I turn my gear on in the morning or when I first use it, leave it on all day or until I leave, then I shut it down and unplug everything from the AC. If a thunderstorm approaches, I do the same thing.

I live in a very high lightning zone. One of the highest in the nation and even though the incidence is high, the chances of it affecting me are low. Since 1957 when we moved here, it's happened twice.

1) I went to lunch, thought I unplugged everything, but left a hardware sampler plugged it. When I got back it was toasted, the repair charge was $600

2) A sudden storm came up, I was in the process of unplugging everything, sparks flew through the house, and wiped out a printer/copier/fax machine.

Many, many years ago I took a job as a telephone repairman. I thought I was getting out of the music business and becoming a fine, upstanding, productive citizen. It didn't work out that way. I was playing music still on the weekends and when a good opportunity came up, bye, bye ma bell.

Anyway I went to a house that got hit. The drop line from the pole to the house was just neoprene, all the copper was gone and it was brittle to the touch. The metal flashing on the eave of the house was melted to the drop wire. The lightning protector was gone from the side of the house, and I found a good sized piece on the back fence. There was a black stripe on the exterior wall where the ground wire used to be. The wire going from the protector to the wall phone was stiff with red, green, yellow and black insulating plastic dripping out of it, the phone itself looked good until I took the cover off, it was black and melted inside. And there were two holes in the ceiling in the master bedroom over the bed. The customer said the lightning ran around in the attic for about 15 seconds before it punched the holes in the ceiling.

Lightning can do strange things. I don't keep my stuff plugged in when I'm not here, when I'm sleeping, or when as storm approaches.

The electric bill is nothing in comparison.

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
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