Lightening Killed My TV

[tallyho8]

I had the same problem when lightning hit and took out my flat screen tv and the microwave.

I took the back off the tv, found the blown fuse, went to Radio Shack and got one like it, replaced it and it worked fine.

The microwave wasn't so lucky. It was toast.

 

[N80]

Thanks guys, will certainly check the fuse.

 

[MossRoad]

Thanks guys, will certainly check the fuse.

As someone mentioned, google your make, model and repair videos. It is surprising how many folks take the time to show you how to repair laptop screens, iPads, iPhones, TVs, appliances, etc... one of the good things the internet has to offer besides TBN! :laughing:

 

[jinman]

If you are gonna scrap the TV anyhow, there's no reason not to check for a fuse. My neighbor had a loss earlier this year on a brand new cabin and furnishings. Turns out the cabin did not have a ground rod on it's sub-panel and the grounds and neutral were tied together in the subpanel by the jakeleg electrician. Anyhow, my neighbor had a big screen TV, DVD player, DirecTV receiver and a space heater all with remote control. They all fried. Luckily, the TV and DVD player were only 90 days old, so they took them back to the store and got them replaced under warranty. The heater was a bit older and that was a $200 outlay.

My neighbors asked me to look at things and could not understand why lightning got them when everything was off. I had to explain to them that nothing is really off when it has a remote control. The only way to protect things would be to switch off the master breaker when the cabin is not occupied. They didn't want to do that so they could keep cold drinks in the fridge. I also explained to them that there is NO protection from a direct lightning strike. Later, the power company verified that to be true. If things aren't unplugged, they are susceptible.

 

[creekbend]

First, I am sorry that this happened to You. A good friend of mine owns an Electric Company and an Automotive Shop and Garage. Several years ago, he told me of a way to reduce this Lightning problem. He told me to plug in One Surge Protector into the receptacle and plug a second Surge protector into the First one. I make all my connections into the second 6-plug Surge Protector. BTW, we have alot of close lightning strikes, and some even shake our Home. This scares my Wife. We haven't had any problems for around 6 years. Knock on Wood. I sincerely hope that replacing a Fuse will be the answer. Best wishes.

 

[sam5570]

When you get new "stuff", make sure to buy a UPS too! (Uninterruptible Power Supply) They are about $150 and well worth the investment. It probably would have saved you the headache you are going thru now. This is not a surge protector I'm talking about built into a power strip. Places like Best Buy and Walmart carry them.
I have 5 of them. On every TV (with components) and Computers at my home!!
Looks like this:
AMERICAN POWER CONVERSION 1080VA Battery BackUp System BN1080G - Best Buy

Harry thank's for the post I need this item, my power goes out for seconds almost every day and it's killing us. we are constantly replacing stuff and I know it's because of the surge. we have argued with power company over this for several years.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

We had a tree come down and rip the power line off my parents house causing it to arc. It fried the power supply on the desktop pc and killed all the tvs. The desktop was plugged into a "good" powerstrip that was suppose to protect it and I guess we were lucky the power supply was cheap to replace (the monitor, printer and fax all survived the ordeal). The new and better power strips cost more but our insurance did pay a good portion to replace the TVs (3 of them there). Now everything is hooked into high quality surge protectors.

Good luck with your replacement shopping and hopefully you won't have this happen again.

 

[kenmac]

Consider yourself lucky,,,lighting will also take out A/C units. I've replaced several this yr. from lightening strikes Thousands of $$$$$ to replace



http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lls/nlsi_annual_usa_losses.htm

 

[TCJatko]

If your TV is dead, just bury it and don't get another. Believe me, it's much nicer without it.

 

[grsthegreat]

unit surge suppressors are ok, but whole house systems are better. They will protect ovens, refrigerators, etc...along with tvs and dvd players.

There are all sorts of whole house systems....and some have 5 year guisrantees that pay deductibles if they dont work.