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Lightning strike has fried my answerphone

alywin — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 10:47:41 GMT

Hello everyone. There was a lightning strike near us the other night which appears to have fried the answerphone, a BT Response 75+, which was plugged into a wall socket with no surge protector or anything. (Presumably it was the RCD tripping rather than the lightning itself which caused the problem. The socket appears to be fine. The phones are working normally.). As no retailers actually seem to sell standalone answerphones any more, replacing it is going to be a bit difficult, although essential.

My question is actually this: would anyone like to hazard a guess as to what damage would have been likely to have been caused? If only the plug/transformer/cable has burned out, then it looks as though I could get a replacement for that easily enough, but if the actual machine itself has sustained damage then it will be a write-off.

If you need more technical details I can try and oblige.

Many thanks.

Re: Lightning strike has fried my answerphone

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 10:53:30 GMT

Assuming it's dead, there's no way of knowing short of replacing the AC adapter. Best bet is to look for one used on Ebay/Facebook Marketplace/etc. & try the AC adapter from that on yours. Then you'll have both a working one & know whether it's just the AC adapter blown on yours.

Re: Lightning strike has fried my answerphone

gg30340 — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 11:05:55 GMT

You could consider getting BT Voicemail. It costs about £4 a month or free if you are on a digital phone package.

See links.

https://www.bt.com/help/landline/all-about-bt-voicemail

https://www.bt.com/help/landline/all-about-voicemail-for-digital-voice-

Re: Lightning strike has fried my answerphone

alywin — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 11:13:31 GMT

Yes, but you can't intercept the message being left on voicemail, can you? That's why we need an answerphone. Not to mention that the phone bill is already quite hefty enough without any further additions!

Re: Lightning strike has fried my answerphone

alywin — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 11:14:17 GMT

Thanks, yes, that was rather what I was thinking.

Re: Lightning strike has fried my answerphone

licquorice — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 11:17:24 GMT

No idea where you have looked, but Argos have a BT decor 2600 for £35

Amazon have a couple at less than £20

Re: Lightning strike has fried my answerphone

alywin — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 23:16:57 GMT

Thanks, yes, I saw that, but it's not a standalone answerphone. I have phones coming out of my ears, so to speak. And I do try to avoid using Amazon wherever possible.

Re: Lightning strike has fried my answerphone

licquorice — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 07:11:41 GMT

Then simply replace one of your phones with a combined phone/answering machine. Provides a solution and reduces your device count in one fell swoop.

Re: Lightning strike has fried my answerphone

gg30340 — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 07:44:21 GMT

@licquorice wrote:

Then simply replace one of your phones with a combined phone/answering machine. Provides a solution and reduces your device count in one fell swoop.

Don't offer solutions that don't fix the stand alone fried answer machine!!