^&%$*($^&^(&)^%$#

klaus@odyssey · « **on:** 10 Jun 2008, 10:06 am »

Man oh man, here in Indiana the storms are relentless.

Wanna know what makes a grown man cry ???

Last night we had a lightning hit, and besides a TV etc. it took out a Kraft 400 and one of the 2 Symphonic Line Belcanto speakers. Easily a $ 25,000 damage so far.

3/4 of the house now reads 68 Volts.

Unbelievable.

bpape · « **Reply #1 on:** 10 Jun 2008, 11:15 am »

Wow - that really sucks Klaus. Sorry to hear that.

Stay inside and stay safe.

Bryan

timind · « **Reply #2 on:** 10 Jun 2008, 11:19 am »

Sorry to hear that Klaus. I live about ten miles west of you and last night there were lightning strikes just outside my window. I jumped out of bed and raced to the outlet to pull the plugs on my system. Luckily there was no damage or outage. My subdivision is only a couple of years old and the power is underground; no transformers hanging on poles.

TomS · « **Reply #3 on:** 10 Jun 2008, 11:21 am »

Really sorry to hear this Klaus. It's been pretty nutty up north too. I'm on a lake in the summer here and the lightning bolts have been relentless the past couple days, crashing to the water and whatever high points around us (many trees). I put in a whole house surge suppressor when we built the house, but seriously doubt it would do much good against what you had

Tom

satfrat · « **Reply #4 on:** 10 Jun 2008, 03:58 pm »

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Klaus. The weather has been some screwy for a few years now and from what I've read about global warming, it'll only get worse.

Only today, we in Vermont & eastern New York are in a tornado watch til 6pm est. Tornado watches are unheard of here in Vermont,,,,,,,, not anymore. It's looking like Al Gore knows what he's talking about hea.

I hope you had homeowners insurance Klaus.

I also hope you have backup gear to fall back on.

Cheers,
Robin

golfugh · « **Reply #5 on:** 10 Jun 2008, 04:07 pm »

Klaus
Sorry to hear what happened!! Living here in FL, I know what you're going through lightning wise.
All my best
Mark

cryoparts · « **Reply #6 on:** 10 Jun 2008, 04:22 pm »

Quote from: klaus@odyssey on 10 Jun 2008, 10:06 am

it took out a Kraft 400

Ow, that hurts. What a beautiful amp to suffer such a fate...

Lee

Kenobi · « **Reply #7 on:** 11 Jun 2008, 01:28 am »

Klaus,

Sorry to hear that. I guess you'll need a custom-made conditioner for your Kraft set up once they're revamped.

Good luck,

Kenobi

BRILEY804 · « **Reply #8 on:** 11 Jun 2008, 01:56 am »

While I wouldnt wish this on anybody in the audio hobby , but if you knew that the storm was coming, why didnt you unplug the things that are important ?

Maybe something for all of us to keep in mind next time a storm rolls in and we are at home or if we are still at work and somebody is at the house, make a phone call and have them unplug everything. Sure the amp might not be warm for the next listening session, but at least its not damaged.

Another note to remember, just because you pull the plug on the tv or vcr/dvd player, also make sure that you remove the cable lines from the wall that are going to your tv or converter box. Nothing should be connected to your tv in other words as if there is a lightning strike, it is sure to find the tv. Its easy to reprogram a tv than the hassle of going though the claim of the insurance company.

denjo · « **Reply #9 on:** 11 Jun 2008, 03:30 am »

Would a surge protector have made any difference?

Best Regards
Dennis

klaus@odyssey · « **Reply #10 on:** 11 Jun 2008, 06:18 am »

Insurance, check.
Surge protector with the Kraft's ??? Nope. Don't need it usually.
Let's see, 2 Fridays weeks ago Tornadoes, yep, turned it off. That next Sunday, check. Tuesday last week, check. Wednesday, check. Last Friday, check. And on Sunday? 7 pm storm, check. Then with the midnight storm, it came somewhat from left field, since it was here fast and furious, and I had some flooding into the garage that I had to take care of, and BOOM !!! Neighbor's tree down via lightning, and guess that same strike somehow hit my house. Aaaaargh, but like I said, it's an insurance claim now.

Late

Haoleb · « **Reply #11 on:** 11 Jun 2008, 07:05 am »

Quote from: BRILEY804 on 11 Jun 2008, 01:56 am

While I wouldnt wish this on anybody in the audio hobby , but if you knew that the storm was coming, why didnt you unplug the things that are important ?

Had some lightning here just a couple days ago and usually I will unplug everything completely, catv, internet etc so that nothing could possibly happen but I decided to just risk it... That was until one of the bolts hit quite close to my house and there was a flash and a pop through the speakers. At first I thought something like one of my Khartago's did blow because of the flash as it seemed as it was from inside my room and the pop through the speakers but everything was fine.. Unplugged it all after that

The sound through the speakers was just because of such a huge spark. I used to live in a house where flipping a certain light switch would make my cd player skip!

dangerbird · « **Reply #12 on:** 11 Jun 2008, 07:31 am »

Sorry to hear that Klaus,, glad no one was hurt,though.

Eric · « **Reply #13 on:** 11 Jun 2008, 02:42 pm »

You are in my prayers

Eduardo AAVM · « **Reply #14 on:** 12 Jun 2008, 03:17 pm »

I am so sorry Klaus, what a nightmare, those beauties damaged!!!

I hope you can recover soon.

That why I prefer to turn off my ams, Mexico hasn't big lightning storms but voltage is irregular anyway.

boead · « **Reply #15 on:** 12 Jun 2008, 07:10 pm »

On Myth Busters they tried to blow up appliances with lightning hits (simulated) and they couldn’t even get a light bulb to burn out even in the most extreme conditions. The path through your CTV box or anything plugged into your homes electrical outlets are not very good potential pathsn to ground. There are MANY other more desirable paths/grounds. I mean why in the world would the path travel through your speakers?

klaus@odyssey · « **Reply #16 on:** 12 Jun 2008, 09:27 pm »

Well, electricians and the power company came out.
Turns out that the lightning struck and split my neighbor's tree, fell down onto the lines, and took out one of the power lines. So, we only had one leg of the power (which makes sense considering that we still had power, but low one), and they think that it was a phase on phase situation, coupled / maybe with some strike itself.
I really don't care what it was, the result is what matters to me.

Late

zybar · « **Reply #17 on:** 12 Jun 2008, 09:30 pm »

Sorry top hear about this Klaus.

Hopefully the insurance company comes through quickly and you get taken care of.

George

Rocket_Ronny · « **Reply #18 on:** 12 Jun 2008, 10:28 pm »

I feel your pain Klaus.

During a small storm I was hooking up my computers with ether net. I finally ran the cables and was just plugging it into my laptop, when:

KA-POWWW !!!

A lightning strike hit just outside our house. This made me jump alone as the timing of it, and pluggin in the cable, freaked me out.

Then lights all over the house were blowing up.

I went to the power panel and turned off the main breaker.

Turns out the strike hit a tree, which hit our power line disconnecting the white, neutral wire, I believe. It's been a few years now. But this sent 220 all through the house. Man can lights get bright with 220. They don't last long though.

It toasted my computer, fax machine, expensive laser printer, monitor, phones, satalite, and other stuff I forget now.

Anyway, damage was in the thousands. Insurance was not possible since most this stuff is business gear, and I didn't have insurance on it. So I ate it up.

It took quite a while to recover from that one.

Saving grace was that most of the recording gear was not plugged in, including my audio system. I make that a practice.

Hope the insurance claim goes well.
Rocket_Ronny

DCU · « **Reply #19 on:** 13 Jun 2008, 01:48 pm »

I'm so sorry to hear that you sustained damage. For all the good things you do, for all of us, Bunky especially, mother nature should have spared you. Where's the Karma here?