Repairing TV after lightning strike- Need help!

bionicarm

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by westom http:///forum/thread/387136/repairing-tv-after-lightning-strike-need-help/20#post_3404523
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills

Even with the surge suppression strips that I have most of my equipment on now that are supposed to be good up to a few thousand joules. Would the addition of a whole house protector along with those strips be fairly descent protection? I know my circuits are grounded and I can always test if there is any doubts but I've already replaced the outlets in this house when we moved in and I know I don't have any breaks to ground.
First, understand what you are protecting from . Destructive surges occur typically once every seven years. What is that number for your neighborhood? Survey neighbors that have at least ten years experience.
Protect from lightning striking the building - lightning rod. Protect from lightning directly striking appliances - earthing a 'whole house' protector. Second is more frequent since wires all over the neighborhood connect to your appliances. That solution costs about $1 per appliance.
Second, the IEEE Standard entitled 'Static and Lightning Protection Grounding' defines how much protection is created by spending $1 per appliance for a 'whole house' protector:
> Lightning cannot be prevented; it can only be intercepted or diverted to a path which will,
> if well designed and constructed, not result in damage. Even this means is not positive,
> providing only 99.5-99.9% protection. ...
> Still, a 99.5% protection level will reduce the incidence of direct strokes from one stroke
> per 30 years ... to one stroke per 6000 years ...
Plug-in protectors only protect from a type of surge that is typically not destructive. May add another 0.2% protection. Are ineffective if the 'whole house' protector is not installed. Can even make appliance damage easier. Have a history of creating house fires when not protected by one 'whole house' protector.
Whitneyd88 on 21 Mar 2011 in "My house caught on fire and my tank busted" describes a fire created by a plug-in protector. That was extinguished when the tank broke. That flood put out the flames:
> A plug caught fire in my room (which was plugged into a surge protecter) it was caused by a power surge and caused my tank to burst.
Third, apparently you are still missing some very key points. Grounding in wall receptacle is not earth ground. If any wire enters without first connecting to earth ground (not safety ground), then protection is compromised. Protection is about earthing the surge. Not about earthing any appliance. Best protection can exist even with no safety grounds. A 1930 vintage house (two wire circuits) has same protection IF earth ground both meets and exceeds post 1990 code. Safety grounding appliances and power strips does nothing for protection. Earth the surge (not appliances) to have protection. If not earthed outside, then your only protection is that already inside appliances. No power strip will increase that protection AND may compromise it.
If an appliance was earth grounded (instead of safety grounded), then appliance damage is made easier.
If I have not said it before, this is completely new. Therefore those posts will not make sense until at least the third reread. New stuff takes me that many readings just to begin comprehension.
The difference between safety ground and earth ground should have been obvious from the so many posts that say how protectors work.. Even the expression 'less than 10 feet' should have made that obvious. Every foot shorter significantly increases protection.
But you have a problem. You must unlearn many popular myths and advertising lies. Learn that safety ground and earth ground are electrically different. Learn why a 'whole house' and plug-in protectors are two completely different devices. One must somehow absorb energy. The other works better by absorbing even *less* energy.
Fourth, brownouts do not damage electronics. Another urban myth made popular by "observation not tempered by how electricity and electronics work". The same logic that also proved spontaneous reproduction.
Brownouts aren't "urban myths". I've seen the effects of brownouts and surges in the 30+ years I've worked in the electronic and computer industry. I can show you multiple examples of what occurs to electronic equipment that is suceptible to these types of electric variants. Want to see some dirty power? Head to Mexico. I've had Cisco switches and IBM Servers in both the US and Mexico, and in both environments, the equipment wasn't protected by any type of supressor or UPS. I would have twice as many hardware failures in the equipment located in Mexico than I would in the US. So if brownouts and spikes are "urban myths", then why does the equipment fail less often when I simply move that equipment onto a UPS device?
You keep talking about these "$1 suppressors". Exactly what magic do you have that costs only $1? A bleeder resistor? A large ufd capacitor? I honestly don't know what your aversion is to quality UPS devices. If they're such a waste of money, then why does virtually every major Data Center known to exist invest so much time and money installing them, when all they have to do is install this magic $1 supressor that you speak so highly of?
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by westom http:///forum/thread/387136/repairing-tv-after-lightning-strike-need-help/20#post_3404523
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills

Even with the surge suppression strips that I have most of my equipment on now that are supposed to be good up to a few thousand joules. Would the addition of a whole house protector along with those strips be fairly descent protection? I know my circuits are grounded and I can always test if there is any doubts but I've already replaced the outlets in this house when we moved in and I know I don't have any breaks to ground.
First, understand what you are protecting from . Destructive surges occur typically once every seven years. What is that number for your neighborhood? Survey neighbors that have at least ten years experience.
Protect from lightning striking the building - lightning rod. Protect from lightning directly striking appliances - earthing a 'whole house' protector. Second is more frequent since wires all over the neighborhood connect to your appliances. That solution costs about $1 per appliance.
Second, the IEEE Standard entitled 'Static and Lightning Protection Grounding' defines how much protection is created by spending $1 per appliance for a 'whole house' protector:
> Lightning cannot be prevented; it can only be intercepted or diverted to a path which will,
> if well designed and constructed, not result in damage. Even this means is not positive,
> providing only 99.5-99.9% protection. ...
> Still, a 99.5% protection level will reduce the incidence of direct strokes from one stroke
> per 30 years ... to one stroke per 6000 years ...
Plug-in protectors only protect from a type of surge that is typically not destructive. May add another 0.2% protection. Are ineffective if the 'whole house' protector is not installed. Can even make appliance damage easier. Have a history of creating house fires when not protected by one 'whole house' protector. Correct, so if I already have them then with the installation of a whole house protector then it shouldn't matter if I continued to use them simply as power strips for my computer and entertainment devices.
Whitneyd88 on 21 Mar 2011 in "My house caught on fire and my tank busted" describes a fire created by a plug-in protector. That was extinguished when the tank broke. That flood put out the flames:
> A plug caught fire in my room (which was plugged into a surge protecter) it was caused by a power surge and caused my tank to burst. I believe this falls in line when not using a whole house protector with a properly earthed ground in the first place.
Third, apparently you are still missing some very key points. Grounding in wall receptacle is not earth ground. If any wire enters without first connecting to earth ground (not safety ground), then protection is compromised. Protection is about earthing the surge. Not about earthing any appliance. Best protection can exist even with no safety grounds. A 1930 vintage house (two wire circuits) has same protection IF earth ground both meets and exceeds post 1990 code. Safety grounding appliances and power strips does nothing for protection. Earth the surge (not appliances) to have protection. If not earthed outside, then your only protection is that already inside appliances. No power strip will increase that protection AND may compromise it. Many appliances are built with surge protection in mind already. The addition of a power strip on an appliance can actually end up working against you. Yes?
If an appliance was earth grounded (instead of safety grounded), then appliance damage is made easier. Who does this?
If I have not said it before, this is completely new. Therefore those posts will not make sense until at least the third reread. New stuff takes me that many readings just to begin comprehension.
The difference between safety ground and earth ground should have been obvious from the so many posts that say how protectors work.. Even the expression 'less than 10 feet' should have made that obvious. Every foot shorter significantly increases protection. Ofcorse, the path of least resistance.
But you have a problem. You must unlearn many popular myths and advertising lies. Learn that safety ground and earth ground are electrically different. Learn why a 'whole house' and plug-in protectors are two completely different devices. One must somehow absorb energy. The other works better by absorbing even *less* energy. I think I get it. The more energy a plug in protector has to absorb the more dangerous they become.span>
Fourth, brownouts do not damage electronics. Another urban myth made popular by "observation not tempered by how electricity and electronics work". The same logic that also proved spontaneous reproduction. The way I understand it is that brown outs can happen for many reasons. And in order to protect from them you have to know how or why the brown out is occurring in the first place?
 

ericka

New Member
I have a 60' tv and it started storming and then i heard a loud pop in the back of my tv. Now when I turn it on I can hear the sound perfect but no picture. What can that be? Does anybody know?
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ericka http:///t/387136/repairing-tv-after-lightning-strike-need-help/40#post_3486328
I have a 60' tv and it started storming and then i heard a loud pop in the back of my tv. Now when I turn it on I can hear the sound perfect but no picture. What can that be? Does anybody know?
That happened to my plasma TV (no pop because of a storm, just sound and no picture)...The new TVs do not have picture tubes, which is what it would have been causing your problem. Take it into a shop, everything is solid state now and if everything isn't melted it might be fixable.
I threw out the TV and got an LCD...lots chaeper ($650.00), I paid $2000.00 for the 47" plasma and it lasted 2 years. I have the old box 19" TV that's 20 years old and still working just fine. I like the flat screen HD but they arew made so cheap I could cry.
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I got back from out of town my 3 year old Samsung shut down about 5mins after turning it on. I took it to TV repair and it was the electronic power supply board, or whatever you call it. I'm waiting for the part to get in.
With these new TVs you have to weight the cost of repair against the price of a new flatscreen. With prices so low on these now, then it could be better to buy new, rather then repair old.
But, the likelihood of anyone helping with a TV problem on the internet is not very good. Leave it to the experts if the TV is worth fixing.
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ericka http:///t/387136/repairing-tv-after-lightning-strike-need-help/40#post_3486328
I have a 60' tv and it started storming and then i heard a loud pop in the back of my tv. Now when I turn it on I can hear the sound perfect but no picture. What can that be? Does anybody know?
No picture would mean that the back-light isn't working. Doubtful that it would have blown all of the bulbs at once. Maybe fried the power supply or inverter for the back-light. But a loud pop is indicative of an electrical arc. Fried something, that's for sure. :(
 

bionicarm

Active Member
Go spend $20 - $30 on a decent surge suppressor. Pick on that has a low Clamping Voltage (nominal is 330v), and a high joule rating (3000+). The higher the joule rating, the more surges/voltage spikes the suppressor can handle before you have to replace it. Most suppressor come with a $10,000+ warranty (as long as you fill out the registration card and turn it in), for any damages incurred while you device is protecte by their product. It won't handle a direct lightning strike, but in most situations, that's something you'd rarely have to worry about. Newegg sells several nice units, one being a Belkin BP112230-08 that has 4320 joule rating.
 

scsinet

Active Member
Assuming that you believe in surge supressors and want to use them, one point worth making here is that EVERY wire going into a system that connects to a cable of any decent length. For example, if you have a TV you want to protect, simply protecting the power connection is not enough. If you have an antenna or cable line going in, it needs to be protected. If you have a network cable going in, it does as well.
The surge suppression that the cable and phone companies provide is not enough. Wiring running through homes forms a giant antenna that can pick up enough EMP from a nearby lighning hit to toast equipment. Arguably, the power line is the least of your concern, because almost everything electronic these days has surge suppression built into it's input power circuitry, where network jacks, antenna jacks, etc have little if anything. I've seen PCs with no surge protection with network cards charred black from the hit where their power supplies still work because the lightning got in through the network cabling.
Ultimately though, I will say that I don't believe in surge supressors, due to experiences I stated above. Unless you invest in a commercial grade system costing thousands of dollars, they will provide little if any protection from lightning. The power anomolies that cheap consumer grade surge units protect you from, chances are the equipment you are "protecting" already has protection built in. Your better bet is to invest in a good homeowners insurance policy with an affordable deductible.
 

bionicarm

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SCSInet http:///t/387136/repairing-tv-after-lightning-strike-need-help/40#post_3486675
You and I have argued the merits of surge suppressors before. Question: have you ever actually tried to claim one of these warranties?
No, because I've never had a problem with any of my electronic equipment that I've had protected with a surge supressor or UPS. I've had a multitude of lightning strikes close to my home, and can't count the number of power surges and spikes I've seen when thunderstorms roll through the area. I have had surge suppressors get fried due to some form of power surge. My equipment was fine afterwards. I could have filed a warranty claim to get the suppressor replaced, but half the time I didn't bother filling out the warranty card, and it wasn't worth the hassle to try and recoup the $20 - $30 I spent on the thing.
 

bionicarm

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SCSInet http:///t/387136/repairing-tv-after-lightning-strike-need-help/40#post_3486674
Assuming that you believe in surge supressors and want to use them, one point worth making here is that EVERY wire going into a system that connects to a cable of any decent length. For example, if you have a TV you want to protect, simply protecting the power connection is not enough. If you have an antenna or cable line going in, it needs to be protected. If you have a network cable going in, it does as well.
The surge suppression that the cable and phone companies provide is not enough. Wiring running through homes forms a giant antenna that can pick up enough EMP from a nearby lighning hit to toast equipment. Arguably, the power line is the least of your concern, because almost everything electronic these days has surge suppression built into it's input power circuitry, where network jacks, antenna jacks, etc have little if anything. I've seen PCs with no surge protection with network cards charred black from the hit where their power supplies still work because the lightning got in through the network cabling.
Ultimately though, I will say that I don't believe in surge supressors, due to experiences I stated above. Unless you invest in a commercial grade system costing thousands of dollars, they will provide little if any protection from lightning. The power anomolies that cheap consumer grade surge units protect you from, chances are the equipment you are "protecting" already has protection built in. Your better bet is to invest in a good homeowners insurance policy with an affordable deductible.
Do a little research on these new surge suppressors. They have outlets for coax cables, phone jacks, USB cables, and network cables. I run every cable I have through a surge suppressor. I also have an earth-to-ground lightning rod at the highest point of my home to help protect against direct hits. As I said, there's nothing out there that will prevent a direct hit.
 

scsinet

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by bionicarm http:///t/387136/repairing-tv-after-lightning-strike-need-help/40#post_3486759
No, because I've never had a problem with any of my electronic equipment that I've had protected with a surge supressor or UPS. I've had a multitude of lightning strikes close to my home, and can't count the number of power surges and spikes I've seen when thunderstorms roll through the area. I have had surge suppressors get fried due to some form of power surge. My equipment was fine afterwards. I could have filed a warranty claim to get the suppressor replaced, but half the time I didn't bother filling out the warranty card, and it wasn't worth the hassle to try and recoup the $20 - $30 I spent on the thing.
I have been through the process and I know a few people that do as well, and I've also looked into them. If you read the terms carefully for those "guarantees," they will usually all state the following:
1. You must have original receipts for everything connected.
2. You must have previously registered the surge protector with the manufacturer (Who actually registers their surge protector?)
3. The claim must be filed in a very short period of time
For example, Belkin's "guarantee" gotchas include, in addition to the above...
1. If you daisy chain at all (have the surge protector plugged into another, or another plugged into it), the warranty is void. Good luck proving that you didn't do this.
2. They only give "fair market value" for the item, not replacement cost, the value is soley determined by them.
3. They can negotiate any amount of repair or reimbursement they want.
4. If the surge comes in over an unprotected line (network, cable, etc), and you didn't have it connected, the warranty is void. Good luck proving that you didn't do this.

5. The warranty does not apply to anything other than lightning. Power company anomolies is not covered. Good luck proving that it was lightning and not a power company issue.

Put simply, the company has so many "outs" that it is very difficult to ever get a dime. I know of nobody (myself included) that has successfully gotten reimbursed - although I'm sure it does happen. My take on the matter is that those connected equipment guarantees are marketing fluff, no more, no less. That does not diminish the effectiveness of the device, but rather simply the value of the guarantee.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bionicarm
http:///t/387136/repairing-tv-after-lightning-strike-need-help/40#post_3486760
Do a little research on these new surge suppressors. They have outlets for coax cables, phone jacks, USB cables, and network cables. I run every cable I have through a surge suppressor. I also have an earth-to-ground lightning rod at the highest point of my home to help protect against direct hits. As I said, there's nothing out there that will prevent a direct hit.
div>
Don't get me wrong, I was not saying that these protections do not exist, I was merely saying that the secondary connections to electronics are often neglected. I've dozens of surge protectors with those coax lines and phone line connections. I have never once seen the coax lines hooked up, and I only recall seeing the phone line hooked up once. More of a cautionary tale.
You are quite right, a direct hit is an unstoppable force. If your house gets hit, you can count on pretty much a complete toasting, but in most cases, with a direct hit, you're already filing a homeowner's claim anyway, so it's a moot point. Once you have to pay the deductible to fix your roof for instance, you might as well claim your electronics as well.
 
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