We had a really big thunder storm here the other week and power and phone lines took a direct hit. We had to replace our modem/router and my computer is in the shop for repairs. But that is not all, I had power on in my trainroom at the time and My NCE power cab is now acting bad. I thought it was a problem with the loco decoders when I turned on track power some of my locos strated moving without being given any commands and others would not respond at all. I then realised that track power was off during the power surge but the powercab was plugged in and powered up. So it is not the decoders but the powercab, this was confirmed when I tested the track with my multi-meter. I got a reading of 17 volts AC but when I swapped the leads... nothing. So it is like only half of the DCC wave is present. I did a brief inspection of the ciruit board but could not detect anything wrong, no burnt out bits or obvious hot spots. So does anyone have any suggestions as to what may have happened to my powercab and what I should do?
Basically the same as your computer, etc. The voltage spike from the lightning has goosed one or more components in the Powercab. I'd have been quite surprised if there was visible damage. Just send it back to NCE with a note about the circumstances (a copy of your post ).
MRL: Yeap, could always have been worse but, why... oh dear god, why? Not my controller, please Nnnoooo... Thanks Mike: It was what I had suspected, I'm still in denial and need to face up to reality. It will be painful being unable to run trains. Still, there is so many other things that I can do on my layout while the powercab is being repaired. So it's back to NCE for repairs to my powercab (sigh).
Ken, my house had a lightning strike about a year ago, so I have some advice regarding protection. First of all, I suspect you do not see any damage to your controller because the surge probably blew one of the chips internally. It takes very little overvoltage to pop them, and you'll not see any evidence. The best protection you can have for delicate electronics are surge protectors. I am not talking about the cheap units offered by big-box stores or consumer electronics stores, but well-engineered units that are designed to truly protect delicate electronics. The one I use, and I have four, is made by Belkin. BTW, do not be put off by the price on the Belkin site, Amazon offers them for less than half that price. http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=329553 A surge protector must absorb a large amount of instantaneous energy which is measured in Joules. The one I referenced above is rated at 3780 Joules, which is about the highest you can buy at a reasonable price for home use. Surge protectors sold at shopping center stores are rated between 150 and 600 Joules. Also they only protect for one surge. After that they are are no better than a straight piece of copper wire. The Belkin unit will protect for multiple surges. BTW, an electronic device is not immune from being zapped just because it is "Off". If a TV, controller, or similar device is plugged into the wall socket, it is not truly OFF, just in Standby. A surge will enter the device and pass right through the power control circuit as if it were a piece of wire. I lost three TVs that were "Off" when my house was struck. The only perfect protection is to unplug everything when you're not using it. That's not practical, so a well-design protector is next best.
I've had lighting strike but its damage was nothing compared to when the ground wire came off the transformer on the utility pole in the front yard. Half the house went to nothing and the rest went to who knows how high. Lost all the TVs and related items, any lights that were on (some broke) and a bunch of other items. Lucky the major appliances were not damaged and neither was the computer. Power company came out and put the wire back on the transformer and said "Too bad so sad.:tb-mad:" House insurance paid for replacements a couple months after the fact. Gary
I use a small APC UPS with surge protection...This really helps to isolate the equipment. I did this because I had a similar problem as you back about a year ago. I had a very good quality APC surge protector but somehow a spike got thru and damaged my DCC system. PeteC
Growing up in a trailer we had a routine when the thunderheads rolled in - RUN FOR THE WELL HOUSE!!! [which was...on top of hte hill..hehe... Unplugging the well was numbe one followed by unplugging every socket in the house and closing every window - we had sceens in all the windows in the summers, so we had to close the windows or the rain would come right on in!! Verticle sheets!! Oh yes, you can believe me, four-five kids get really effecient at this kind of work!!! Then we have a downpour that lasts between ten minutes and used to last up tp hours. REALY downpours!! That was truely a different time!
A surge suppressor is good for one shot. When it takes a hit, which unfortunately you may not be able to tell, replace the MOVs with new ones: http://www.nteinc.com/Web_pgs/MOV.html Protect your track voltage as well with lower voltage ones in case you have any locomotives on the rails. I have UPS protection for almost everything electronic in my house. Expensive but when the lights go out I can still play, at least for a little while. Of course I still must watch the MOVs in each UPS. Detecting MOV failure is not an insignificant task. If you are up to it, here is a thesis I found outlining a method of detecting failure through measuring capacitive change in the circuit (~ page 104). http://cerc.eng.usf.edu/std_individual/Stelios.pdf Of course the best way to prevent power line surges from damaging your equipment while not in use is the large air gap method. In other words, unplug it. If you have outside track and are concerned about lightning, unplug the leads to the outside track as well. Florida, the lightning capitol of the world, where the power companies have offered whole house surge protection for over 10 years.
The strike I had showed that the APC UPS was the first thing to blow, followed by all the computer gear it was (supposedly) protecting. I had a 1500W APC that proved it was only good for supplying continuous power when line power was lost. It did NOT protect anything from the surge, including itself. Furthermore, the "lifetime" protection insurance offered by APC was a Depreciated Value policy, they only offered $93 to replace more than $4000 of equipment. Had I accepted their offer, my homeowners policy would not have paid anything because that would be considered double coverage. I agree with Russmc that MOVs are used in most low-end surge protectors. I don't believe the Belkin devices I have use MOVs, but they have an LED that shows green indicating the unit is protecting as designed, but will be dark if the unit has failed and is not protecting. Also, they have another LED which shows red if ground is not present with the incoming power.
Most lightning 'srtikes' are actually near, or even quite distant, misses. Power and phone lines are not actually that interesting to lightning - it wants to go to ground and a conductor running parallel to the ground isn't a lot of help. What usually happens is that as the bolt goes to ground the magnetic pulse (generated by the current of about 100,000 Amps) induces voltage in any nearby conductors. It is these induced voltages that travel along the lines and do damage. A strike in your backyard will induce voltage spikes directly in your house wiring - possibly even in the wiring of unplugged items. Mind you, the blast from it would probably be quite bad in itself A direct hit nearby on a power or phone line would route a huge amount of power into your house. No surge arrestor is going to stop that. So you have to consider anything you put in to prevent 'lightning damage' as defence against a percentage of incidents; like flood defences protecting against a 1 in 100 year flood, where the 1 in 200 will go over the top. You also need to consider the cost of the protection and protectee, as Hytec found. Is it really worth spending a few hundred $ on a UPS/protector to give say 90% defence to a computer that only costs a few hundred $ to replace. And the likelihood of an incident comes into it as well - I doubt many Californians have tornado shelters, but in Kansas ... , so you need to consider your specific locality and situation.
Hmmm... some very informative information gentlemen. For future protection of my DCC equipment I prefer the air gap method, just unplug when not in use or when there are thunder clumps in the area. I did buy a new surge protector for our computers that has 60,000A max surge protection and has phone line sockets as well. It also comes with a $100,000 connected equipment warranty. Once again I feel privileged to be part of this wonderful forum and appreciate the genuine help and information offered. Thanks.
Lightning strikes are a very serious thing definately, A couple people I know had had some close calls. One's house was hit by a strike and the main ground wire had corroded away from the rod and was in-effective. They awoke to the boom and the smell of baking wiring in their home. The next day they found that the strike had blown a small chunk out of the foundation corner, evidentally where it grounded. A friend of mine was talking on the phone when a lightening strike hit a tree across the street, which also happened to be near the phone companies "box" whatever is in them. Being it wasn't a cordless phone he said a blue ball of electricity jumped out of the receiver and zapped him in the mouth. He woke up a few minutes later on the floor, and had to buy a new phone. I didn't believe it until I was over at his place that weekend and saw the tree and the marks on his face! I think to be 100% safe you gotta unplug things. I'm not an expert, but so much voltage can arc great distances and it may not matter what kind of electronics you have if it's plugged in it could be toast.
