[Lowfer] EAR in EN90xn

[listread at lwca.org]

> I notified my ins agent of the event just in case stuff starts
> malfunctioning a few weeks down the road to preserve my claim
> capability...

Good plan, Mike. Sometimes lightning damage turns up in odd places and at
unexpected times.

Down in Georgia about 14 years ago this summer, I experienced a strike to
a big pine tree by the southeast corner of the house, that jumped to the
(grounded) TV antenna, proceeded to melt the coax all the way across to
the lightning "arrestor" at the ground rod on the southwest corner of the
house, continued to scorch the coax from there all the way through the
laundry room and up to the tuner inside the back bedroom; and in the
process, caused a spark between the washer and the dryer that left big
burn mark on the metal of both. The TV stuff and my oldest PC were all
plugged in together there, so naturally it fried the power supply of the
computer and got into the phone line through the modem. The next computer
in line was my newest (then) PC tower; but strangely, the only damage it
sustained was to the mouse--not the modem card, not the mouse port in the
PC, but the electronics in the mouse itself! Odd. And then a blob of
charge continued down the phone line to the far end of the house...where I
was catching up on email after an earlier storm moved out.  I was nearly
done with my final reply when I heard another distant rumble, and began
wrapping up hastily. I was reaching for the V key when a spark jumped more
than an inch from the backplane of the notebook keyboard to my finger.
Simultaneously, the inside of the house got very bright, then very dark
and very loud.

But this is not the story.

A few months later, while doing laundry, I suddenly heard water pouring
out on the concrete floor of the laundry room. One of the water hoses to
the washer had burst.

No problem, I'll just reach across the washer and turn off the tap.  But
then it dawned on me: even though the appliances checked out OK after the
lightning, what if insulation in their wiring or motor windings had
deteriorated since then? Leaning across the machine while standing in
water might be hazardous to my health!  Simple, obvious safety
procedure--gingerly reach over to the wall outlet and pull the plug first.
 So I did.

That's when the hidden damage showed itself.

The lightning evidently fractured the ceramic insulator of the socket.
When I tugged, the plug came out just fine...but so did all the fragments
of the socket, allowing its contacts to meet in a magnificent arc.
Instantly, the problem du jour switched from being an ordinary water leak
to flames from wiring lapping at the ceiling of the laundry room.  I had a
sudden vision of being the dictionary illustration for the word "irony;"
water, water everywhere, but not a drop I dared use on the fire!

A mad dash back to the breaker box at the other end of the house
fortunately removed the heat source that was sustaining the flames before
the painted plywood ceiling had a chance to ignite, and allowed me to
begin the cleanup.  Moral: lightning damage can indeed show up much later.

John