Do you turn the AxeFx off when it's thunderstorming out?

I go stand on my roof in any electrical storm holding an old style antennae in one hand and a 6ft copper pipe in the other yelling "take me you b-tard... take me... just you stay away from my axefx!" might sound silly but it's been 100% effective 100% of the time.

I found myself thinking "wouldn't you need to unplug from the wall to do any good?" thanks y'all for confirming.
 
Yes. I turn off my studio rack at the power bar, in fact. And any computer in the house not on a UPS.
^ I do this during any big storms, or leaving on vacation, etc. I believe shutting it off at the switch physically disconnects the circuit, so nothing could get through anyways. Just my undedicated guess however, correct me if I'm wrong
 
Holy shit!
So from your quick conversation, it sounds like you have at least a few seconds once you smell ozone, before the lightning hits?
And that pic of the leader you caught... Just, WOW!

It was a while ago, but if I recall, it was within 30 seconds or so.

The smell of ozone is one definite indicator. It smells like it does when you first turn on your furnace in the fall or the smell of an arc welder. Also, as @mr_fender said, the hair on your neck and arms will stand on end. If you are on the ground and smell ozone or feel tingly, get to the lowest point you can…ideally a ditch and lay flat. We were in a car, so I felt relatively safe, although I recently saw a picture of s direct hit on a truck and it melted the dash in two. Looked like Darth Vader took a swipe at it.

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Yes. I turn off my studio rack at the power bar, in fact. And any computer in the house not on a UPS.
Won’t help if there is a direct or indirect strike. The surge will blow right through the power bar.

This happened a few weeks ago, in town. It’s a hydro substation that took either a direct or indirect hit. Those are 44k transformers exploding, which were most likely protected by very big breakers!

 
Won’t help if there is a direct or indirect strike. The surge will blow right through the power bar.
I am less concerned about a lightning surge on my home line and more concerned with brown outs and sudden loss of power. If I have a lightning surge on my home’s power grid I have bigger problems than my Fractal gear.
 
I am less concerned about a lightning surge on my home line and more concerned with brown outs and sudden loss of power. If I have a lightning surge on my home’s power grid I have bigger problems than my Fractal gear.

yep, new Axe or FM3 is pretty cheap compared to new HVAC. I know....
 
Definitely. We were lucky that our HVAC was ok except for the blower motor that crapped out a few months after we had a strike about 100 yards from the house.

I've been contemplating having one of those whole house surge arrestors put in on our breaker box. Anybody got any experience with one of those?
 
Short of covering your entire house in chain link to create a faraday cage and using an ungrounded off grid inverter generator to power everything inside... it's pretty much luck of the draw and pretty futile trying to protect against lightning frying sensitive electronics. Unplugging/ungrounding (isolating) during an electrical storm is the best bet.
 
A lot of knowledge I'm learning by reading the OP's thread. But how did we go from discussing your typical residential power glitches such as surges dips spikes to being directly struck by lightning lol
 
A lot of knowledge I'm learning by reading the OP's thread. But how did we go from discussing your typical residential power glitches such as surges dips spikes to being directly struck by lightning lol
Because you specifically said you feel sketchy when there's a bad thunderstorm outside....if your just worried about the typically unreliable power grid a UPS is for sure your best defense. My local power grid is so horrible with rotten poles, over grown vegetation, and critters shorting transformers. After being without power for 4 days a couple years ago I installed a generator inlet and bought a dual fuel generator that can power the entire house, and 200lbs of propane.
 
Here's what I've gathered after talking to a buddy an hour ago who's an electrical engineer.
"Normal residential power issues can damage anything that's connected to a wall outlet regardless if the unit is on or off or even if it's off and plugged into a power strip that's on. If it's plugged into the wall anything can happen although, if you use a power strip between your 110 and device it's less likely and if your receive a direct strike by lightning you're f***ed
 
Here's what I've gathered after talking to a buddy an hour ago who's an electrical engineer.
"Normal residential power issues can damage anything that's connected to a wall outlet regardless if the unit is on or off or even if it's off and plugged into a power strip that's on. If it's plugged into the wall anything can happen although, if you use a power strip between your 110 and device it's less likely and if your receive a direct strike by lightning you're f***ed
That's pretty much it in a nutshell...lol
A UPS is a step up from your power strip. It will also protect from voltage drops.
 
Really? Is that how it works?! Huh.

i was told it was caused by old men in the sky playing nine-pins. Science is good.
"Thunderstorms don't concern me. *Lightning*storms, yes, those can cause problems"

🙄
I see the sarcasm
And replied with the same.
No reason to be snippy brother.
🤘😜

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I unplug from the wall during those times.

I once jammed during a lightning storm in which my rig was routed through a Bell Labs surge protector then a Radio Shack one.

Lightning hit the transformer a little down the street. The jolt jumped the surge protectors, melted the circuit board etch between the preamp out and power amp in on my Peavey TNT 130, blew the power supply in my Digitech GSP-21.

Expensive lesson that was.
 
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