Had a severe lightning strike at the house during the storm yesterday. Took out my cable modem, router, garage door opener and most importantly my LTS DVR. It appears that even though I had the thing plugged into a CyberPower ups/surge protector it took a hit from one of the cameras IP Ethernet cables. There was a burnt charred mark on the shelf it was on, one particular cable is completely burnt black that feeds one of the inputs and the rear input panel of the DVR is burnt, partially melted and smoked. Can somebody explain the theory of what happened here? How could this have been protected and or avoided? I would add some pics of the carnage but not sure how to do that through my cellphone.
Lightning strike issue
- Thread starter JamesR
- Start date
mat200
IPCT Contributor
- Jan 17, 2017
- 15,057
- 25,391
Hi @JamesR
Ouch! Man that gonna hurt to replace all of that equipment.
Looking forward to seeing some more pictures of the unit and camera.
iirc we have had a few threads covering how to best protect vs lightning strikes.
hmmm... can't find the threads I've seen right now. There has been some good discussion on it.
update: a few links
Does effective lightning protection for cat5 exist?
Need help picking out Equipment for remote Location- Needs to boot back up easily
Lightning and grounding... what else can I do.
Lightning may have damaged my cameras!
Lightning surge protection
Ouch! Man that gonna hurt to replace all of that equipment.
Looking forward to seeing some more pictures of the unit and camera.
iirc we have had a few threads covering how to best protect vs lightning strikes.
hmmm... can't find the threads I've seen right now. There has been some good discussion on it.
update: a few links
Does effective lightning protection for cat5 exist?
Need help picking out Equipment for remote Location- Needs to boot back up easily
Lightning and grounding... what else can I do.
Lightning may have damaged my cameras!
Lightning surge protection
Last edited:
CCTVCam
Known around here
- Sep 25, 2017
- 2,815
- 3,683
Sounds like an insurance claim. You need to check all electrical equipment in the house because if it's got your surround surround receiver, the whole house has obviously been subjected to a surge and not just the CCTV system. Could run into thousands as typically ordinary pc's, tv's, DVD players, microwaves fridges etc are often affected also.
I'm no electrician, but a lot of the EU has gone back to modern versions of circuit breakers instead of fuses due to the speed with which they trip at over current - fast enough to prevent electrocution of persons bridging the circuit (milliseconds) . Maybe that might have helped although I'm unsure if the surge could simply have jumped the gap.
I'm no electrician, but a lot of the EU has gone back to modern versions of circuit breakers instead of fuses due to the speed with which they trip at over current - fast enough to prevent electrocution of persons bridging the circuit (milliseconds) . Maybe that might have helped although I'm unsure if the surge could simply have jumped the gap.
IF that is the case, you are lucky that's all that got destroyed. A lightning hit like that WILL find it way to ground If adequacy tempted.
SouthernYankee
IPCT Contributor
In a near lightning strike I lost everything that had a secondary wire going into it. Stereo, alarm system, all TV's, cameras, DVRs, Ethernet hubs, computers, modem,home phone systems, directv, ups, power strips. Things not hit refrigerator, stove, microwave, washer, dryer, hair dryer. It also took out some light bulbs.
Contact your home insurance company.
The ups and power strip insurance is useless as it exceed the joules limit.
You will find things months from now that appear to work initially but real do not.
I have not found a method to protect from lightning.
Contact your home insurance company.
The ups and power strip insurance is useless as it exceed the joules limit.
You will find things months from now that appear to work initially but real do not.
I have not found a method to protect from lightning.
Everything on the UPS/surge protectors in the homewere good(PC's televisions....). This morning I replaced the modem, router and MoCA adapter so I am back up for internet, wifi, TV and phone. The NVR did not take a power hit, it looks like it took a hit from a spike traveling on the ethernet cable. I assume that is fried my modem and router as well. I had none of the LAN or POE cables protected. As far as the NVR, it has no video outputs now, but does power up. The integral 16 position POE is obviously fried but I was able to connect the NVR to my router and using the IP Portal program on my pc, I can login to it and actually play back video footage up to the point where the lightning hit. So the drives are good and the NVR is sort of alive. LTS says they cannot replace the POE switch inside of it as it is part of the main board. So I either get a new main board for it or I buy a replacement and swap my drives into it. First I really need to look more into lightning and surge protection for the POE portion of the circuit. Here is an inside picture right behind where camera inut #4 was. Blew a hole right through it. 
Back to one of my original questions...Are the turret cameras mounted under the soffits with long runs of Cat6 cable some sort of lightning rod? I am still baffled as to how that camera connector got fried at both ends like that. Why was the lightning attracted to that?
Back to one of my original questions...Are the turret cameras mounted under the soffits with long runs of Cat6 cable some sort of lightning rod? I am still baffled as to how that camera connector got fried at both ends like that. Why was the lightning attracted to that?
Any idea where the initial strike was? Lightning wants to go to ground. The best way to protect is to have a better path to ground than your equipment. Big enough strikes, there is no protection. Your circuit is a parallel path for the electrons. The surge protectors short the electrons to ground but have a limit on their energy.
Example of protection would be to connect all cameras and NVR with a #12 or #10 ground wire and then to ground rods. If you have a ranch house ( long wire runs), ground network at both ends of house. No guarantees, but think better path to ground than equipment.
I’m trying fiber from top of 100 ft tower to NVR with #12 wire supplying power to switch and 3 cameras at top. My logic is #12 carries more surge current than cat 5 , and cat 5 is plugged into cameras. Lightning is not frequent here.
Example of protection would be to connect all cameras and NVR with a #12 or #10 ground wire and then to ground rods. If you have a ranch house ( long wire runs), ground network at both ends of house. No guarantees, but think better path to ground than equipment.
I’m trying fiber from top of 100 ft tower to NVR with #12 wire supplying power to switch and 3 cameras at top. My logic is #12 carries more surge current than cat 5 , and cat 5 is plugged into cameras. Lightning is not frequent here.
Don't have multiple grounding points. Everything must be bonded together (permanently). Only have 1!!!! A #10 or #12 is not sufficiently sized to help in a lightning strike to dissipate the energy. Multiple grounds means you more than likely have a difference of potential and when that happens, you create current flow.
Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing will prevent a direct or extremely close lightning strike from doing damage (one exception is if you optically isolate everything, including power). Some fiber has metal foil, so guess what, that's conductive. This is a common whole house surge protector rated at 50kA. You'll be lucky if the strike is not far away, and if it's close, it may be what sacrifices itself to save the rest of your equipment. But 50kA is pretty low and we haven't even talked about Voltage yet. 800V VPR rating (this is what is allowed to pass through) into your system. Check the voltage rating on the wire in your house.
Honestly the best bet is to put all the exterior cams on it's own POE switch, surge protect the power circuit as best as you can (and I'm not talking plug strip), and then run fiber to your inside equipment. But that won't stop lighting finding your water line, then transferring through your electrical water bond and into your panel and through your equipment. We always recommend whole home and spot surge protection, but when your number is up, it's up. Lightning is weird!!
Dramus
Pulling my weight
All that cable/wire--Ethernet cables, speaker wires, CATV cable, phone wiring, house wiring, etc.--are essentially antennae. Lightning produces strong localized EMP. Those antennae pick it up, just like a radio or TV antenna picks up broadcast signals, and brings it back to the receiver(s)--which is whatever it is to which they're connected. Only with lightning strikes we're talking several orders of magnitude more energy.
For your Ethernet cables you can try using shielded cable, but, looking at the extent of the damage I wouldn't bet that would've saved you in this instance. What you're just done is presented an excellent case for connecting all cameras to a dedicated PoE switch and then back-hauling that switch to the LAN with fiber.
Or using *gasp* WiFi
I was standing by our old aluminium doorwall during a storm several years ago and there was a strong nearby strike. Watched a sizable spark jump from the sliding part of the doorwall to the frame, from which the sliding bit was electrically insulated by its nylon rollers.
For your Ethernet cables you can try using shielded cable, but, looking at the extent of the damage I wouldn't bet that would've saved you in this instance. What you're just done is presented an excellent case for connecting all cameras to a dedicated PoE switch and then back-hauling that switch to the LAN with fiber.
Or using *gasp* WiFi
I was standing by our old aluminium doorwall during a storm several years ago and there was a strong nearby strike. Watched a sizable spark jump from the sliding part of the doorwall to the frame, from which the sliding bit was electrically insulated by its nylon rollers.
So even though my NVR has an integrated 16 input POE, I should still run an external POE switch and feed that to my NVR for the added buffer/protection?
I am a utility worker and deal with a lot of lightning strikes and the damage they cause. I’ve seen lighting disintegrate solid #10 awg like nothing. And I mean the only trace of it was a black mark. When it comes to houses lighting is tricky and almost unpredictable. Everything is vulnerable no matter what. Some things not then others. Everyone always tells me they “but I had a surge protector!” And I like “well lighting doesn’t care about your surge protector because it’s lighting”
Anyway almost nothing you can do about a direct hit to your house. I’ve seen huge ground rod grids and giant braided copper wire wrapping houses and lighting still destroy stuff or burn the house down. Direct hits are not as common among lighting damage though. Lots of people think they took a direct hit but usually not. What I see the most is lighting that comes into the house on one utility like the power and tries to find its way out on other utilities like cable, phone, internet, or whatever it can find. When it goes through the sensitive electronics it’s just blowing stuff up trying to get out. You can’t stop it, you can’t predict what it’s going to get or how bad. You can put whole home surge protection to help but even that’s not a sure thing. Only thing that really works is to unplug during a storm.
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Anyway almost nothing you can do about a direct hit to your house. I’ve seen huge ground rod grids and giant braided copper wire wrapping houses and lighting still destroy stuff or burn the house down. Direct hits are not as common among lighting damage though. Lots of people think they took a direct hit but usually not. What I see the most is lighting that comes into the house on one utility like the power and tries to find its way out on other utilities like cable, phone, internet, or whatever it can find. When it goes through the sensitive electronics it’s just blowing stuff up trying to get out. You can’t stop it, you can’t predict what it’s going to get or how bad. You can put whole home surge protection to help but even that’s not a sure thing. Only thing that really works is to unplug during a storm.
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If it didn’t hit the house it certainly within feet of it. I was home and saw the flash of light and the heard loud crack. My neighbor has some sort of lightning tracker program and called me on my cell to ask if i was OK because he was alerted to a strike either on my house or in my back yard.
Carnage...
Microwave
TiVo boxes
Land line phone wiring in the house.
Yamaha surround sound receiver
Router
Modem
MoCa adpater
Garage door opener's logic pcb
The LTS NVR for my cameras.
At least one camera. Have not gotten a new NVR yet to test the remaining cameras.
The Cat6 cable in the attic that fed that camera is toast and missing the last 6" or so of cable.
The shelf the NVR sat on in the basement has a nice toasty charred mark on it.
Pretty scary if you as me.
Carnage...
Microwave
TiVo boxes
Land line phone wiring in the house.
Yamaha surround sound receiver
Router
Modem
MoCa adpater
Garage door opener's logic pcb
The LTS NVR for my cameras.
At least one camera. Have not gotten a new NVR yet to test the remaining cameras.
The Cat6 cable in the attic that fed that camera is toast and missing the last 6" or so of cable.
The shelf the NVR sat on in the basement has a nice toasty charred mark on it.
Pretty scary if you as me.
You better check all your electrical wiring or have an electrician do it. I’ve seen romex and receptacles get fried, blow up, vaporize and such. But what’s worse is if you have damage that you can’t see or even notice and over time the added resistance in a splice or connection overheats and catches fire during general use.
Shine a flashlight inside all your outlets. Look and for burned marks. Pop several of them open and look at them. Pop the cover off your breaker box look at them. Look at the end of every cord. Also use your nose to smell for it.
Be sure to take safety precautions as to not get electrocuted.
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Shine a flashlight inside all your outlets. Look and for burned marks. Pop several of them open and look at them. Pop the cover off your breaker box look at them. Look at the end of every cord. Also use your nose to smell for it.
Be sure to take safety precautions as to not get electrocuted.
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