[adamson]

During the tail end of tropical storm Beryl we had almost 8 straight hours of violent storms. One lightning strike was like close...very close. Lost power right after the strike for a few hours. That day I had no signal on my tv, discovered I had lost HDMI 1 port. All items in surge protector except power inserter for deca, and a collar on the electric meter. Directv's dish is grounded to specifications also. Where did the surge come from? Looks as Directv is going to pay for my tv's mainboard replacement and they have been very good to me through the damage claims process. I do only have the standard protection plan and insist the surge came through their receiver. The HR'24 is ok at this time.

 

[west99999]

If the system is grounded properly then DTV should not be held liable for a lightning strike. If they send someone out on the damage claim and see everything up to code it will be denied most likely.

 

[texasbrit]

Yes, if you get a close-in lightning strike then nothing will prevent this sort of thing. This is really an issue for your home owners insurance...

 

[wahooq]

If it's a Samsung try a different HDMI port...I live in OKla ...my Samsung used to do this all the time untill I changed to Component

 

[rkicklighter]

Had the same thing happen last year to one of my Vizio TV's. Took out Port 1, same thing happened again on Sunday and took out Port 2. I know my system is correctly installed and grounded.

Guy from phone company was out yesterday repairing internet and I mentioned it, he has heard of it happening numerous times with both cable and satellite.

 

[texasbrit]

The HDMI board on some models of Vizio TV seems very susceptible to this problem. I've seen several reports of this.

 

[RBTO]

That sound's more like you took a strike to your local utility line or power transformer and the surge came in on your power system. That would account for the surge protector and the power meter ring (must have been a good hit!!). If that's the case, your surge protector wouldn't have stopped all of it and the current would propagate through your equipment to the nearest ground path including your satellite system (which is grounded).

Bottom line - not Directv's fault. You're lucky it didn't do more damage all over your house from the description you gave. The HDMI ports on most devices aren't that well protected to begin with (static discharge has been known to destroy them), so it's not at all surprising the one connected, failed. In the future, it would be a good idea to pop out the HDMI connection when you have this type of storm. Won't protect much but it will save your ports.