Mike,
How about a letter to these likely customers, some time in April telling them that right now you're going to save them some money in the fall, and all it will take is a bit of attention on their part... or you could go shut things down yourself, for a nominal fee, if they like. Also perhaps find some way to say, in a kindly way, that you get really busy around that time, often with people who don't take your "unplug" suggestion, so service might not be as instant as normal.

It could be a rare and classic example of a follow-through current. Lightning typically does not have the energy so often attributed by hearsay. But a follow through-current (ie high voltage utility power that comes after lightning) does.

US Forestry Service research indicates that something more than 95% of all trees struck by lightning do not have appreciable damage. But many only see the rare exception and then somehow know lightning energy must be massive.

So why was a current using that path? From what to what?

The events that we are discussing will fall within in that last 5%.

Which is why a properly earthed a 'whole house' protector must exist. Since that 5% is routinely made irrelevant when a surge is earthed BEFORE it enters a building. Since direct lightning strikes without damage is routine (even over 100 years ago) when a proven 'whole house' solution is properly earthed.

Damage from direct lightning strikes is so routinely averted that damage is considered traceable to human mistakes. One major mistake is to buy protectors that 1) do not even claim to protect from the potentially destructive 5%. And 2) do not have the always required low impedance (ie less than 10 foot) connection to single point earth ground.

Protection means a surge must not be inside a house. One inside, it will hunt for earth ground destructively via appliances (even if powered off). Plug-in protectors can even make that damage easier.

So that a follow-through current does not exist, a homeowner should also inspect his 'primary' protection layer that the AC utility is responsible for maintaining.

weston... for someone who obviously does so much research on the internet, you are a real world idiot!

None of my clients want to invest in surge or lightning protection.
Save your breath.
I make money on replacement and clients get new stuff.

Too true.

I did a job a couple of years back where the son had video of the lightning striking the pool fence that mated up to the house. He just happened to be out there filming the storm when it hit their house. You could see it go all the way along the fence. I'll try to find it.

It went through the wall, down the cyclone rod inside the wall, through the gyprock (plasterboard), arced across the bracket (and left marks as though it had been hit with a MIG), took out the Samsung TV and the AVR that was a 20M HDMI run away.

Needless to say, it was time for new gear, with a substantial upgrade.

Effective surge protection is lightning protection. You mean they don't waste money on these things?
[Link: imgur.com]

Those things, that cost many times more money, also must be protected by something that costs about $1 per protected appliance.

Nobody invests in effective protection just like nobody invests in wall paint, floor tiles, or telephones.

??

You should know to ignore him. Look what you started.

I've wondered over the years if "he" is trial software of some sort.

They wont spend the money because they can afford enough insurance to replace it all. A client with a $50 million dollar estate/multiple dwellings etc said no to a mid 6 figure lighting protection solution.

So true Mario.

Tell me weston how all those speaker and network wires are protected running hundreds of feet across the house when a nearby strike occurs?
My modem was taken out last night. It is in an outdoor location and serves the purpose of taking the hit instead of the rest of my house. It succeeded.

Didn’t we go a few rounds with this guy once before on this topic? Maybe a few years ago, he tried to tell us how we were all doing this wrong.

Either that or I’ve relapsed... I swear this has gone down before

You are correct.
He is taking information out of research papers, electrical codes, and other sources. Then applying it in a totally screwed up and incorrect manner. It is why 1/2 of what he says gets a duh! (common sense to those of us that work with electrical and protection systems). And the other 1/2 of what he says is "WTF!" "you're an idiot".