Power surge

[vogie]

During the night of Wednesday we had thunder and lighting, consequently when we got up next morning the tv had stopped working, my HDMI switch had blown and my external speakers have packed in too. I have my appliances connected to my HDMI switch which then goes into my HDMI port on my speaker and the other HDMI port on the speaker goes into my television. What would the cause of this malfunction be caused by, for instance if I had unplugged the tv would it not have happened or could it still have travelled down my HDMI cables?

I have removed the back of the telly and there are no signs of any blown capacitors, same with the speakers.

[manfredtillmann]

there are a few recent posts on this one.

above ground services for power and internet are susceptible to lightning strike and power surges.

we - my family and i - disconnect every connection to the 'outside' the moment we hear distant thunder, after we lost the tv and the cable modem a few weeks ago during a 'ball lightning' event.

[Lamkyong]

happened to me a while back big strike very near struck the power lines to which thankfully the home breakers reacted accordingly and tripped but the sat dish also was affected which in turn traveled to the set top box then on to the tv via the hdmi cable the end result box fried, tv had to replace the hdmi circuit board , and back to normal except had to buy new sat dish receiver (forget the correct name of this component ) and set top box of course the answer is when you get thunder or are likely to unplug supply and unplug sat / antennae sit it out usually max 1 hour

[vogie]

So does the surge actually travel down the HDMI cable, if so would removing the the plugs from the electric socket prevent this happening?

[Lamkyong]

So does the surge actually travel down the HDMI cable, if so would removing the the plugs from the electric socket prevent this happening?

no you will have to disconnect the sat /antenna cable from the box its self to break the circuit

sorry to have rambled on a bit in my first reply probably of more help i replaced the hdmi circuit board simple plug and play connection i sourced it on line from uk i googled to find company (my tv ex uk)

[bankruatsteve]

The electromagnetic pulse from lighting can be transmitted various ways of which the electrical conductor is the most prevalent and can conduct long distances. Those can avoid damage to equipment by unplugging (best) and use of surge suppressor device. BUT - a direct or near strike can fry anything that can be affected by EMP whether unplugged or protected. Years ago, I had personal experience where phones, TV's, computers, etc. all damaged even though protected by surge suppressors and my wife and I sat up in bed with hair frizzed to the max. IE: if you're unlucky enough to get direct or near lighting strike, there is absolutely nothing you can do to protect your stuff.

[Forkinhades]

If it was just the TV and associated equipment. Then the surge most probably come in through the cable TV provider, and there is NO device that can stop this.