do you unplug your system during thunderstorms?

I don't as we have Monsoon season here in Prescott AZ and thunder/lightning constantly - I'd never be able to listen to my system. Music adds to the show.

 

Never. We have a poor electrical system in our house to say the least. I would say the panel needs to be replaced among other things.

That said, I run two different protections. One is a power conditioner for the main rack and a Monster power strip (one of the older giant home theater ones). I've never found the Monster blown but the other I find the breaker on a pretty regular basis tripped which kills the power to the whole rack.

We lose lightbulbs, coffeemakers , etc. a few time in the house but anything plugged into those outlets designed for the systems have been fine for the last five years.

 

I definitely do, if I'm home. I unplugged last night because there were close lightning strikes every couple of seconds for a while. I also unplug when I'm going out of town. There are lots of big trees where I live, and we lose power multiple times a year, from lightning, wind, snow and ice. The power surges can wreak havoc -- esp when the power company is trying to turn it back on and it goes in and out rapidly. Can't be good.

 

Absolutely! I leave my digital amps for the bass bins on 24/7 so I'm very conscious of lightning forecasts. I'll turn off the amps and unplug the gear from the wall outlet. If I'm going away for more than a day or 2, I'll unplug everything - just in case.

A few years back, I was out on a job when a big storm blew through town with lots of thunder and lightning strikes. I came home to find that although my gear made it, one of the power conditioners blew a fuse and the other was toast. I'm much more diligent now.

 

Absolutely, in Atlanta we usually have thunderstorms every evening during the summer. Better safe than sorry

 

Sometimes, but, luckily, i've never had a problem. I did blow up a VCR back in the 80s when I had a power surge from lightning.

 

Ah, but here in Arizona, we get thunderstorms like crazy, and they are very unpredictable. You can go to work with it sunny and hot outside without a single cloud in the sky, and two hours later get hit with some bad lightning and a flash flood.

 

Yes, my Bryston amp took a hit during a storm, but luckily they fixed it under warranty. Needless to say I am very cautious now and always unplug everything.

 

Absolutely, it is cheep peace of mind. I also unplug the antenna to the Panasonic plasma monitor. Years ago an intense storm boiled up while I was watching my new pride and joy Sony Trinitron TV set. The storm worsened and I decided it was time to unplug. Before I could get out of my chair a bright flash at the front of the house, the venetian blinds rattled and shook and the TV went off. I had to have it repaired - if memory serves the flyback transformer was fried. Several years later the audio failed, something I attributed to circuits weakened by that hit.

When I travel I unplug, when weather forecast indicates storms, possibly becoming severe, I unplug before heading to the office. When a storm is bad enough to wake me up at night, I get out of bed and unplug. Yes I have insurance, but several of my components are no longer in production and it took a lot of effort to dial in my system. I'd rather not risk it. Plus my deductible is $2500 and likely to go higher as my insurance costs rise.

 

Love Prescott. First trip there was in 71. I hope we have a monsoon this year in ABQ. I enjoy those afternoon thunderstorms. I have a Monster protector/filter but If I'm home I still unplug.

 

Thanks - I love NM as well - my wife and I were - either Santa Fe - or Flag/Prescott - hard to go wrong with either location. I should probably think about unplugging - but I just love listening to music most when the weather is dramatic and not boring and Sunny.

 

It's probably a pretty bad sign that whenever I see "NM," I automatically think Near Mint instead of New Mexico. "Well, of course, who doesn't love NM?"

 

Nothing like a lightshow from nature.

 

I love near mint but it can get costly.

 

Just don't listen to "Fire On The Mountain"...oops!

 

When my dad still had his TV store, he'd make a lot of money during thunderstorm season repairing sets damaged by lightning strikes or selling new sets to replace those too far gone for repair.

 

I lost my beloved Proton receiver because of this. Brown outs, dips in the power, are I believe what did it. I then lost my Mac's processor. They replaced the heat sinks twice! That in itself is a sign of power problems. Then they had to replace the processor.
I got a UPS battery backup with sine wave. The sine wave is probably overkill, and cost significantly more. But I wanted to try it with my audio components as well. Gave me bigger bass but the sound was awful. Had the power company come out because my voltimeter showed below average current from the wall. They discovered we needed a new line from the street, AND we weren't getting the voltage we were paying for.

So far, zero problems.
Of course I still unplug.

 

Absolutely

 

I did in Houston because some of the storms can get pretty scary.
Now that I live in East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), I don't. There are no thunderstorms here that remotely compare to the Houston ones.

But I do shut down when I go on vacation...just to save a little electricity and reduce fire hazard.

 

Just powereed off most of the components ...

 

We have more of a "tree-going-down-slowly-brown-out" sorta world where I live. If the power flickers... EVER, I unplug everything.

 

When not in use the stereo is unplugged.Just makes good sense.

 

No, the main plugs to my power regulators are nearly inaccessible.

 

Only when the tornado is headed for the homestead
Then before I get the loved ones out of arms way, I unplug the stereo
Of course I grab the dogs and leave the cats for themselves

 

That way, it may end up in tiny pieces scattered all over the county, but none of them will be burned out by lightning.