Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 01-08-2007, 10:56 AM   #21
Winnebago Owner
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 102
I'm glad you are OK.

Sometime around 1970 I was in a mess hall when lightning struck a pole just out side. Those of us who had been in Vietnam were on our feet looking for a bunker while those that hadn't been in combat were sitting in their chairs looking at us like we were idiots. It was very scary.

I had a Surge Guard installed by Camping World just after Christmas. This thread tells me that maybe I did the right thing.
__________________
https://www.irv2.com/photopost/data/500/thumbs/Motorhome_and_Car_Trailer.jpg

JD & Kathy
JD Allen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2007, 01:08 PM   #22
Winnebago Master
 
AFChap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: ...hopefully on the road!
Posts: 1,653
When I removed the Surgeguard this aftenoon and put the "jumper wire" in place I unplugged the catv cable as we are leaving tomorrow for two days for a SMART (www.smartrving.net) in Ozark AL. I have a pull-off quick disconnect on the MH end of the cable. When I pulled it, the cable came out of the connector. The cable (and inside wire) is burned black. The connector is burned black inside, and the screw-on threads are damaged. Looks like we are fortunate that our TV's turn on at all!!! (The bedroom TV does have some strange color splotches on the screen). Also discovered this afternoon my inkjet printer will not turn on. It was off, but was plugged into a separate surgeguard on the dead GFCI circuit ...so much for surgeguard strips!!

Does anyone know of a surge guard that will go on the catv line? I know there are some for telephone lines, but are there some for coax??
__________________
Paul (KE5LXU) ...was fulltimin', now parttimin'
'03 Winnebago UA 40e TRADED OFF JUL 2023 / '17 Jeep Grand Cherokee toad
AFChap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2007, 01:17 PM   #23
Winnebago Camper
 
Pete B's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Tolland Ct.
Posts: 38
I have a Monster Power surge strip for my home theater in the house. It has inputs and outputs for coax as well as phone and ac power.
__________________
Pete B

Pete B is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2007, 01:17 PM   #24
Winnebago Owner
 
CC38EL's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: McCordsville
Posts: 216
Paul, there are surge guards for catv. Lowes has them but you might want to get a lightning block (their words, not mine) that they use where the cable comes into a house. It normally has a ground wire that's quite large that would allow you to ground the receptacle at your site.

I know the satellite folks use them sometimes when putting in sat dishes in homes. I've had two.

Don't know if either will prevent damage from a direct hit, but they might work if you're a good distance from a hit.
__________________
Jim

2017 Cedar Creek 38EL/2015 Silverado 3500HD
CC38EL is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2007, 02:38 PM   #25
Winnebago Owner
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 81
If the strike was on the cable tv system, the cable system grounds are usually bonded to the common ground on the overhead power pole. The surge would then be placed on the power companys neutral system and thus energized the grounds on the pedistal you and others were attached to.
Oh-one is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2007, 03:25 PM   #26
Winnebago Master
 
AFChap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: ...hopefully on the road!
Posts: 1,653
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">energized the grounds on the pedistal </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I was wondering it crossed from CATV to power pedestals ...I guess the energized ground would be why it hit the GFCI. I think that GFCI was weak anyway as it had tripped off and on. Now we have a new one on that circuit!
__________________
Paul (KE5LXU) ...was fulltimin', now parttimin'
'03 Winnebago UA 40e TRADED OFF JUL 2023 / '17 Jeep Grand Cherokee toad
AFChap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2007, 03:58 PM   #27
Winnebago Watcher
 
jperry29's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Cumming, GA
Posts: 4
Thank goodness everybody is okay.

Having been through more than one lightning strike I can attest that electricity of this magnitude can do some bizarre things.

With a strike as close as you described, you essentially took a direct hit. Electricity was probably "crawling" all over the place looking for a way to get to ground. It is just amazing the paths it takes, the stuff it takes out and the stuff it does not.

While we all need to do everything we can to protect against wayward currents, and a SurgeGuard is top of the list, there is no way it can stand up to a direct hit of lightning.

After one strike that I took I talked to both the SurgeGaurd people and APC Backups (the guys that make the battery backup/surge protectors for computers and electronics) and both said they could never build anything to stop a direct hit. That is pretty significant, especiallly coming from the APC folks as they have a $10,000 equipment replacement gaurantee should anything happen to anything plugged into their surge protector. They sent me a check for a new computer, printer, sound system, scanner, etc. after the last strike.

Insurance took care of the other stuff; stereo, VCR, microwave, and so on.

But the point is it took me awhile to finally find everything that was either totally toast or "wierd", weeks in fact. So do not get in a big hurry to file your insurance claim. Use everything and use whatever it is in all of it's functions and be sure it works like it is supposed to.

One of my lightning strikes that came in through the telephone line on my house nailed my garage door opener, go figure. The opener itself worked fine but the light came on and stayed on permanently. So look for little and odd stuff and fix it all. It would be scary to leave lightning damaged electrical components energized.
__________________
'06 F-550 PSD Tow Boss
2012 37' Majestic by New Horizons
BLOG: www.CuRVWander.blogspot.com
jperry29 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2007, 05:57 PM   #28
Winnebago Master
 
AFChap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: ...hopefully on the road!
Posts: 1,653
What does a bad transfer switch act like? We had several brief power losses early this morning before we got up. This evening we returned to the coach to find the same thing going on. We would hear the inverter kick on with a click and a beep, then power would go off again. While fooling with it, I cranked up the generator and checked several things out. When I turned off the generator we had no power at all until I smacked the metal box the transfer switch is in several times. At first it said we were on 30a shore power. I had several breakers off (ac, wh, outlets, etc), and after I turned them all on it was showing 50a shore power. It hasn't changed since regardless of whether I have the breakers off or on. I know a bad transfer switch could simply not work at all ...no power when on shore power. Could it also be intermittent, flipping off and back on and back off and back on?

* UPDATE over 3 hrs later --
I just went outside while we were going through some more off and on outages. They happen every 30-45 minutes it seems (but didn't during the day, strange...) ...power off, back on and as soon as the inverter kicks in and puts power to the panel inside, it kicks off, back and forth three or four times until it stays on for awhile again. The clicking we are hearing when the power goes off and again when it comes on is NOT coming from the transfer switch. It is coming from the area of the inverter. It almost sounds like they are behind the inverter, but there is nothing behind it! It is against a wall above the battery compartment. On the other side of the wall is the basement air. The clicking sounds like a large relay kicking on and off. Are there such relays inside the inverter?
__________________
Paul (KE5LXU) ...was fulltimin', now parttimin'
'03 Winnebago UA 40e TRADED OFF JUL 2023 / '17 Jeep Grand Cherokee toad
AFChap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2007, 11:53 PM   #29
Winnebago Owner
 
RV Wizard's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Chattanooga, Tn.
Posts: 100
Paul, the inverter has it's own transfer switch inside it also. This is probably the clicking you are hearing.
__________________
Mike, RVIA & RVSA Certified Master RV Technician
Amy, Dr. Assistant - Roxie & Mei Ling, four legs each
2000 Gulf Stream Scenic Cruiser 450 hp & 1330# torque
06 Saturn Vue, 06 Chevy Z71 4x4 & 2014 Corvette Z51 M7
RV Wizard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-2007, 02:12 PM   #30
Winnebago Master
 
"007"'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 629
Paul if you can get to the relay contact points run a dollar bill thru contacts could have one burnt and inverter is looking for closure.
__________________
98KSCA, 99MACA, 03 KSCA-3740- 8.1 Chev-- ALLISON Trans, now in good hands
VISIT the NEWMAR QUICK TIPS & EASYMODS 1 & 2
QUICK TIPS # 3
RV SYSTEMS & APPLIANCES & RECALLS --- TECH INFORMATION
"007" is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 03:14 PM   #31
Winnebago Master
 
AFChap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: ...hopefully on the road!
Posts: 1,653
Dealer tech today found that "the wires to the fans were burned in two" on the refrigerator. Other than that, as far as we know, there is no damage to the refrigerator.

Also found that the inverter has multiple items burned inside, and lots of burned wiring. And the 110v coming out of the inverter is a little weak, but not unusable. We'll not use the heat pumps until we get it replaced. He said it blew the ends out of some of the wire nuts inside. They have it patched together (actually working better now than since the stike ...at least the charger
lights are now functioning) so we can make do until they can get a new one in over the weekend. There are at least two other coaches from the park with blown inverters ...and one of them had a SurgeGuard just as we did. The coach next to us had the transfer switch blown apart.
__________________
Paul (KE5LXU) ...was fulltimin', now parttimin'
'03 Winnebago UA 40e TRADED OFF JUL 2023 / '17 Jeep Grand Cherokee toad
AFChap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 06:13 PM   #32
Winnebago Watcher
 
Sunny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Prattville, AL USA
Posts: 4
AFChap
Hey where were you park when this happen.

Tom
__________________
01 Sunnybrook 33 BWS

00 Chevy 2500 6.0L 3.73
Sunny is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-11-2007, 06:33 PM   #33
Winnebago Master
 
AFChap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: ...hopefully on the road!
Posts: 1,653
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">where were you park </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Just down the road from you at Capital City RV Park between Montgomery & Wetumpka. It was last Sunday evening just after the tornado passed nearby.
__________________
Paul (KE5LXU) ...was fulltimin', now parttimin'
'03 Winnebago UA 40e TRADED OFF JUL 2023 / '17 Jeep Grand Cherokee toad
AFChap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-12-2007, 03:53 AM   #34
Winnie-Wise
 
troth's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: NE Ohio
Posts: 387
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Dealer tech today found that "the wires to the fans were burned in two" on the refrigerator. Other than that, as far as we know, there is no damage to the refrigerator.
Also found that the inverter has multiple items burned inside, and lots of burned wiring. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Paul, if I'm reading you right, you now say that the surge protector is damaged, that it needs replaced, and that it may not have protected your coach because the fridge fan & inverter show electrical damage?
__________________
Last Brave 2004 34D
troth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-12-2007, 07:32 AM   #35
Winnebago Master
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,520
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by troth:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Dealer tech today found that "the wires to the fans were burned in two" on the refrigerator. Other than that, as far as we know, there is no damage to the refrigerator.
Also found that the inverter has multiple items burned inside, and lots of burned wiring. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Paul, if I'm reading you right, you now say that the surge protector is damaged, that it needs replaced, and that it may not have protected your coach because the fridge fan & inverter show electrical damage?
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Considering that the intensity of lightning discharge current is often more than 30,000 A, and sometimes reaches 200,000 amperes the SurgeGuard performed admirably against such a close hit.

Most of us probably could not afford 100% protection however I think for what it costs the SurgeGaurd did a good job of minimizing the damage.

I have seen refridgeration compressors blow and shoot the entire applience up through the ceiling and into the attic from a close lightning strike. Thankfully Paul and Family were not seriously injured by any stray current.
__________________
Neil V
2001 Winnebago Adventurer WFG35U
NeilV is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-12-2007, 09:39 AM   #36
Winnie-Wise
 
SargeW's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Fallbrook, Ca
Posts: 307
I'm with Neil,

If you sustained that kind of damage with the Surge Protector, can you imagine the carnage if you didn't have one
__________________
Marty and Diane, Fulltiming!

Our Travel Blog www.mytripjournal.com/rvnchickalaska
SargeW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-12-2007, 10:01 AM   #37
Winnie-Wise
 
troth's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: NE Ohio
Posts: 387
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">If you sustained that kind of damage with the Surge Protector, can you imagine the carnage if you didn't have one </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Agreed!!!

__________________
Last Brave 2004 34D
troth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-12-2007, 01:11 PM   #38
Winnebago Master
 
AFChap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: ...hopefully on the road!
Posts: 1,653
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">you now say that the surge protector is damaged, that it needs replaced, and that it may not have protected your coach because the fridge fan & inverter show electrical damage? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yeah, the others have kind of said it. I got the SurgeGuard to protect me from bad power in RV parks (like a couple of weeks ago when it shut down and I went out and tested the park pole to find 170v flowing through!!). I never expected it to save me from lightning strikes. Same when we lived in a stick house ...lightning there did some minor damage to a TV once even though it was on a surge protector. Lightning is so "big" and so fast, it can damage an electronic device without even blowing the fuse because it doesn't last long enough to heat the fuse enough to melt it.
__________________
Paul (KE5LXU) ...was fulltimin', now parttimin'
'03 Winnebago UA 40e TRADED OFF JUL 2023 / '17 Jeep Grand Cherokee toad
AFChap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2007, 01:47 PM   #39
Winnebago Master
 
AFChap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: ...hopefully on the road!
Posts: 1,653
I believe we finally have all the lightning damage repaired. Dealer put in a new inverter a week ago, but found it had a bad board in it and would not communicate with the control panel inside. They ordered another inverter. After returning to the RV park, late that night we again lost power on one leg. Beating on the transfer switch would bring power back for several hours, so we decided the transfer switch was bad. The dealer had one in stock, so when we returned today after they got another new inverter shipped in we also had then install a new transfer switch. When they powered everything up, the shore cord started smoking at the connection to the MH. They found the connector for one power leg severely burned inside the plug end, so replaced that also.

Now everything is working like new with power levels normal. The hardwired SurgeGuard was returned to the factory where they found it was burned up inside. The mfg is replacing it at no cost ...great service!! When we get it back, we will hopefully be back to normal!
__________________
Paul (KE5LXU) ...was fulltimin', now parttimin'
'03 Winnebago UA 40e TRADED OFF JUL 2023 / '17 Jeep Grand Cherokee toad
AFChap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2007, 04:10 PM   #40
Winnebago Owner
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Venice, FL
Posts: 108
Not usre if you got your radio working. You may find a small pin hole on the front. Insert a toothpick into the hole. This resets the radio. I had the same thing happen to my radio and that was the fix.
__________________
2016 Winnebago View 24G
Mooneypaul is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Entry door loose; How do I adjust Strike? jspringator General Maintenance and Repair 18 02-22-2017 07:35 AM
Basement doors strike slideouts iam144 General Maintenance and Repair 6 04-14-2015 05:51 AM
Lightning Strikes - Winnebago Steel Cab Shields Owners DriVer Winnebago General Discussions 9 07-23-2008 05:44 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Winnebago Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:32 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.