Lightning Strike

[dmcody]

So, lightning struck ~100 feet from my pool house. We were very fortunate that there was very little impact on the pool; pumps, heaters, lights are all working. The outdoor outlets, landscape lighting, etc... all work. So far the only damage I have found is that the underground Ethernet line feeding my wireless access point in the pool house is no longer working. After troubleshooting the the hardware on both ends of the system, spending a couple hours with tech support troubleshooting hardware, I finally remembered that we had a 2nd line pulled just in case, so i plugged it in. Low and behold, the system works. I checked the primary again and it appears to be fried.

The ethernet cable runs the same route as the main power feed to my pool house, so I'm kind of surprised & relieved that the only damage would be to the buried cable (CAT5 or 6, not sure what was installed), not any hardware.

Any ideas why?

 

[Razorhog]

As a network guy, I would say that it's a coincidence. Albeit one that is hard to ignore... If the cable is direct bury or even in a conduit, it gets wet, and it could have corroded enough in one spot to cause a problem and it just happened on the same day as the lightning. I would try putting new ends on the cable and testing it again.

Sometimes you just learn not to question the tech gods. Feel good about your decision to pull 2 cables and enjoy internet in the pool house You might consider using the bad cable as a pull wire for a new backup cable.

 

[dmcody]

I'm not questioning, just trying to learn. I'll take a few hours of resetting equipment, tech support, etc... as an easy out compared to what else could have happened. I will try putting new ends on and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks

 

[tstex]

dm,

How long is the cable run and deep is it buried. I can assure you if it's more than 5-8 feet long and not in cable, you're not pulling anything unless it's your back. Also, the deeper it's buried, the less distance you can pull it.

I've buried 4-5 runs of 3 gauge wire for different bldgs. in the country, and I put them all in conduit and seal them, about 18 inches deep, I have never had to pull one yet, but I had lightening hit a tree, then go to a utility shed, blow off the light cover plate and burn/split the light box. It tripped the breaker, but I had a good grounding system w a copper rod about 6 ft deep in the ground. after I replaced the light switch, box, cover plate, I flipped the breaker on and she fired right up..

It's more than likely the lightening damaged something on your current wire. it's too much of a coincidence for all to be working, get hit, then it not work. Anything w water and energy is possible, but I'm confident it's the lightening. And, I am in no way detracting from what anyone else said.

again, I always recommend conduit...makes is very simple to pull a new cable w a little dish soap and elbow grease...

 

[pooldv]

Weird things happen with lightining and power surges. My brother had a transformer hit by lightning recently and all kinds of random things got fried while others on the same circuit survived.

Fried items
Pool robot
SWG but not the variable speed pump
GFCI circuit outside
Ethernet card in pc but everything else still works
Audio receiver

 

[dmcody]

Its new construction, 3 years old, in conduit ~18 inches deep. Since the 2nd wire is working, I'm not planning on pulling a new wire until needed. The overall length of the run is in the 100-125 ft range.

Next time i have an electrician over, I'll have them check the wire and see if they detect a fault.

Lesson learned - its alot easier to pull more wires up front, then to try and retrofit later.

Thanks