae on the roof.

The TV,VCR and stereo receiver all had to be replaced.

It's amazing how much power can be in a lightning bolt.

I think we have had to replace garage door openers twice due to lightning. A bunch of othr stuff once also. The claims adjuster said it might take 6 months for the refrigerator to crap out if it got hit.

We have to unplug out internet every time there’s a chance for storms. It homes in on that and it loved our satellite boxes when we still had service. Something about this property and the in-laws next door is a lightning magnet. Before I met my wife her parents’ house was hit and it blew out every electronic item there.

We’ve been hit twice. The first time it struck our well head, followed a pipe about 25 yards down hill to the barn and blew the pipe apart at the spigot. We didn’t know it happened until we turned the water on in the house, and didn’t have any...it was all draining at the break.

Last year we got hit and it blew out our generator’s transfer switch.

I don’t like lightening.

 
Anything with a circuit board in it is vulnerable to nearby lightning strikes, and today, just about everything has a circuit board. Multiple levels of protection is your only hope, and even then it might not be enough. Starting with a whole house protector in your breaker panel, then good quality surge protectors on vulnerable/valuable equipment, plus a UPS plugged into the surge protector for computers and such. Yes, I realize UPSs have built in surge protectors for their outlets nowadays, but they also have an internal circuit board that makes the UPS work to transfer power. More than once, while working, did I find out too late that a UPS was simply passing line power to the server and not switching over to battery power when needed because its internal circuit board was fried. That's why I always protect the UPS with a SP first in line from the wall.
 
I use surge protectors on such things as my garage door openers, washing machine, audio/video equipment, and refrigerator. And also a UPS on all computer and network equipment (modems, switches, computers, etc).
 
The APC Net7 is an above average and affordable choice for surge protection. $25 from APC direct. Monoprice also has some good offerings with a bit lower level of protection, such as this 6 outlet surge protector/power strip.

quote:

Originally posted by dking271:
We’ve had houses hit 3 times, and every single time we lost garage door openers. The last one actually blew the opener through a surge protector. In all but one instance it was a change of the mother board that was needed. A very simple task with the part being ordered online.

Definitely have the openers checked to see if new circuit boards is all they need, much cheaper!!

Oz...when I read your post, it was almost an EXACT description of the lightning hit my house took earlier in the year. It took out...
Router
Backup Power Supply
Fried the Ethernet port on my PC and TV (thought that was strange...the ports only)
Garage door opener
Bose sound system hooked to my TV (that was the big one)

Hope you got everything repaired! My repairs cost me the $1,200 "stimulus" check, as it happened the weekend after that money hit my bank account. FYI...I went ahead and replaced the entire garage opener rather than try to troubleshoot the board and then other stuff go out later. I got a Chamberlain 1/2hp belt drive. Absolutely LOVE IT!!

quote:

Originally posted by Leemur:
We have to unplug out internet every time there’s a chance for storms. It homes in on that and it loved our satellite boxes when we still had service. Something about this property and the in-laws next door is a lightning magnet. Before I met my wife her parents’ house was hit and it blew out every electronic item there.

Makes you wonder if you should ask for a "lightning strike history" type report when buying a home.

For those of you in lightning prone areas - what about a lightning rod, won't that provide protection?