Broadband Tech > General Questions > lightning, power surge via phone line

lightning, power surge via phone line

Lightning has a "bad habit" of making its own paths to ground. Remember that your phone has 2 wires, one is probably connected to ground somewhere, possibly as a pinhole in insulation some where.

The lightning has already jumped across several hundred feet of air, what's another few inches of insulation?

reply to shearer
The "fry" part comes from the voltage differences. A sudden inrush of thousands of volts does the deed. A properly grounded supressor design is to divert the voltage and current (amps) surge to ground, often at it's own expense, if severe enough.
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I live in an area that gets severe lightning storms all Summer so let me tell you from experience what lightning can do to your computer and you if you happen to be using it at the time.

My computer equipment is all plugged into GFCI outlets and then runs through surge protectors and UPS's. My Coax cable, Cat5, and phone lines all run through surge protectors.

The first time I had lightning do any damage to my computer it was a direct lightning strike to a tree 15 feet from my house. It took out my modem and several of my telephones. (I only had one computer at that time)

The second time it was a lightning strike in my front lawn. This time, I was no longer using a modem but using cable. As the storm was getting closer I shut down 1 computer and was finishing up on the other computer before shutting down.
The lightning hit before I was done and it went through my cable and electric lines. It took out my router and the onboard NIC on the computer that was shut down and unplugged (all except for unplugging the NIC).
On the computer I was still using, the lightning went through my computer, through my mouse which I had in my hand and through me. It almost knocked me out of my chair and my arm hurt like I had pulled every muscle in it for over a week. (scared the sh** out of me)
For some reason it didn't do any damage to that computer (maybe because I was such a good ground). It blew out one of the LED's on my optical mouse but the mouse still works with only one LED.
I also lost a TV in that one.

I learned after that to unplug all computer equipment before the storm gets here and that surge protectors aren't very helpful against direct lightning strikes a few feet from your house.
A surge protector is designed to protect from a power surge coming through the power lines and doesn't work to protect from electricity coming in through the ground wire from electricity in the ground.
I have almost everything electronic in my house plugged into GFCI outlets and this does help some since after a lightning storm, I have to go through the house and reset them all.

said by Outsourced1:

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The lightning hit before I was done and it went through my cable and electric lines. It took out my router and the onboard NIC on the computer that was shut down and unplugged (all except for unplugging the NIC).

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reply to shearer
A lot of these questions/answers get reduced in urgency level in the equation with the addition of an inexpensive UPS/Surge suppressor. We just picked up 9 "adequate" units for use at the office for $29.99 each, at (of all places) CompUSA.

These were American Power Conversion (APC) 325VA UPS units with 2 outlets with backup battery power combined with surge suppression, and 2 more outlets with surge suppression only. AND they came with surge suppression circuitry and an extra cable for phone line connector: plug your phone line into the unit, then plug their added connecting cable from UPS/suppressor to your modem card.

APC provides a $50K warranty against damage caused by hits in a "properly connected" setup. Read the fine print to make sure you have one of those.

I'm NOT tossing what both Outsourced1 and McSummation and JackB9 have said: mother nature will find a way if there is a way. Especially since she deals with stuff that weighs in at the megavolt ranges! And when those hit really close, all bets are off. But in my book there's no better insurance against potential damage, other than completely leaving the box not connected to ANYthing else at all, than a UPS and the prices on these have dropped to where they compete well with a surge suppressor without backup power to tide you through those little mini-blackouts that just reset the VCR and microwave clocks, and give you time to gracefully shut down in the event of a sudden total blackout caused by a lightening hit blocks or miles away that took out a sub-station.
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Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. Barry LePatner

2kmaro , I agree completely. I have an APC UPS that my computer, monitor, modem, router, and hub are attached to. (Also have an older unit that my TV, VCR, and DVD player are hung off of.) I just hope I never have to figure out if I'm "properly connected". I bought stock in APC a few years ago, that's what I think of the company and their products.
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Alfred E. Neuman for President - at least you KNOW up-front that he's a doofus

How timely - just had a thunderstorm with torrential rains pass over. Lightening in close to me. My "first alert" was a power outage while here at the computer - the lights went out completely ... little beep-beep-beeps coming from everywhere (there are 6 UPS's in here) ... just about the time I was getting ready to start shutting down systems the power came back up. Never missed a CPU cycle on any of the 5 machines .

My mix of UPS - oldest is a "Black Box" brand, 250VA unit that probably cost me about $250 dollars when I bought it. Still works great on a P-I/133 MHz system. 4 APC units varying in size from 350VA to 750VA, and a CyberPower 700VA unit on this machine that has given very good service.

If anyone's wondering why 6 UPS units with 5 computers, it's because I have one UPS dedicated to powering my cable modem and the network router!
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Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. Barry LePatner

reply to shearer
I lost a modem one time when lightning hit about 30 feet from my house. I hade my PCs unplugged but did not unplug the phone line. I now unplug EVERYTHING.
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No man's life, liberty or fortune is safe while our legislature is in session.--- Benjamin Franklin

reply to shearer
NOTHING will protect from a relatively (like even next door) direct lightning hit... I don't care how hot a surge protector you have.

Then if you can manage to collect (and meet requirements)... that is what the insurance is there for.
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