House struck by lighting

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AC\DC

Senior Member
Location
Florence,Oregon,Lane
Occupation
EC
I was told by a client that his house was struck by lighting. He was told they rewired the whole house. I thought the gentlemen was kind of crazy. When I opened a few Switches to change some dimmers. I noticed every box I opened, the Wagos that had a EGC was black inside. I have never seen this before. Now I am starting to believe the man.

I have never dealt with a house that was struck by lighting, what would be the proper steps. I will make sure it has Proper GEC and everything is bounded. Though by the looks of the Wagos they did not rewire the house. Should I megger to see if insulation is still good.
 
AC\DC said:
I was told by a client that his house was struck by lighting. He was told they rewired the whole house. I thought the gentlemen was kind of crazy. When I opened a few Switches to change some dimmers. I noticed every box I opened, the Wagos that had a EGC was black inside. I have never seen this before. Now I am starting to believe the man.

I have never dealt with a house that was struck by lighting, what would be the proper steps. I will make sure it has Proper GEC and everything is bounded. Though by the looks of the Wagos they did not rewire the house. Should I megger to see if insulation is still good.
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I would suggest taking pictures so you can show the owner what you would like to replace, megger the insulation and look for any signs of damaged conductors, overheated, bad connections, etc... then offer your price to complete the repair. I’m guessing they will take that quote back to their insurers to have the job completed so make sure to bill for that time you spend gathering and testing because you might not make it back on the back end.


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I should of stated he bought this house not knowing it was struck my lighting, till years latter when neighbors told him.
so insurance is out the window I presume
 
AC\DC said:
I should of stated he bought this house not knowing it was struck my lighting, till years latter when neighbors told him.
so insurance is out the window I presume
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Depending on state law, the seller may have been under an obligation to disclose the damage, even if it was credibly believed to have been properly repaired.

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with the high voltage would it not degrade the insulation.
So if connections look good and the insulation test shows fine. Everything should be okay?

We seldom get lighting around my parts maybe 1 day a year. So don’t deal with it a lot.
 
AC\DC said:
with the high voltage would it not degrade the insulation.
So if connections look good and the insulation test shows fine. Everything should be okay?

We seldom get lighting around my parts maybe 1 day a year. So don’t deal with it a lot.
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My concern would be oxidation at the terminals and damaged copper and aluminum from high temperatures. Ive seen overheated copper wires look good from the outside but when you strip the insulation off the wire it is discolored. It causes high resistance and can cause motors to fail and fires. Got to replace the wire, can’t just cut it back, I learned that the hard way.


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I've seen the ground wire melted at turns.
When you do lightning grounding systems you have gentle turns.
 
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