Took lightning strike

[southofi-10]

We had a very close lighting strike yesterday evening-July 3.It took out the power to the house.Blew the fuse on the pole.
I didn't realize it till later,but my fta system was down.The strike apparently took out my switch and at least 3 lnbs- 2 of which where double outs.
Seems my tv blew a fuse in the garage.I'm hoping I can change the fuse and get it revived.
I would imagine if we turned off our fta unit from the back,it might have saved everything...but we didn't plan on the strike.It was "bang" and all over.It took a split second.
This is not the first time lightning took out an lnb,but it is the first to take a tv and 8X switch....
Didn't bother my dishnetwork system at all.

 

[sergei]

How do you have your system grounded? Kind of make me wonder if you might have a ground loop as from the damage it doesn't sound like a direct hit. I've had more than one Flash/Bang light strike as light has hit my front walnut trees or near by and haven't lose any of my LNB/LNBF's.

 

[PopcornNMore]

I'm sorry this happened to you and is exactly why I should ground my system. I wanted to for years, but always put it off.

 

[pedrogarcia]

Most LNBs, certainly Ku are plastic and plastic mounted so gounding the coax shield provides no protection to the dish, mount or pole. Grounding the coax cable is supposed to prevent the cable fry entering the house but of course in most cases the cable is attached to the house structure for some length prior to being grounded.
Even a local area strike can have enough static to take out LNBs.
If you are concerned about a direct strike on a dish itself, grounding the dish and pole locally only will not cause ground loops and is more likely to save equipment. Particular attention to the code for ground cable size should be adhered to in repect of lightning conduction.
Current grounding I see on D & D installations are designed for static not lightning conduction
It is documented on this forum that there is amendments required to the existing codes in respect of grounding for dishes.

 

[southofi-10]

I never considered grounding because all my cables run underground to a switch at the edge of my garage,and then back to the main house.
I'm sure it wasn't a direct hit,anyway,not on my dish,but probably closer to the power pole itself.But I just figured it was static that took out my lnb and switch,but it also tripped a gfci and took out my tv in the garage.
The fuse on the tv was blow,so i figured I could replace that and save it,but no.I changed the fuse with the same value and it fried instantly,so the tv is shot.
I guess I should consider at least grounding where I have the swich

 

[sergei]

Most LNBs, certainly Ku are plastic and plastic mounted so grounding the coax shield provides no protection to the dish, mount or pole. Grounding the coax cable is supposed to prevent the cable fry entering the house but of course in most cases the cable is attached to the house structure for some length prior to being grounded.

Your statement from the way I read it is wrong and misleading , there is NO supposed in what a ground block will do and [FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]grounding the satellite system to the central building ground helps protect it and other components from lightning damage[/FONT] and being made of plastic has nothing to do with it. So far I've never seen any instructions that do not require one.

[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]It is extremely important to ground the dish AND the coaxial cables to a single point in the central building ground. A nearby lightning strike can easily damage an ungrounded dish, the receiver and your TV. Connecting both ground wires to the same point in the central building ground meets code requirements and provides the best protection for your equipment.[/FONT]

Even a local area strike can have enough static to take out LNBs.

[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]A nearby lightning strike can easily damage an ungrounded dish[/FONT]

If you are concerned about a direct strike on a dish itself, grounding the dish and pole locally only will not cause ground loops and is more likely to save equipment.

The only way that this would be correct is using a grounding block an [FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]attaching it to the side of your house, or in the basement, close to the point you have chosen as the coaxial cable entry point[/FONT]. Then [FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]Use a grounding wire that will extend from the grounding block to the central building ground[/FONT].
Otherwise your statement about forming a ground loop is totally FALSE, grounding any satellite, antenna or cable-TV incorrectly can cause a ground-loop problem if not connected to a main point.

 

[sergei]

I never considered grounding because all my cables run underground to a switch at the edge of my garage,and then back to the main house.

Your cables run in the ground, so are they inside anything?

My guess is most likely you had a ground hit which then allowed the lighting energy to be picked up by your cable shielding and then into the house and also the LNBF. Ground hits energy can travel up miles and still do damage. Grounding your system correctly by using a grounding block would most likely have prevented damage since it doesn't sound like a direct hit, if it was your damage would have been higher.
To prevent LNBF loses you might look into adding lighting a spike arrestor at your LNBF and maybe even your receiver. To give myself even more protection I've added them to all my dishes and receivers since the storms this year have been bad so far..

 

[Corrado]

After my lightning damage 4 years ago, I disconnect everything when a severe storm approaches. The surge followed my dish mover actuator cables inside effectively bypassing the other cable grounds for the dishes.

 

[sergei]

After my lightning damage 4 years ago, I disconnect everything when a severe storm approaches. The surge followed my dish mover actuator cables inside effectively bypassing the other cable grounds for the dishes.

That is a problem, when I got start into this hobby I new this could be an issue with lighting and I found and purchased a case of a surge protectors sold by US Electronics that were made just for the big dishes. It's designed for the cable and also the control lines so everything is protected in more than one way.

 

[pedrogarcia]

sergei
LNBs generally fail due to static in a lightning storms. Grounding blocks are designed to deal with static but do not guarantee to save LNBs. Direct lightning strikes on Ku dishes are a whole different ball game and it is far better to fit properly sized lightning conductor grounds locally if you have remote mounted dishes. As I mentioned on Ku set ups there will be no ground loop in fact the high restance the better between the grounds are desired. The object of the game is to keep the strike out of the house ground system if possible. C band of course is different as the LNBs have zero resitance to the dish. The IEEE produces a good guide to Llightning protection if anyone cares to look
http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lhm/IEEE_Guide.pdf

 

[Conky]

I was under the impression that in most lightning strikes a surge supressor will provide little if any protection

 

[sergei]

sergei
LNBs generally fail due to static in a lightning storms. Grounding blocks are designed to deal with static but do not guarantee to save LNBs. Direct lightning strikes on Ku dishes are a whole different ball game and it is far better to fit properly sized lightning conductor grounds locally if you have remote mounted dishes. As I mentioned on Ku set ups there will be no ground loop in fact the high restance the better between the grounds are desired. The object of the game is to keep the strike out of the house ground system if possible. C band of course is different as the LNBs have zero resitance to the dish. The IEEE produces a good guide to Llightning protection if anyone cares to look
http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lhm/IEEE_Guide.pdf

This is from an article from EC&M magazine written by Mike Holt for them, Grounding Satellite Dish and Lead-In Cables

Caution: If the lead-in from an outdoor antenna is not properly earth grounded, the receiver can be destroyed by voltage surges caused by nearby lightning strikes. If the mast is not properly grounded, the Low Noise Block (LNB), as well as the dc rotor motors that control the positioning larger satellite dishes could be destroyed by voltage surges caused by nearby lightning strikes.

Grounding Satellite Dish and Lead-In Cables

Grounding Communications Systems
http://www.mikeholt.com/mojonewsarchive/GB-HTML/HTML/2002NECGroundingCommunicationsSystems~20020701.htm

Failure to properly ground communications systems to the building or structure grounding electrode system as required by the NEC can result in electric shock, the destruction of electrical components, and property damage. According to insurance industry data, improper grounding of communications systems has led to $500 million dollars per year of property or equipment damage to lightning.

 

[pedrogarcia]

Indeed it was Mike Holt that agreed with me on the question of grounding dishes and has instigated a review of the codes. I published his email on this forum.

There is a huge differential between static and surge grounding vs Lightning conduction and Conky sums up surge protectors and lightning strikes correctly.

 

[sergei]

I was under the impression that in most lightning strikes a surge supressor will provide little if any protection

Not much will stand up to a direct lighting hit but surge suppressor (or surge protector) is an appliance designed to protect electrical devices from voltage spikeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_spike. A surge protector attempts to limit the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltagevoltage supplied to an electric device by either blocking or by shorting to ground any unwanted voltages above a safe threshold including those caused by lighting, again were not talking about a direct hit.
If you buy a cheap designed one then it'll give you little protection, you can buy basic units and up to very expense units which have better components. I even have a surge protector which my power company installed in my outside electrical/meter box.

 

[sergei]

Indeed it was Mike Holt that agreed with me on the question of grounding dishes and has instigated a review of the codes. I published his email on this forum.

I found one posting where you had talked to Mike about the code, but not found the email so could you point me in the right direction as I'd like to read it.