When a lightning strike hits a yacht, the damage is rarely limited to a single component.
This week, TESS responded to an emergency call from a valued long-standing customer after a lightning strike disabled a large portion of their Alarm Monitoring System.
Having been involved with this vessel’s automation system since its original build nearly 20 years ago, our team was able to quickly identify the architecture, understand the failure modes, and begin systematic recovery efforts immediately.
By the time we arrived, critical monitoring equipment was offline, communications were lost, multiple processors had failed, and both primary and backup system components had sustained damage.
The difference between a prolonged outage and a rapid recovery often comes down to preparation.
Because TESS maintains legacy Praxis / Ricom 3500 inventory, carries critical spare parts, and has technicians with decades of experience on these systems, we were able to restore the majority of the vessel’s monitoring functionality within a single day.
Our troubleshooting efforts included:
- Restoring redundant power supplies
- Recovering the primary server
- Replacing failed communications hardware
- Replacing multiple damaged processors
- Replacing damaged I/O hardware
- Restoring communications throughout the AMS network
- Identifying additional latent lightning-strike damage
Many legacy yacht automation systems remain in service long after manufacturers discontinue support. Maintaining spare inventory and retaining technical knowledge is often the only way to keep these vessels operational.
TESS continues to support both legacy and modern automation platforms, including Praxis / Ricom 3500 systems and the latest Rhodium Alarm Monitoring Systems.
To support our customers, TESS maintains inventory of legacy Praxis hardware as well as complete Rhodium AMS platforms ready for deployment. We routinely keep a complete legacy Praxis/Ricom 3500 AMS solution in stock along with multiple new-generation Rhodium systems.
As an authorized service partner supporting Praxis and Rhodium systems throughout South Florida and beyond, our goal is simple: when a customer has a catastrophic failure, we want the parts, expertise, and experience available immediately.
Lightning strikes cannot be prevented.
Downtime can.
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