How to Repair Circuits Damaged by Lightning Strikes
By Dave Rongey Summary:Electrical Circuits Question: My house hit by lightning and a number of the circuit breakers tripped. I cannot get power to two light fixtures.
Check Out What Others Are Sharing at Ask the Electrician: It has been a great resource. Aaron from Riverside, California
My house was hit by lightning and a number of the circuit breakers tripped. I cannot get power to two light fixtures.
I've changed the switches and the circuit breaker. Still no power.
The breaker is not tripping so I don't think there is a short circuit.
Interestingly, when switches are off I get a volt reading of about 49 volts.
Thanks- John.
Hi John - Great Electrical Repair Question!
John it sounds like you have lost a hot leg of the main power, this would explain why you are getting a 49volt reading which points to a neutral feed-back.
The circuit that is not working needs to be physically traced to find where the circuit is open. If you cannot find the problem then the damaged circuit will need to be capped off and terminated in junction boxes and a new replacement circuit installed but not attached to the defective portion of the original circuit.
If the original circuit is part of a 3-wire set or multi-wire circuit, then careful attention must be given to the shared neutral on any of the branch circuits.
John, I have repaired several homes that have been struck by lightning, many of varying degrees of damage. The worst one destroyed every electrical and electronic device in the home and the lightning surge actually blew the wire cable jacket open where the voltage went to ground to a gas pipe in the attic where the cable crossed the pipe.
With that home I had to remove all wiring from the panel terminations and perform a meg-ohm test on all insulated conductors to make sure there were no shorted or damaged wires.
Your homeowners policy may cover the repairs of this type of damage, check with your agent.
Also consider installing a Lightning Arrester on the main electrical service to help absorb any future lighting strikes.
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Skill Level:
Intermediate to Advanced - Electrical Repairs and Circuit Wiring is Best Performed by a Licensed Electrical Contractor.
Tools Required:
Basic Electricians Pouch of Hand Tools, a Voltage Tester and a Multi Meter.
Estimated Time:
Depends on personal level experience, ability to work with tools, work with electrical wiring, and the available access to the project area. Precaution:
Identify the project circuit, turn it OFF and Tag it with a Note before working with the wiring.
Important:
Modifying existing electrical circuits or installing additional electrical wiring should be done according to local and national electrical codes with a permit and be inspected.
This is a testing tool that is a Non-contact tester that I use to easily Detect Voltage in Cables, Cords, Circuit Breakers, Lighting Fixtures, Switches, Outlets and Wires. Simply insert the end of the tester into an outlet, lamp socket, or hold the end of the tester against the wire you wish to test. Very handy and easy to use.
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