KILL LIST

[Svart]

from the severe lightning storms here in Atlanta Georgia over the weekend.

3x 5532(two cracked and burnt one just doesn't work)
2x tl082(one just legs left, the other cracked and burnt)
2x lm339(cracked and burned)
1x 100uf 25v cap(exploded)
2x 10 ohm fuse resistors (just leads left and some scortch marks)

that was only on one channel, number 24 of 24. none of the others affected at all. in the middle of the night that storm knocked the power out without me even knowing it was storming outside the studio. I guess it's time to keep the weather channel tuned in this time of year.

any ideas why it only hit one channel? static spike back up the ground? there was no damage to the power supply either.

sorry guys, no camera for nice carnage photos.

cheers

 

[soundguy]

gremlins.

definitely gremlins.

dave

 

[scott_humphrey]

Bummer!

I purchased some power supply conditioners/regulators/isolators on eBay a year or two ago. It has been one of the best investments that I've made. Now when my refrigerator turns on I don't get a "POP" coming over my speakers. Lightning is a problem here, too, so I felt that I had to invest in something.

Maybe the isolated/regulated AC power supply would be a good diy project, but since these can be found for cheap eBay is probably the way to go.

 

[lictme]

nice. It sounds like a ground issue given that the burn skipped your ps. How's your grounding? If lightning hits and really "charges" the soil, there's not much that can help your unprotected gear.

I have big 'ol conditioners that scream bloody murder when lightning hits close.

I recently had a 10kuf cap inside a power supply explode at an event. The staff thought it was the house power - but I feel it was just it's time to go...:sad:

-james

 

[hodad]

A guy who's into synth diy & also works for a utility co. posted long ago to a list far away that one of the biggest problems with lightning strikes is that telephone ground & power ground are often not connected in the same place, & the differential between the grounds causes bad stuff to happen. I'm no expert & don't remember all the details, but I think that was it.
It's something that might be worth checking into.

As to why it only would blast one channel is beyond me.

Tom

 

[OldHouseScott]

Hodad, that's what got us a couple of weeks ago. Summer storm, lightning on the phone line. Got the DSL modem, toasted the router, took out the audio PC network card and PSU. Also on that outlet was the Furman headphone box which got zapped. What was weird about the Furman was it still passed signal but it was distorted. Started probing around with the scope and found DC offset everywhere it wasn't supposed to be. Replaced three NE5532's and voila, back to normal. Strange how even in their broken state they still passed audio. Oh yeah, took out the alarm system and air conditioning as well. Bummer.

It took about three days to figure out what all had been affected, and another week of scrambling to get everything fixed. Fortunately no major audio gear damaged. Somehow, thankfully, the PC that runs the board automation escaped injury as well.

Queer thing, lightning...

 

[jdiamantis]

Nearby lightening strikes often cause huge spikes on long audio runs, which usually crawl into the output chips and smoke 'em. The AD2142 are notoriously sensitive to this.

At the station I work at, we constantly take strikes (especially due to the 200' tower behind our building! The direct strikes are fine because they are dissipated through effective grounding.

However, last year we had a supercell pass overhead that not only brought a tornado within 500' feet of our studios, but threw a lightening strike nearby that destroyed the output devices of over 20 pieces of gear, including a brand new audio console. I'd never seen anything like it. Despite that fact that everything is grounded with 4" copper strap, the on air person swears they were shocked when the strike happened.

I've been busy putting audio isolation transformers and ferrites on all outputs in the hopes of preventing another catastrophe.

 

[Svart]

I was guessing that it must've come up the ground because it skipped the powersupply. all the components were fairly close to the main channel ground... oh well new parts on order anyway.


Cheers!