[Donegalkid]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

We have one, the house next-door had a close in lightning strike, it did $7000 in damage, ours had no damage. Think the lightning hit a sign pole at the back of their yard, this was about 150 feet from our house. I will mention the comcast cable failed about 18 months later and in discussion with the tech, he stated that failure may have been due to the strike.
IMHO, these are effective for the close in strikes, they will do nothing for a direct strike. Also, these will not protect EXTERNAL wiring, landscape lights, pool controls, and other wiring that goes outside the house.

I agree with Village Tinker (Again! Thank you for good information). We also added surge protector electrical outlets on all internal circuits supplying electrical power to major appliances. And, we have lightning rods installed proper to the electrical code. So, SECO external surge protector, internal circuit surge protectors, roof mounted rods per the code. Above was done after consulting with family electrician who knows the trade. Note: neighbor across the street has had two lightning strikes in 20 years, neighbor down the street had their house destroyed (now rebuilt) by a strike. TV is the place for lightning!

[jrref]

Originally Posted by CybrSage

I had lightning strike a tree 10 feet or so from my old house in PA. I tasted the lightning as my main breaker tripped in the house. I also had an Eaton surge protector in the breaker box and it tripped as well.
No damage to anything in my house, but the large chunks of tree that blew off shredded several screens and slightly damaged my grill.
The boom was so loud I was sure it had struck the house

I replaced the Eaton, happily. Eaton is a major electrical parts company. I am very confident they would honor warranties.

I also use APC UPSs (battery backups) for my main TV and Internet router, as well as one for my desktop PC. They allow the devices to stay running after a power loss so you can gracefully turn things off, but they also have great surge protection AND they smooth out the small spikes and drops in the electric line. It is great to still have Internet access during a blackout.
APC is a great company.

There you go!
Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Singerlady]

Originally Posted by roadrnnr

We just bought a new house and Seco inquired whether I wanted a Surge Protector they attach to the meter.

Anybody have one of these, are they a good idea?

I come from a state we never really worried about lightning strikes to much

Thanks

We have one and had an indirect lightning strike 3 years ago. Almost all of our electronics were fried. We called SECO and here’s what they told us….’ The surge protector only covers damage to items with motors and compressors’. We were out of luck. And, when they do cover something, they only repair and don’t replace.
We still have ours because we’re concerned that next time we might need the protector. Hmmmmm…..

[jrref]

Originally Posted by Singerlady

We have one and had an indirect lightning strike 3 years ago. Almost all of our electronics were fried. We called SECO and here’s what they told us….’ The surge protector only covers damage to items with motors and compressors’. We were out of luck. And, when they do cover something, they only repair and don’t replace.
We still have ours because we’re concerned that next time we might need the protector. Hmmmmm…..

The reason why you had this experience is because the induced surge didn't come in through the power line so the Seco protector did nothing and will continue to do nothing if the same thing happens again.

Were the red lights on the Seco protector still ON after the strike?

[philoret]

Repeated talks and articles report how the geography here, winds from two coasts, create the most thunderstorms and a lightning capital of the world -- two houses damaged just last week. Not only a surge protector but lightning rods are advised -- there is always some house getting damaged from a strike. Use only UL approved supplier like A1 Lightning. Houses with natural gas supply extra need because of gas lines in the attic.

[jrref]

If you want the cadillac of this type of surge protector get this. It has status lights letting you know if its working.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Eaton-Su...9QK8_jOHUtASrE

[jrref]

You can avoid this problem by getting Fiber internet if your area has it.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by jrref

You can avoid this problem by getting Fiber internet if your area has it.

Not aware of anyone yet running fiber to the house?

Just checked new construction and they ran fiber to the post and coax from the post to the house.

[mtdjed]

Originally Posted by ronda

You are 1/2 right

Here is the deal. There are 2 different threats. 1) Lightning strikes that damage the physical structure of your home 2) Ground lightening that causes surges in the electrical system and can damage anything that's plugged in.

The surge protecter will do nothing for 1), but is designed to mitigate 2). Obviously, nothing is 100%, but I think the surge protector is worth the money. It also comes with a warranty, that if you have a surge that damages something electrical in your house, you can make a claim for reimbursement.

So, Yes I have the surge protector, and also have protectors that I plug into the outlets. Double protected.

I have lightning Rods, a whole house surge protector, and individual surge protectors for sensitive equipment. I have had damage three separate times. The lightning Rods, have never been contacted that I know. I doubt that any surge has been from my electrical supply lines. What I do know is that my cable line has been zapped twice and my phone line once.

The cable line surge fried the outside line requiring replacement both times. It also damaged the TV Modem requiring replacement. The last incident several years ago was a bright flash outdoors and instantaneous thunder indicating a close encounter. We immediately went outside, and found the ball on top of our flagpole about 40 feet from the house blown off and a slight bulge on the flag pole between sliding sections. we noted jagged muddy lines from the flagpole radiating toward the house and a muddy hole about 3 to 4 feet from the house and a splatter of mud on the house. The hole was where the surge met the cable. Apparently, the pole was the lightning rod. Cable had to be replaced plus some inside comcast equipment. That jagged muddy line change to a fried grass jagged line over the next several days.

Bottom line is that surge can be introduced by any conducting outside source.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Altavia

Incorrect guess...

I assume you are saying that the transformer doesn't have a surge protector. But, why does the lightning need to travel through a transformer to be covered by the SECO warranty? As I read the warranty, if the lightning strikes the power line between the nearest transformer and your house and travels through the SECO surge protector, there is no warranty coverage. In order to get coverage, the lightning needs to actually travel through a transformer. Why?

[biker1]

CenturyLink (aka QuantumFiber) has fiber to the house. The ONT is either in a box on the side of the house or in the low-voltage panel in the garage. I believe they started with houses south of 466A. I have had it over 10 years.

Originally Posted by Altavia

Not aware of anyone yet running fiber to the house?

Just checked new construction and they ran fiber to the post and coax from the post to the house.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I assume you are saying that the transformer doesn't have a surge protector. But, why does the lightning need to travel through a transformer to be covered by the SECO warranty? As I read the warranty, if the lightning strikes the power line between the nearest transformer and your house and travels through the SECO surge protector, there is no warranty coverage. In order to get coverage, the lightning needs to actually travel through a transformer. Why?

It can strike or be induced into the wire between the transformer and the house.

But most damage is due to the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) inducing transient voltage and current surges from the strike. Not from the power line. As others noted here, damage occurs even several homes away from the strike.

EMP Protection - How Do You Protect Your Assets from EMPs


The SECO will reduce the risk from power line damage but the warranty is not very helpful for electronic devices likely to be damaged by an EMP. This is why protection is also recommended at the device.

Surge suppression was added to the national electrical code over five years ago and finally adopted by Florida this year.

[ronda]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I would suggest that you read the SECO warranty online, especially the exclusions clause. It covers almost nothing.

Thanks for the great advice. It's been a while since I read it. There are some very important clauses in the warranty.

" Standard residential equipment is defined as "white appliances" such as HVAC, clothes washers and dryers, refrigerators, dishwashers, electric ranges and other major home appliances. If an appliance is not listed above, then the general determination for warranty coverage is that the appliance must be a motor-driven load within the residence. MTI will make the final determination. "

So home electronics and low voltage control panels (i.e., Irrigation controller) are not covered.

I also use this lug in Belkin surge suppresser, which also has a warranty.

Belkin 1-Outlet SurgeCube Portable Wall Tap with Ground & Protected Light Indicators - For Home, Office, Travel

Amazon.com

What can I say, we can only do so much. The rest is beyond our control.

[Byte1]

I have one and SECO would not cover the damages when the house two down from us took a lightening strike and it caused a surge to our home through the power line. It took out our TV, DVD player, Modem and Cat6 card in my desktop computer. They said they only covered motorized equipment taken out by the surge.

[dadspet]

I had the surge protection installed at the Box in the garage instead of the SECO outside at the meter. It was 10 years ago and can't exactly remember all the details but one was no monthly charge (12x$6? = $72/yr x 10 years - $720) and to be honest I couldn't determine the SECO solution was better. Fair disclosure > I'm a Electrical Engineer but probably don't know much more about lighting strikes than anyone else except if you get hit you have a problem. BTW I didn't like the lighting rod idea for a few reason: I wasn't crazy about attracting lighting to MY house and I didn't need any more holes in my roof or wires running around. I do tend to research things a lot- I only wish I could remember the information I learned and if you ask my wife she will verify I'm not always right.