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| Waste of money? |
The TV in the kitchen seemed fine even though it is part of the same Xfinity Comcast installation.
I spent over an hour monkeying around trying to diagnose the problem. I figured that either the TV or set-top box had been damaged.
I swapped TVs and the kitchen TV worked fine with the suspect set-top box, but the big TV would not work with the kitchen connection.
Next, I connected the big TV to my laptop and the big TV mirrored the computer's desktop. Finally, I connected the big TV to its original set-top box connection and now it worked fine!
Did the TV heal itself?
I was relieved that the TV and set-top box were working, but the vintage VCR and new DVD player that were connected to the set-top box would not power up. The DVD player's wall wart was outputting 12 volts DC, but the DVD player would have none of it.
All the equipment was connected to AC via a high-end GE surge protected power strip that had the following guarantee: In the event that a power surge or spike occurs while equipment is properly connected to the surge protector, the manufacturer will repair or replace any equipment damaged up to the maximum value of $400,000.
But their guarantee does not cover lightning hits!
Your AC surge protector resets automatically after a short time period. You need to move up to a box that has coax cable F line protectors that have a higher joules rating. More than likely that low rating surge protector you have now will not protect you during the next lightening induced spike because the MOVs deteriorate over time.
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