Storms can knock out the power and when restored, those power strips better be turned off! When our power goes out unexpectedly, first thing I do is run for the master off switch.
I unplug, yes. I also unplug when leaving home for a vacation. I don't have surge protection, not convinced that it works.
I’m sure this is the technically correct, safest advice, but I’ve never had anything damaged by power coming back on.
I answered No. I'm on a very old electrical grid and outages were frequent until recently. As a result I have two UPS devices protecting my system. Incoming phone line runs through UPS. My computers are on a UPS and any device that connects to either my computer network or my audio system via ethernet is also plugged into the UPS. I have seen power surges use ethernet cables a path to take out connected devices. I reckon this covers me for surges related to thunderstorm too. The proof for my not needing to shut down was tested when we had a NASTY power surge, then outage last February that actually took out one of my three UPS devices, but all my equipment was unharmed. The UPS that died actually made a large and very loud popping sound that scared the crap out if me.
Sometimes. If there seems to be a lot of lightning activity nearby, or if there's a lot of wind (that might blow a tree onto a power line). I have suffered a lightning-induced audio failure. One day while I was at work there was a very large strike on my block at home. The thunderclap was loud enough that I heard it at work, and I saw a news report online of some damage to a house near me. When I got home there was a bad smell, which I eventually sniffed out to be coming from an amp I had connected to my home-office TV. I was running a Naim NAC-42.5 and NAP110 into a pair of Stirling LS3/5As. I had inadvertently left the amp and preamp on. The amp was fried - all the output transistors were toast, many resistors were burned, and the transistors in the VI-limiter section were visibly cracked. The amp, still on, did not blow its line fuse but was putting out -42V DC to both speakers, so both woofers were completely locked up.
@Boltman92124 - I'm not sure throwing the switch (on a power strip or other device) is enough. If it is still connected and there is a strike, it could easily "jump" the switch- I think you need to pull the power cord from the wall receptacle.
It really depends on the severity of the storm. I watch the radar and play it by ear, if it starts getting bad then I unplug.
When I hear the thunder clap, I immediately turn-off and disconnect all my audio equipment from the wall.
Of course it is good practice to unplug, unless you would like to buy new components, but you don’t have wife approval.. But joking aside, the likelihood of a strike depends on your the (under)ground situation wherever your ground is located, like groundwater level etc.. If you haven’t had a lightning damage in the last 50 years it is very unlikely that it will happen.
I do. hard experience taught me. tV was on during a nasty Tstorm. Was about to turn it off when there was a blue white flash, the Venetian blinds behind the TV SHOOK and the TV went dead. Had to replace the flyback transformer. since then I unplug when storms are expected and always before leaving on a trip. easy enough to do and saves me lots of grief.
If I unplugged my system every time a T-storm was forecast, that’s all I’d ever be doing. Figure I have enough protection on the house to be good …. 25 years in and no problems. I do unplug the system when I go away for more than a few days.
Pinhead, I can't resist asking: Are you sure it was a wind swirl and not just your Klipsch babies cranked to 11?
Atlanta gets a lot of violent thunderstorms. I unplug when we have one and when I go away on a trip. Several people I know have lost their stereo and appliances during thunderstorms.
I have a recording studio in my home and everything is plugged into a few power units I have, so it's real easy to turn off in a storm which I do because it's better to be on the safe side. Same goes for the stereo set up.
I'm sure it works but it has its limits. I have surge protection (whole home and at the system) but I'm sure it can fail if a strike is close enough. It's amazing all the people who say they've never unplugged and never had an issue. That's not proof that you shouldn't unplug. It just means you've been lucky so far. Maybe 8 years ago or so we had a storm and lightning must have hit nearby because there was a loud bang, like an explosion right outside. Somehow I didn't notice any damage at all, on my property or on surrounding properties. But my garage door opener was dead. If you get a strike like that one (or worse) then good luck. Even with a surge suppressor the only way to be 100% sure is to unplug.
I only plug my system when I'm actually going to listen to music. When I'm finished, I unplug it (with it off, of course)
I voted “No”. Direct lightning strikes is how I recharge the caps in my Decware amps. It’s the only way to achieve peak performance.
