Sure it can jump a twenty mile air gap, I agree with you on that… then why bother to unplug? It is easily going to jump across the room and find that computer.
BTW, the double pole switches are 1/2 inch gap.
I will use my double pole switch… you can unplug then haul your computer 20 miles away.
Also my freezer and refrig wasn’t damaged for the (1/16 inch )starting relay was open.
All most forgot to mention when our transformer pole was hit with lighting only the light bulbs that were ** turned on** in our home was burned out… the tiny switch’s protected the other light bulbs.
You have to also remember that lightning, like all electricity, seeks the lowest-resistance path to ground. It’s not going to jump open switch airgaps if there’s already a closed switch completing a path on the same circuit (usually), which is why not everything in your house was damaged. Lightning also isn’t going to jump out of an outlet to the plug laying on the floor. At worst it will jump from the hot side to the ground or neutral lines, searing your outlet in the process, and maybe starting a fire.
Unless your house is protected with lighting rods and you get a direct hit, unplugging will not help you for your house will probably be destroyed by fire.
Most lighting damages to computers, modems are caused from high voltage surges on power lines and phone lines. An ** open switch ** will protect in 99% of all cases.
Like I said I have had much experience with lighting surges and I know what damage it will do… it can destroy everything that is directly in ** any closed circuit. ** I have never lost anything that was in an open circuit.
Depending on how close your lightning strike is, I assure you that the EMP from a close strike can and will destroy computers as well. There’s no way to be totally safe, even if you remove the cord from the CPU entirely.
