Lightening sucks!

[juppy]

Okay, I never liked lightening before, but now its really got me ticked. We were setting here watching tv today and one of those freak little storms rolled up (you know, the kind that you can still see blue sky off to one side?) and WHAMMO!! Next thing we know the entire south side of our house has no power (we live in a double wide trailer home - north side works fine). Checked the breaker, it was blown. Thought that was all it was......NOT! Replaced that and still no juice. I know it blew the signal combiner that combines the signal from the cable box and the off-air antenna, and the surge protector fried big time. Other than that I haven't worked up the cahones enough to check and see if the tv, vcr or cable receiver are blown (figured if they were shorted and I plugged them into one of the working outlets I might fry more than what already is. :( Gotta get an electrician out here tomorrow to see if anything can be done on this or if trailer houses are "unrepairable" because the wiring is pre-made inside the walls and under the insulation of the floor. Sorry if this seems like a rant but be sure to unplug your stuff when ANY storm comes up (of course, that wouldn't have helped the blown half of my house I don't think :) ). Take care all.

[jessho]

I had a lightning strike about 8 years ago. It hit the propane tank, went through the tubing in the ground into the clothes dryer, blew the high heat fuse and the door switch, jumped to the washer, and went through the power cord into the wiring. After it went into the wiring, it blew a hole in the circuit board on the microwave, and blew the breaker apart in the main load center. It also, during the milliseconds of the strike, jumped from the washer and burned a spot on the hot water heater. The power cords on the washer and dryer had the insulation blown off of the wire and the wall plug was melted.

At first, I couldn't determine what happened. After I checked outside, I realized what path the lightning had followed because the threads of the pressure regulator on the propane tank were melted and propane was leaking.

[Penguin]

Lightining is better than having two idiots from the power company working on the pole and send a power surge through my house and three others. Destroyed all electronics on the one side of the house. IS was so bad the TV and VCR were on fire and needed to be thrown out in the yard so the house didn't burn down.

When we approached them they denied they did anything wrong. So we all called the power company and a few days later finally admitted it was their fault, and that they would only pay what they thought the items were worth. Not replacement value. Had a VCR and Nintendo I bought not more than 30 days before the accident and they knocked off 20% for depricieation. Plus we had to turn it into our insurance and pay the deductable for the things they would cover.

[juppy]

Well, finally got around to checking to see what was blown or not. Basically, everything in the entertainment center is fried except for the police scanner. This meaning a Sony Trinitron 27" tv, Philips/Magnavox vcr, the tuner box for the satellite dish (not one of those small digital things - the BIG dish type), the sub box and speakers for the satellite system, a Pioneer full rack stereo system, and the little signal combiner box for combining the satellite and off air antenna signals. All fried...POOF! :( Had an electrician out to see if he could track down why the whole south side of the house has no power; he narrowed it down but has yet to fix it - gonna come back Friday (ever notice a holiday always falls on the same day something breaks?). Oh well, I guess that's what insurance is for. Hopefully they'll help out.