Lightning storm last month, replacing all equiptment question

[buddythacat]

As the title mentions, should I also replace my Cat6 cables that I routed around the attic? Of all of my 8 IP cameras, only 1 survived and my new POE switch reports faults on like 5-8 cables (yellow light) and only 1 port is green, the only surviving ip camera. Should I test my cables or just toss and replace? I've looked at all the ends (well most) and they all look normal, but I'd assume a over-voltage hit would have killed the internals verses showing black charred cables.

Thanks

 

[klasipca]

wow, sorry to hear, don't know much about lighting strikes and cables, but did it kill the poe switch and killed all the cams along with it? Were you using any type of surge protector?

 

[buddythacat]

Yeah it killed 7/8 ip cameras that I'm aware of. One of them actually turned on via 12v but then that only lasted a bit and it hasn't come back on. My prosafe died but the internal fan powered on. All in all I'm slowly replacing things because even if it works, it may be on its way to dying after suffering a strike.

 

[bp2008]

Odd that the ends would look fine but that the cable would be ruined. But I guess anything is possible.

I don't know how a switch tests a network cable -- like if it is more or less reliable than a cheap network cable tester. But chances are if your switch reports no error for a cable then the cable is still good.

 

[buddythacat]

I really should dismount the one good cam and walk around the house and test it on the cable that is reporting a fault, maybe just maybe 1 or 2 of the other 7 lines may still be ready for a working ip cam so for now it reports either fault or no light. My prosafe poe switch was replaced under manufacturers warranty so I know its good to go.

 

[klasipca]

Is there a way to prevent this from happening though?

 

[buddythacat]

I don't think you can ever really prevent a lightning strike from being so close....in the meantime, I'm looking at POE surge arrestors to at least stop the next strike from continuing on to the switch, modem, etc. (https://www.amazon.com/RiteAV-Ethernet-Protector-Lightning-Protection/dp/B00FY7GMEW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471889377&sr=8-1&keywords=poe+surge+arrestor)

The strike hit my pecan tree that is like 3 feet from my nearest IP cam and the jolt jump and took out all my outdoor string led lights, tv, xbox one, ip cameras, poe switch, modem, router. It was random but stuff happens and I just gotta move on....

 

[fenderman]

Look at these http://www.l-com.com/surge-protector-4-port-passive-midspan-injector-with-cat5-surge-protection

 

[bguy]

Does anyone really expect a surge protector from stopping a lighting bolt that just traveled hundreds of feet through the air? And if it entered the system from a camera, the surge protector on the outlet wouldn't have helped protect the other cameras.

If you don't have a cable tester, I would just put a known working camera at the end of each cable, and see if it works as expected. That is probably easier than replacing cable that looks good. It sounds like the cameras got taken out by a static charge in the air rather then a direct strike, so the cable may still be good.

 

[buddythacat]

I hadn't thought about the static charge scenario, so that may be it. Oh I know nothing can really stop a direct strike so if I can just mitigate the loss even a little the next time a strike is nearby or even a static charge, then that would be enough. I remember researching this potential issue a year and a half ago and figured eh, it'll be unlikely to happen, and bam here I am lol. I remember even looking at tossing up some anchors on my tree with some copper grounding etc. but that was really excessive. It sucks to lose about 1k worth of devices but I'm just glad I was home and nothing caught on fire!

 

[fenderman]

Does anyone really expect a surge protector from stopping a lighting bolt that just traveled hundreds of feet through the air? And if it entered the system from a camera, the surge protector on the outlet wouldn't have helped protect the other cameras.

See the link about to a POE surge protector...the strike that too out his cams was not direct he would be on a lumber forum rebuilding his house. Surge protectors work. Personally I never use them on camera installs and have not had a problem. I have however seen a surge protector destroyed after a nearby lightening strike and all devices connected were saved.

 

[digger11]

If you don't own a tester, I'd recommend buying one of these...
https://www.amazon.com/Tonor-RJ45-Network-Cable-Tester/dp/B00OUFX38W

Well worth what they charge for it.

If it were me, I'd probably ring out each of the cables with the above tester, and cut the ends off of any cable that tests bad, re-terminate, and retest. Then replace anything that still tests bad.

 

[bguy]

If you don't own a tester, I'd recommend buying one of these...
https://www.amazon.com/Tonor-RJ45-Network-Cable-Tester/dp/B00OUFX38W

That tester will really only tell you if the wires have basic continuity. You get the same result by seeing if you have a link light at both ends of the connection. I have fixed cabled installations where they pass continuity, but fail as soon as you try to pass data. Normally this is due to excessive attenuation. Testing it by connecting a camera with PoE and passing data is a better test. By cable tester, I was thinking of a Fluke LAN meter.

 

[nayr]

The strike hit my pecan tree that is like 3 feet from my nearest IP cam and the jolt jump and took out all my outdoor string led lights, tv, xbox one, ip cameras, poe switch, modem, router. It was random but stuff happens and I just gotta move on....

You can consider this a direct hit, I bet it entered your network via the camera cabling.. cable damage is quite possible, and there is very little that would have saved you.. 3ft is practically nothing in open air when it reaches miles across the sky.

your wise to suspect everything, just about anything that was plugged in could start showing stability issues.

typically switch testing is pretty reliable, check the interface stats for error counters and try pushing a ton of data across the cable at full speed (local IPPerf tests)

 

[Q™]

...the strike that too out his cams was not direct he would be on a lumber forum rebuilding his house...

 

[digger11]

That tester will really only tell you if the wires have basic continuity. You get the same result by seeing if you have a link light at both ends of the connection. I have fixed cabled installations where they pass continuity, but fail as soon as you try to pass data. Normally this is due to excessive attenuation. Testing it by connecting a camera with PoE and passing data is a better test. By cable tester, I was thinking of a Fluke LAN meter.

Considering that what we are talking about here is a set of previously working cables that have potentially been damaged by a lightning strike, I would think that it would be rather unlikely for a lightning damaged cable to not have continuity problems, wouldn't you?

Equipment that adheres to standards ought to protect itself from issues caused by shorts, but after a lightning strike, I personally would want to know that I did have continuity on all 8 conductors, and no shorts in my cables before I started plugging POE equipment together.

And yes, I would like to have a Fluke LAN meter, but unlike the Fluke, a $10 continuity tester is something most anyone can afford to buy and put in their toolkit.

 

[buddythacat]

So I took my one working camera and walked around the house with a ladder...my POE switch reported a green light on each cat6 line...what else should I be looking for? Should I go ahead and purchase that continuity tester? Thoughts?

 

[bp2008]

A continuity tester isn't a bad thing to have, but if you trust the cable tests reported by your switch then it probably isn't necessary.

 

[smoothie]

I think the best option for avoiding lightning strike damage is to have lightning rods installed on the house such that they are the more attractive target. Lightning wants to get to ground, at all costs. If the lightning rods provide a better route to ground they will take the strike and the cameras will not. The cams and their network might still take over charge damage from induction, your CAT6 network is basically a giant antenna.

Actually I think the best bet would be offer to pay for a large number of lightning rods installed on your neighbors house, make it the more attractive target

 

[nayr]

you need a ton of burried copper to survive a lightning hit, those mountain top antenna sites.. have $20k+ in burried copper spider-webbing the top of the hill.. they get hit all the time w/out too much ill effect, yet they can still take considerable damage from time to time.

Its not reasonable to install such protection on residental buildings, there is more money bolted to most high altitude antennas than your house is worth.