God I hate lightning....

[erkme73]

Had a nearby strike that took out 11 switches and fiber-to-ethernet adapters. At least that's what I counted so far.



The problem is that all of the distant ethernet runs have no power - so I have to use ethernet (vs fiber) to have power at the cameras. Some runs are approaching 500' long.

For example, between my home and my barn, I've run about 350' of cat 6 years ago. I have power at both ends, so I could have used fiber. Since I cannot easily replace the cat 6, I've added these media adapters at both ends to create a fiber "gap".

Two days ago, I had that close strike that destroyed equipment on both sides of the bridges. I couldn't figure out how that was possible until I looked closely at the metal boxes of the fiber adapters.

To save space at the installation points, I stacked the metal boxes and zip tied them. In retrospect, that was a really stupid idea. As the surge came down the line, it jumped through all four boxes.



The current was high enough to weld through the paint and melt the metal. Still waiting on replacement hardware to put the network back together. Until then I won't really know whether my cables survived.

 

[tigerwillow1]

I'm counting about 50 ports on those switches. You must have a lot of cameras and I hope they survived That's where the big money probably is, and if the switches sacrificed themselves that would be the better outcome. I use small business switches from ebay and their cost is a nit compared to the cameras. Must have been one heck of a nasty strike.

 

[OICU2]

you have too much network!

Invest in the future:

 

[erkme73]

I'm counting about 50 ports on those switches. You must have a lot of cameras and I hope they survived That's where the big money probably is, and if the switches sacrificed themselves that would be the better outcome. I use small business switches from ebay and their cost is a nit compared to the cameras. Must have been one heck of a nasty strike.

Around 60 yes. Fortunately they seem to survive these close strikes. Won't know for sure until new hardware arrives later this week. When the high-port switches first became affordable I loaded up on a few of the 24 ports. With each storm, I'd lose a few ports here and there (never any cameras, thankfully) and realized by having multiple 4-port switches with SFP ports, I can better isolate the damage. That was working great on the not-so close hits. But man, this one on Sunday must have been close (I wasn't home).

And the worst part about it is, I had all these switches and fiber isolators (all metal cases) touching each other. DOH! Time for a bigger network closet I think.

I guess consider this a PSA for anyone else who didn't think it through properly... touching metal cases will undo any fiber isolation strategy you might have!

 

[Starglow]

Yep...it looks like the lightning surge path went through the chassis ground from one box to the others. My question is what path did it use to get to those receivers and switches? Was it through the AC powerline or did it hit a LAN cable? I'll bet you have some other damage that you haven't found yet.

 

[erkme73]

Yep...it looks like the lightning surge path went through the chassis ground from one box to the others. My question is what path did it use to get to those receivers and switches? Was it through the AC powerline or did it hit a LAN cable? I'll bet you have some other damage that you haven't found yet.

I think it was a combination. I did have one 20a breaker in my woodshed that was tripped. And a cellphone charger that was on that circuit was fried (smelled too). But no other damage to the limited things that were in the shed and plugged in.

The fiber isolating boxes run on tiny 5V 1A wall warts and they are still working fine. In fact, I replaced the fiber boxes, and reused the wall warts. So that damage must have come down the ethernet cable. I have to imagine the hit was on my property, or damn close.

Nothing else outside of the network devices and that one cell phone charger are damaged. But, like you said, I won't necessarily find it right away.

 

[Starglow]

Around 60 yes. Fortunately they seem to survive these close strikes. Won't know for sure until new hardware arrives later this week. When the high-port switches first became affordable I loaded up on a few of the 24 ports. With each storm, I'd lose a few ports here and there (never any cameras, thankfully) and realized by having multiple 4-port switches with SFP ports, I can better isolate the damage. That was working great on the not-so close hits. But man, this one on Sunday must have been close (I wasn't home).

And the worst part about it is, I had all these switches and fiber isolators (all metal cases) touching each other. DOH! Time for a bigger network closet I think.

I guess consider this a PSA for anyone else who didn't think it through properly... touching metal cases will undo any fiber isolation strategy you might have!

You need to install some really good surge protectors if this is a repeat occurrence. You can get one installed on your meter by the power company, or you can get them for the electrical panel that protects everything in the panel. A UPS unit would also be a good investment because it will take the hit instead of your equipment unless the lightning strike hits an unprotected cable path. I've done RF interference and susceptibility testing on IT equipment for 30+ years and what your photos show is an amazing field example of what can happen during real world surge events.

 

[erkme73]

I have all of that already. Every switch is on an APC UPS. I have a whole panel surge protector. I think the spike was induced between the main panel and the woodshed (at least for the damage there). The router that was powered by that cell phone charger was fine. But the switch in the shed wasn't. So my thoughts are that the damage to the switches was entirely through the LAN.

 

[Starglow]

I have all of that already. Every switch is on an APC UPS. I have a whole panel surge protector. I think the spike was induced between the main panel and the woodshed (at least for the damage there). The router that was powered by that cell phone charger was fine. But the switch in the shed wasn't. So my thoughts are that the damage to the switches was entirely through the LAN.

Do you by chance have any overhead high power feeder lines running near your location...? I have them running behind my house and two houses near me have been struck by lightning. I've been told that my house got hit once too long before I ever owned it.

 

[tangent]

You might want to invest in a UL listed lightning protection system with spikes on your roof, a full ground ring around the house, etc. Is the barn fed power from the house? Grounded back to the house (this has been code for a while) or ground rods at the barn?

You can also airgap with point to point wireless and could try to power cameras in outbuildings with solar and batteries.

Generally it's often advisable to bond equipment together and provide a strong path to ground, but I know with lightning it can be more complicated. Differences in potential cause current to flow, think downed power line and rings of death.

 

[erkme73]

No, I'm on 52 acres. The only utility service is for power, and it's 7.2kV, 3' under ground until the pad mounted transformer - which is about 75' from my home. None of my data lines rune parallel to the main feed.

What's crazy is when I lived in the Tampa area (known as the lightning capitol of the US) I never had any lightning damage. Then again, I also didn't have thousands of feet of ethernet cable strung across my property either.

 

[erkme73]

You might want to invest in a UL listed lightning protection system with spikes on your roof, a full ground ring around the house, etc. Is the barn fed power from the house? Grounded back to the house (this has been code for a while) or ground rods at the barn?

You can also airgap with point to point wireless and could try to power cameras in outbuildings with solar and batteries.

Generally it's often advisable to bond equipment together and provide a strong path to ground, but I know with lightning it can be more complicated. Differences in potential cause current to flow, think downed power line and rings of death.

Yes, the barn, woodshed and house are all fed from the same bonded ground at the service entrance of the house. No other ground provided to prevent a ground loop.

As for lightning strikes, I've never actually had one that left physical damage to anything on my property. I had a camera on a utility pole at the street get struck a couple of years ago. It vaporized the RJ45 jack on the camera - and every 50' or so the 500' long ethernet cable had holes blown in it with random conductors sticking out. Believe it or not, the camera was fine! Just crimped on a new connector, replaced the line, and all was well. Outside of that singular event, I've not seen anything that makes me think any of my structures or trees were ever directly hit...

 

[Starglow]

Yes, the barn, woodshed and house are all fed from the same bonded ground at the service entrance of the house. No other ground provided to prevent a ground loop.

As for lightning strikes, I've never actually had one that left physical damage to anything on my property. I had a camera on a utility pole at the street get struck a couple of years ago. It vaporized the RJ45 jack on the camera - and every 50' or so the 500' long ethernet cable had holes blown in it with random conductors sticking out. Believe it or not, the camera was fine! Just crimped on a new connector, replaced the line, and all was well. Outside of that singular event, I've not seen anything that makes me think any of my structures or trees were ever directly hit...

You should buy a lottery ticket every time a storm comes through because your chances of getting struck by lightning are the same as winning the lottery.....but your odds of winning might be a little better.

 

[erkme73]

BTW, one other casualty... my gate opener controller. It is not connected to AC, as it runs off of a battery/charger. Transient could have entered through the long ethernet cable I run back to the barn to operate a dry contact relay (home automation controller) to toggle the gate remotely. There's also a 150' sensor cable (to detect vehicles) that could have run the current into the board. New board on order... cha ching...

 

[tangent]

You should buy a lottery ticket every time a storm comes through because your chances of getting struck by lightning are the same as winning the lottery.....but your odds of winning might be a little better.

Trust me, I've played that game, it doesn't work. I was struck (indirectly) by lightning when I was about 15.

 

[TonyR]

you have too much network!

Invest in the future:

View attachment 171127

So THAT'S what happened to my CenturyLink 1.5MBPs ADSL from 3 years ago.....

 

[TonyR]

.....have thousands of feet of ethernet cable strung across my property either.

That's the equivalent of a big "strike me" sign on your back...as you now know so well....been there, got the tee shirt.
Sorry to hear about it though, my man....

 

[TonyR]

Had a nearby strike that took out 11 switches and fiber-to-ethernet adapters. At least that's what I counted so far.

View attachment 171114

The problem is that all of the distant ethernet runs have no power - so I have to use ethernet (vs fiber) to have power at the cameras. Some runs are approaching 500' long.

For example, between my home and my barn, I've run about 350' of cat 6 years ago. I have power at both ends, so I could have used fiber. Since I cannot easily replace the cat 6, I've added these media adapters at both ends to create a fiber "gap".

Two days ago, I had that close strike that destroyed equipment on both sides of the bridges. I couldn't figure out how that was possible until I looked closely at the metal boxes of the fiber adapters.

To save space at the installation points, I stacked the metal boxes and zip tied them. In retrospect, that was a really stupid idea. As the surge came down the line, it jumped through all four boxes.

View attachment 171115View attachment 171116

The current was high enough to weld through the paint and melt the metal. Still waiting on replacement hardware to put the network back together. Until then I won't really know whether my cables survived.

Summer of '74 in Clayton County, GA the lighting spot welded several analog inductive vehicle loop detectors that were in sheet metal cases to the traffic signal cabinet's top shelf after a nearby strike. I pried them off with a screwdriver. On it's PC board there was a NE-2 neon lamp that was soldered across the incoming loop; the glass was vaporized and 2 tiny electrodes were sticking up.

The loops in the pavement for detecting the cars brought the ESD inside to the detectors.

 

[erkme73]

Summer of '74 in Clayton County, GA the lighting spot welded several analog inductive vehicle loop detectors that were in sheet metal cases to the traffic signal cabinet's top shelf after a nearby strike. I pried them off with a screwdriver. On it's PC board there was a NE-2 neon lamp that was soldered across the incoming loop; the glass was vaporized and 2 tiny electrodes were sticking up.

The loops in the pavement for detecting the cars brought the ESD inside to the detectors.

IT's not funny at the time, but it makes a hell of a bar story (amongst engineering-folk) later.

 

[Gargoile]

you have too much network!

Invest in the future:

View attachment 171127

No, he has too much copper. What you posted is a fiber extender I would have left the refried beans label on the cans.