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Do I need surge protection if I power off during Tstorms?

96.237.36.246

Posted on August 19, 2009 at 01:13:59

Mike C

I have never suffered any equipment damage from lightning, but the thought of zapping thousands of dollars worth of gear makes me not want to take chances. I tried a Shunyata on my MA1s, but it made them sound harsh and aggressive (although it made a nice improvement to the front end components). It seems to me that if MOVs can stop a lightning shock, then it shouldn't be able to arc across an open switch, but I don't really know. Is there much history of Atma-Sphere amps being damaged by lightning when they are shut off? Are there any suppressors that don't squash the sound?

RE: Do I need surge protection if I power off during Tstorms?

TerryC

13:44:26 08/19/09

RE: Do I need surge protection if I power off during Tstorms?

Ralph

11:29:10 08/19/09

RE: Do I need surge protection if I power off during Tstorms?, posted on August 19, 2009 at 13:44:26

TerryC
Audiophile

Posts: 29
Joined: November 1, 2004

Many years ago I read a comment from someone who lived in the plains of the U.S. who said he simply coiled the mains power cords into large loops. The induced field in the coil prevented lightning surges. I remember reading it because it was such an unusual idea but forget the details, like how many turns. And modern high-end power cords are probably too stiff and short to make loops like that.

A friend who has a very expensive audio system and dedicated house wiring to the outlets simply pulls the circuit breakers at the threat of a storm. He used to just pull the equipment plugs out of the receptacles until he got super power cords and hospital grade outlets. The hospital grade receptacles, by the way, which cost about $40 gave an improvement as good or better than his multi-thousand dollar interconnects did.

This PDF -- www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lhm/IEEE_Guide.pdf -- discusses protection from whole house to the home theater inside.

RE: Do I need surge protection if I power off during Tstorms?, posted on August 19, 2009 at 11:29:10
Ralph Manufacturer Posts: 1157 Location: Minnesota Joined: April 24, 2002 Contributor Since: April 1, 2002	We've only seen one amp in 32 years damaged by lightning- although the only damage to that one was power tubes- there was no damage otherwise. In that case the lightning strike was on the house itself and caused a lot of damage. A lightning rod could have prevented that...

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