atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Lightening Stirke

I think the customer has a point , when there is lightning damage we always suggest replacing everything and if they opt not we warn them that evan though the componets we replace will get them up its very probable that other componets where weakened and may fail over time .

if you want to keep the customer cut him a discount like marv suggested

Most of our customers submit the bill to their insurance company. Are they going that route?

I live where there are more strikes in a year than any other place in the country, so I can say this is happened more than once. There is really no proof, but you can certainly make the argument all was working fine before there was a strike in the area. Anyhow, the one system that had to be completely replaced was covered by the insurance; my client just asked that I mentioned in the invoice the cause of failure.

rusty...

not to pick a nit BUT Florida receives more lightning than any other state in the US, not Arizona. And yes, we replace a bunch of systems and cards during the summer.

From NOAA's site..
"In general, the US mainland has a decreasing amount of lightning toward the northwest. Over the entire year, the highest frequency of cloud-to-ground lightning is in Florida between Tampa and Orlando. This is due to the presence, on many days during the year, of a large moisture content in the atmosphere at low levels (below 5,000 feet), as well as high surface temperatures that produce strong sea breezes along the Florida coasts. The western mountains of the US also produce strong upward motions and contribute to frequent cloud-to-ground lightning."

Why would this be an issue in the first place? Is the system still under warranty? You can't forsee what is going to go wrong. Why stop at replacing the KSU? Why not the phones to? One may stop working next week.

Since we're also in Florida, we get a fair amount of lightning damage every year. You replace the components that you know are bad. Do you want to explain to the insurance adjuster that, "it works but it still may be damaged?"

If you eat this one what happens next month when something else goes wrong?

Maybe I'm missing something...

Lightening damage can be tricky. I managed a consumer electronics repair shop for 13 years and saw lots of lightening damage. It can be proven that it was lightening and how it entered equipment. I would fix what was needed but never warrantee without replacing everything that the lightening may have passed through even if it tested good.

Exatly like Larry said, what is the isseue? Broken components are broken components, they may have been damaged by lightening and maybe not (MORE than likely in this case) either way they are broken and have to be fixed.

There is a website (I will see if I can find it again) that you can pay a fee (small) and they can pin point strikes within something like 10 feet....we have used it in the past to prove strikes.....I do not know if they operate everywhere or just in the Florida area though.

Steve

I think this is the program that we used in the past...if not it looks pretty good anyways:
https://www.vaisala.com/businessare...a%20archive%20and%20reports/strikenetfax

Steve

I too have lightning problems here in Vermont. One customer had multiple buildings each having their own ground rod. Every time a cloud covered the sun he had a problem. To cure the problem I had to run all buildings to a common ground of the proper guage. Costly, but it worked. I can provide more info on what I did if anyone wants it.

Are you saying just the cloud cover was the cause of a problem? Or are you saying that anytime there was a storm, it caused a problem...? And what was the nature of "the problem"? Very curious.