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The majority of my gear is recommended to stay stay plugged in when not in use. I do most of my listening on the weekends. Is it okay to unplug during the week if not in use?
Follow Ups:
I have switches for all my wall outlets. I switch them off when not using the systems. Isnt that safe?
Cheers
Bill
Bill,
When you're talking about the really high voltage power surges that might result from a lightning strike to the power grid that supplies your home turning off normal wall switches might not be good enough. That kind of currenr is strong enough to jump the small gap in a wall switch.
In some circumstances nothing short of unplugging your gear will protect it, but a whole house surge protector (when properly installed where the power enters your home) that shunts the power surge directly to ground before it gets into your house wiring is your next best solution.
Thanks. We have lightning arrester on the roof. I also have surge protector for the stereo system, fridge, AC units and computer. These have saved us from the severe current fluctuations we have regularly. Also have circuit breaker at the main board. I unplug the music system at night and when there is likelihood of thunderstorms.
There is a curse that some people use around these parts, 'let the lightening strike'.
I hope nobody has cursed me yet!
Cheers
Bill
See my post below. Light switch was off. Lightening blew it apart and jumped the contacts to go down stream to wreak havoc.
During an innocent light sprinkle which had been off and on all day without heavy cloud cover, wind, thunder, or lightening, lightening struck a tree near my home. Travelled down into the ground, exploded into a nearby buried gray plastic power cable conduit, jumped onto the ground wire, fried my outdoor light fixture on one end and travelled into the house wiring on the other end. Blew out (as in exploded and shattered) the interior light switch and cover for the outdoor light, scorched the wall and drapes covering the switch, continued on to fry every appliance on that circuit, including a subwoofer amp and power amp which were playing at the time. In the crawl space my cable for TV had a booster plugged in for power which was also on that circuit and next to a phone line jumper box, so ... via cable fried my cable box and TV on one end and exploded the exterior cable connection and cover about 40' into the woods on the other end. Then via phone lines fried my phones, phone lines, answering machine, printer, and computer.
Do I unplug? Ummm ... yes.
Wow. That's amazing. I had a similar, although much less interesting experience. I always unplug everything that I can when there's lightning in the area, for that very reason. Been doing it since forever, 'cause my Dad always did it. Well, on one occasion, I neglected to disconnect the modem line from the computer. Sure enough, lightning struck a tree next door (and ripped off a sizable amount of wood and bark), found the underground phone line and proceeded to take out my modem - ONLY the modem - the rest of the computer still works fine these several years later. Oh, and it found the underground electric service line. Imagine sitting in the bathroom, barefoot, hearing a loud "crack", and having one of the light bulbs burst glass onto the floor. Now I'm sitting in the bathroom, barefoot, in the dark, with broken glass on the floor. Fortunately, anticipating a possible power outage, I had a flashlight with me. Still, it was a little irritating. I believe the word that came out of my mouth was four letters and started with "s".
Good fortune for you! Best spot to be when getting the s#@* scared outta ya. Awesome foresight to lug the flashlight in with you. That could have been a very bad deal.
I would rather have been sitting in the bathroom at the time of my strike. Instead, I was on the couch sipping a cool beverage, glass to my lips, when the explosion (interior light switch and plate, and circuit in the tube amp) occurred. Beer spewed and spilled everywhere. Near literally scared the s%#@ out of me. I thought a bomb had hit the house.
Glad yours did not turn out to be so bad. My damage totaled about $2500, but with a $2000 deductible, I just ate it.
A few months ago, a lightening strike took out an amp on one of my Vandersteen speakers..I thought it odd that only 1 amp was gone...nothing else in the house went bad. Vandersteen repaired the amp for about 200 dollars. I still keep everything plugged in the wall, however, I installed a whole house surge protector....it even made the stereo sound a bit better.
I unplug my equipment in the summer time because of either thunder storms or brown outs. Although a whole house surge protector may help in the case of a lightening strike, its not guarenteed depending on where the strike takes place. Brown outs are far more damaging to electronics and much more likey to happen then lightening strikes. That's why I unplug. I've been doing this for last 30 years with no wear and tear on the equipment. I rather be safe then sorry.
My gear is Pass Labs and recommendation was to leave on so the circuits are ready to go. My other gear (phono stage power supply have no on/off switch. Always on. My concern rises from electrical storm power surges, especially if there is a power failure and a surge when power comes back on, the chance of doing damage to gear or speakers from said power surges and also the general cost of electricity if units are not in use. GOS
I've read all the replies so far, and while they're all interesting and some offer good advice about surge suppressors, lightning, etc., none have answered your question. I'm curious about why your equipment is recommended to remain plugged in when not in use. Is it tube gear with a trickle current, or for some other reason?
Edits: 07/22/12
Whole house surge device installed at breaker box. All audio components connected through Audience aR6TS (although one outlet unfiltered for my integrated which sounds best with unfiltered power). During any weather with risk of lightening, no matter how small, I turn off system components connected through aR6TS and then disconnect just one power cord - the ar6TS from wall outlet.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
More expensive doesn't necessarily mean better.
Edits: 08/05/12
You didn't say why you unplug your gear, is to save on your power bill? or is because of lightning? a possible electrical fire? I leave my solid state gear on and playing music 24/7/52 with no issues in 39 years. Even during big electrical storms.
I have never had any gear in over 50 years go up in smoke and leave it plugged in all the time except once when I unplugged everything just before a storm. About 2 minutes later lightning hit the utility pole that is 10' from my listening room. I have no idea why I decided to unplug and I have no idea if it made a difference as nothing in the house was damaged.
On the other hand, I have fire insurance and have never had a fire. If you are worried get a whole house power surge protector (assuming you have your own home). Also FWIW I leave my amps on all the time (Class D).
*
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Were I to live in a lightning prone area.....Florida, for example, I'd have a whole-house lightning arrestor system...right at the main box.
Add point of use protection and I can see you being as near 100% protected as practical.
Whole house units do NOT use MOV devices and so do not wear out thru repeated cycling.
Point of use units DO use MOV devices which have a finite capacity for absorging surges and should therefore be replaced.
At that point, I can see no real reason to unplug anything with the exception of going on vacation and having a vacant house or apartment.
And speaking of apartments, given the level of care most readers of these forums take with general wiring practices, I'd say they were in more (fire) danger from the neighbors.
Too much is never enough
...that some of these whole house systems will not guarantee against a lightning strike. I don't know about this particular system, but one offered here in Colorado by our own utilities company specifically says it may not protect against a lightning strike.
not being in an area where I get lightning even in a year, I'm not too highly motivated to find out more.
IF, however I lived in Colorado Springs or Florida or thru the tornado belt, I'd for SURE know about 'em and have one on my house.
Perhaps my idea of 2-levels of protection.....Whole house AND point of use?
With lightning, I'm not sure you can have any 'guarantees'.......
Too much is never enough
Yes, lightning is not something to trifle with!
Light bulbs seldom go out with steady current. They go out when you flip the switch to turn it on. TV's with tubes did not turn all of the way off when you shut them down for a reason. Probably to maintain a constant temperature all of the time. Expansion and contraction of components are reduced in this way. The Navy's Submarines keep everything on all of the time, as do I. But I use things all of the time. The Navy does not want to flip a switch and get stuck at sea. In your case going many days between use I would probably shut it down. Never having done that I would probably forget and leave it on.
~~~
The Driver smiled when he lost the car in pursuit...
I'm sorry but that is the craziest analogy and the most unrelated ananlogy I've ever read. Did you ever stop to consider that the electrial supply in a submarine is far more stable and clean then whats be delivered by the utilities to people's homes?
It's a good idea to protect gear from, e.g., lightning strikes, etc.
She just does not want to take any chances with lightning or electrical fires.
She has been unplugging her TV, video and stereo stuff every time she stops using it.. and has been doing the unplugging for many years..
No problem.
If you unplug it at the wall, just remember to replace the wall outlets every few years.
And no, unplugging everything will not hurt anything.
frequency and still the chances of a strike hitting an individual's domicile and causing damage is rare, rare, rare.
Does she not have home insurance?
is out of one's own pocket.
That's with Farmers Insurance which is pretty damn good, they paid out over $20,000 when the remnants of hurricane Ike with its 80 mph winds went through Ohio back in 2008. And, yes the first $500 came out of pocket. Furthermore, a lighting strike split the pear tree in the backyard in half.
"frequency and still the chances of a strike hitting an individual's domicile and causing damage is rare, rare, rare."
Doesn't have to hit the domicile, merely the grid. My router power supply got fried by the storm two days ago despite being here in the mellow emerald empire. Temporally it's running off a bench supply so I'm back on-line. It's neither nice nor wise to taunt mother nature...
Rick
d
Yea, it crossed the line... Guess we need to build a fence, an electric fence!
R.
.
I would just purchase a good surge protector. The good ones come with a guarentee against damage to your gear.
I'm reminded of the enormous improvement rendered by the increased service amperage and cabling to my 1972 dwelling, dedicated audio / HT breaker panel, and multiple uninterrupted runs of larger gauge wire in metal BX to my systems. Rather than roll the dice I unplug for trips and storms and conserve energy in other aspects of home life while leaving my audio system powered.
Of course differing locations and power sources may require other solutions even in the same neighborhood. Here in sunny California our largely out of state population has easily become immune to the effects of global warming in their interpretation of the California lifestyle of increased convenience over reality. Their best practice of skull in the sand has no knowledge of the huge increases in electrical storms here. To them it's a few sparks compared to the lightning where they came from. Sadly, all of it is lightyears from the time before California's Gov. Edmund Brown.
Where we live, we often have lightning strikes, so my gear is unplugged when not in use. No surge protector can completely protect against a lightning strike....so, for me, it's not worth the risk.
Even unplugging will not help in the case of a lightening strike right next to the house. The EMP can destroy electronic equipment, even brand new equipment in unopened shipping containers. After this happened to a friend who lived on top of a pinnacle he installed an extensive lightening protection system with grid wiring that made the entire house a Faraday cage.
I take my chances with surge protectors. I do power things down when I am away from the house for some time or when a thunderstorm is likely.
Tony Lauck
"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar
My Panamax has a $5,000,000 replacement guarantee on your equipment. Now I don't want to go testing that and I'm sure that they base your equipment on what it's worth now.
Lightning always wins....
Damn Lightning..............@!%
LOL...its scary stuff, to be sure.
> > My Panamax has a $5,000,000 replacement guarantee on your equipment.
That means one of two things. Either the incidence of loss is so truly remote that they rarely have a claim, or the guarantee is so tightly worded that they pay little or nothing on the claims that do happen.
I read the warranty and it has quite a few limitations.
It only applies if the Panamax was new, originally purchased by you and you have a receipt. There is no coverage if you bought it used. Their wording suggests this "purchased new" requirement also extends to the "connected equipment" since you must produce receipts for these items, too.
The use of 2 prong outlets, extension cords or other surge devices voids coverage. ALL wires (telephone, coax, computer, etc.) must pass through the protector or the warranty is void. You will need to demonstrate that all of your house wiring is up to code. (They could make that a difficult & expensive process if they require you hire an outside electrician to certify this.)
You have only 10 days after the event to notify Panamax or the warranty is void.
The Panamax protector itself must show signs of lightning damage. If it looks OK and only your equipment is damaged, there is no coverage. They will examine the returned surge protector and their determination is final. The warranty is void if your protector has been opened or modified.
If they do cover, payment is limited to the cost or repair or their determination of "fair market value".
No secondary costs are covered (i.e., installation, testing, programming, data loss, shipping costs, and a number of other listed items.)
In short, making a claim under their offer could be extraordinarily difficult. There is a reason they call it a "limited" warranty!
That is absolutely correct. Nothing will protect against a direct lightning strike to your power lines and the ensuing extreme voltage surge that results.
Unplugging equipment from its power source is the safest way to go. A whole house surge protection system located at the main power box electrical inlet to the home backed up by individual protection at the components is the next best thing. Done correctly this method will protect from pretty much anything except lightning. Power filter units like the APC G5 or its big brother the G50 with their sequential delay outlets will protect against the rapid power on/power off cycling (often encountered during impending power disturbances) that is so detrimental to the longevity of audio components - especially tube gear.
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