Has anyone here had experience filing a lightning damage claim against your cable company?

We had a lightning storm come thru last night at every piece of equipment connected to a CABLE BOX in my house was damaged.

I have 5 TV's but only 2 are use digital cable boxes. All the rest of the TV's that are connected directly to the cable -- NOT thu a box -- are fine.

To further complicate things, it appears the last time Comcast was at my house for a service call (to install a signal amplifier) the technician bypassed the CATV inputs on my Panamax surge suppressor to plug the cable into this amplifier. I was unaware of this... until last night. :mad:

The sum total of my damage is one standard digital cable box, one 32" television, one HD digital cable box and a Rotel home theater pre/pro (that was in the chain between the cable box and the projector).

Any advice or past experiences would be appreciated.

I guess every cable Co has their own policy, but a co-worker tried to get reimbursed for lightning damage to his AV equipment from Cablevision here on Long Island. He was told- basically anything inside your house is your responsibility. The only thing Cablevision would cover was their leased set top boxes.
He had to file a claim on his homeowners policy for reimbursement.

As long as their service was installed in accordance with the NEC (code), they are not responsible for lightning damaged equipment.

Actually, your TV probably killed their box and your other equipment.
(My background - 35 years in TV repair)
Point 1: Storm damage tends to hit one leg of your AC line but not the other (half the outlets in your house).
Point 2: The newer the set, the more easily damaged. (switching power supplies).
Point 3: Damage occurs in a flow pattern. (in one place out another)
Point 4: The TV is the only hgh current device in the damage path. Low current devices tend to receive damage, not inflict damage.
Point 5: A TV has a two wire plug and uses the tuner shield connector in place of a ground wire. (the RCA jacks are also connected to the coax shield) Most new TVs even have a spark gap on the AC input with a wire that connects to the tuner case. A short in/through the TV outputs through the antenna/cable/RCA connectors, unlike your PJ that probably has a three wire plug.

Lightning or a power surge probably hit one device and the flow pattern passed back through the other devices, damaging them in the process. Due to their design, TVs are the most easily damaged devices that you probably own. Due to their lack of a three wire grounded cord (to minimize ground loop interference) a single TV set failing can damage every device connected to the entire A/V system. The three wire plug on the PJ provides another ground return path for your equipment.

Examining the specific damage to each device would give clues as to the source but it was probably the TV first. The damage then sought a ground return through the Boxes and PrePro to cable coax ground and PJ power line ground. Time to contact your insurance agent and check deductables. :(

For example, I am currently working on a 7.1 amp. The ground trace burned from the audio input jacks, indicates that the device connected to the input failed, passed to the A/V switch IC, shorting it, passing through to the 7 volt reg ICs, shorting them. Here the damage indicates that the TV shorted and took out the Amp. In your case, all damaged devices would need to be examined to determine the source, but historically the TV is responsible 90+% of the time.

An additional note: If the cable was ungrounded after they disconnected it from the Panamax, then the damage return path from a TV failure could have changed from the intended Cable Coax ground, (which would have still taken out a cable box) to a path through the PrePro to the PJ ground wire on it's AC cord.

It would take some sleuthing to pin down the exact type of damage to each device and the path of damage, but my money would be on the TV failing first.

well, you kinda pointed out 2 good things i think.

First, (even tho this doesnt happen like this, it happens thru the AC lines but anyway) if u are blaming the cable lines for the "damaging surge" then all 5 TV's would be out not just the 2 with boxes.

Second, no matter what kind of surge protector you have... NOTHING will stop a mutli-billion volt lightning strike.

i'm a cable tech, and just the past 3 day's i've been on quite a few calls for lightning strikes, and usually, IF AND WHEN it enters a cable line... it burns the connectors or completely melts the cable itself

I run into this quite often. only thing you can do is call ur home insurance company... satellite, cable, telephone, u'll never get anything from any provider b/c of lightning... even the power company (which is the culprit usually)

also as a side note, most cable boxes cannot function properly when they are fed through a surge protector, it generally kilsse the return signal coming from the box back to the cable co. that may also be why it was disconnected

even if the electricity did come through your cable line, why on earth would you think the cableco deserves to pay for it? they don't control lightning! god! why do they deserve to pay for your equipment which was damaged by a natural phenomenon? get insurance!

you bloodsuckers amaze me!

I'll do a little mind reading here.
I suspect the OP is wondering if the cableco, in disconnecting the cable from the Panamax, allowed damage to occur that would have been prevented had the cable still been running through the suspressor/stablizer. If the cable was the source of damage, then this reasoning would indicate that they had some liability because they bypassed a protective device. (without providing a suitable alternative or even a warning) This is a reasonable conjecture and was worth exploring. It may still be worth approaching the cableco with that argument, just to see what their response is.

Historically, cable is usually not the source, but a return path. Examination of each damaged device would be required to determine the path and direction of damage.

Blankfaze, lighten up my brother.

Zaphod, thank you. You are correct. My initial post was leading up to making a claim with the cable company to ask them to investigate *if* the coax was the infiltration point. *If* it was, then I might have tried to pursue some sort of contributory negligence on their part for having literally cut my suppressor out of the path (two stubs of cut coax were hanging from the suppressor) and not informing me. As aparis99 points out that no suppressor can stop a "multi-billion volt" lightning strike, however, the suppressor did come with a $50,000 lifetime damage policy that I *could* have then made a claim against.

But, after reading your initial post, I suspect that you are correct and that the strike came in thru the AC, travelled across the analog audio jacks since the pre/pro and TV don’t have a ground, and then left via the coax. I guess the cable boxes were the common victims rather than the common cause.

The cable company replaced both cable boxes without hesitation. Since the insurance company would only compensate me for the current (no pun intended) value of the damaged equipment and not replacement value, after subtracting my deductable the amount was too small to justify going thru with a claim. I'm sending the pre/pro back to Rotel on the hope that the damage is very localized and can be repaired.

Thanks for your help. Your analysis and explanation saved me a lot of time.

also as a side note, most cable boxes cannot function properly when they are fed through a surge protector, it generally kilsse the return signal coming from the box back to the cable co. that may also be why it was disconnectedI think that depends more on the particular surge protector box than on the cable box. I am running the cable through an APC S-15 before the HD cable box and it works flawlessly.

If you can find a reasonable servicer, you might not want to write the TV off yet. Typical storm damage is around $100 on a modern set, possibly less. There are a number of designs in a TV that can allow an arc accross a spark gap to the coax, bypassing the TV's circuitry, blowing a fuse, and passing the damage on to the next device in line. There is also an MOV in many sets that can fail, preventing further damage. I just fixed one like that last week.

If the TV is less than about 8 years old (and brand makes a big difference too), you might want to have it looked at.
(you didn't mention whether you had any of the damaged items examined)
Anything under $100 might give you another 7 - 9 years of use.
Just a thought.

Actually, your TV probably killed their box and your other equipment.
(My background - 35 years in TV repair)
Point 1: Storm damage tends to hit one leg of your AC line but not the other (half the outlets in your house).
Point 2: The newer the set, the more easily damaged. (switching power supplies).
Point 3: Damage occurs in a flow pattern. (in one place out another)
Point 4: The TV is the only hgh current device in the damage path. Low current devices tend to receive damage, not inflict damage.
Point 5: A TV has a two wire plug and uses the tuner shield connector in place of a ground wire. (the RCA jacks are also connected to the coax shield) Most new TVs even have a spark gap on the AC input with a wire that connects to the tuner case. A short in/through the TV outputs through the antenna/cable/RCA connectors, unlike your PJ that probably has a three wire plug.

Lightning or a power surge probably hit one device and the flow pattern passed back through the other devices, damaging them in the process. Due to their design, TVs are the most easily damaged devices that you probably own. Due to their lack of a three wire grounded cord (to minimize ground loop interference) a single TV set failing can damage every device connected to the entire A/V system. The three wire plug on the PJ provides another ground return path for your equipment.

Examining the specific damage to each device would give clues as to the source but it was probably the TV first. The damage then sought a ground return through the Boxes and PrePro to cable coax ground and PJ power line ground. Time to contact your insurance agent and check deductables. :(

For example, I am currently working on a 7.1 amp. The ground trace burned from the audio input jacks, indicates that the device connected to the input failed, passed to the A/V switch IC, shorting it, passing through to the 7 volt reg ICs, shorting them. Here the damage indicates that the TV shorted and took out the Amp. In your case, all damaged devices would need to be examined to determine the source, but historically the TV is responsible 90+% of the time.

My experience is very different, and includes nearly thirty years of service on CE products in Louisiana and Norht Central Florida. It is much more common for the source of the damage to be the cable system or sat system than the a.c. line, and SMPS damage is less common than damaged bridges in the PS primary. Cable companies disconnect surge suppression all the time making their boxes and the client's equipment more likely to be damaged. We use Panamax devices on all signal and a.c. lines on our installations and never see damage, except on systems where someone has disconnected the cable or sat lines. I have serviced hundreds of devices damaged by lightning and power surges, but never on a system properly connected through a Panamax or similar device.

The notion that not having a three wire ground makes televisions more subject to damage is faulty. All such devices sold in the US are double isolated, but this does not make them more likely to be damaged, nor would having an extra ground make them less so, unless connected systems are not grounded acording to code.

We see damaged all the time that is most likely due to exactly the scenario that the OP described.

well, you kinda pointed out 2 good things i think.

First, (even tho this doesnt happen like this, it happens thru the AC lines but anyway) if u are blaming the cable lines for the "damaging surge" then all 5 TV's would be out not just the 2 with boxes.

Second, no matter what kind of surge protector you have... NOTHING will stop a mutli-billion volt lightning strike.

i'm a cable tech, and just the past 3 day's i've been on quite a few calls for lightning strikes, and usually, IF AND WHEN it enters a cable line... it burns the connectors or completely melts the cable itself

I run into this quite often. only thing you can do is call ur home insurance company... satellite, cable, telephone, u'll never get anything from any provider b/c of lightning... even the power company (which is the culprit usually)

First, it is simply untrue that if the cable line was the source all five TVs would be damaged. The path that such a surge takes and the amount of current can vary greatly, and many times we see some items on a system that are not damaged with direct or near strikes.

Second, surge suppressors generally do not have to stop "multi-billion volt" strikes, and can be very effective at diverting current that does appear even in close proximity strikes. The vast majority of most current flows to ground through other sources and it is a common fallacy to expect that even a significant portion of the energy of a lightning strike appears at an a.c. or cable connection unless the system ground is compromised.

Connectors may get burned, and wires may be damaged, but the damage may also not be obvious as this. This has nothing to do with whether damage can come in over cable lines or a.c. lines or phone lines. It can come over any connections to a system and often does. It can vary in degree greatly. In general, good quality surge suppression that covers all lines into a system is very effective at preventing or minimizing damage, particularly if the system is properly grounded.

I would certainly file a complaint with the cable company. Their action of removing the cable line protection is very common and is unreasonable without the owner's authorization. We see this happen very frequently and have just had several conversations with management at the local cable provider this week regarding the practice. It is foolish and costs them lots of money in damaged STBs.

also as a side note, most cable boxes cannot function properly when they are fed through a surge protector, it generally kilsse the return signal coming from the box back to the cable co. that may also be why it was disconnected

This is a falsehood propogated by cable techs that do not understand the technology and the modern products. Most quality surge suppressors made in the past few years do have the bandwidth and the Panamax devices have been fine for years. We have installed hundreds of them with no issues at all unless the cable signal is extremely weak to start with. Typical loss is below 1dB, mostly from the insertion loss in the connectors. If cable operators and techs would do there job there would never be a reason to disconnect most surge protectors and their own equipment would be better protected.

We have this debate with cable techs constantly and every time we discuss the matter with their management and engineers we are told that they should NOT be routinely disconnecting surge suppressors. It is the lazy and uneducated techs that continue this myth.

even if the electricity did come through your cable line, why on earth would you think the cableco deserves to pay for it? they don't control lightning! god! why do they deserve to pay for your equipment which was damaged by a natural phenomenon? get insurance!

you bloodsuckers amaze me!

This position would be reasonable if the cable tech had not removed the protection that the user had installed. This is clearly negligent if it was done without authorization. If the cable system is properly grounded and the user had not had protection installed, I would agree. If the cable tech took actions that may have compromised the protection, then I think it is reasonable to assign some responsibility. If the system was not grounded according to code, the cable company is completely liable.