Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - Kenmore heat pump wont start-poss lightning strike

MY SEARS HEAT PUMP IS 13 MO OLD AND WILL NOT START. I SET THE THERMOSTAT AND IT SAYS COOLING AND SHOWS INSIDE TEMP AND TEMP SET TO RUN. NOTHING HAPPENS OUTSIDE AT FAN UNIT OR INSIDE FAN.. NO CLICKS LIKE ITS GOING TO START.
HERE'S THE STORY. FRIDAY, AS WE WERE LEAVING TO GO TO HOUSTON, THERE WAS A VERY VERY SEVERE LIGHTNING STORM AND THE HOUSE GOT HIT. THE WHOLE HOUSE WAS OFF. MY POOR HUSBAND RAN OUT(YES, IN THE STORM) AND FLIPPED THE BREAKERS. THE PHONE BOX ON THE HOUSE WAS DESTROYED AND BURNED UP. EVERYTHING ELSE APPEARED TO START BACK UP. WE CALLED PHONE CO AND TOLD THEM TO COME OUT. WE THEN LEFT FOR THE TRIP, RETURNING LAST NITE, TO FIND THE A/C WAS OFF AND THE HOUSE HOT.
AFTER TAKING OFF THE PANEL COVERS TO BOTH INSIDE AND OUT UNITS, WE SAW THE "5" FUSE WAS BLOWN. WE REPLACED THAT AND THE UNIT STARTED UP.. WHILE WE WERE HIGH FIVING EACH OTHER.. THE CIRCUIT BOARD ON THE OUTSIDE UNIT STARTED TO SMOKE AFTER 3 OR SO MINUTES OF OPERATION. WE TURNED OFF THE THERMOSTAT AND LOOKED AT THE FUSE, IT WAS OK. THE FAN OUTSIDE AND INSIDE WAS RUNNING, AND THE COPPER PIPE THAT GETS COLD, WAS GETTING COLD UNTIL WE SAW THE SMOKE AND TURNED THE SYSTEM OFF. WE TURNED IT ON 3 TIMES AND IT WOULD SMOKE NEAR/ON? THE CIRCUIT BOARD, TIL IT WAS TURNED OFF.
MY QUESTION.. WHAT NEXT? IS THE BOARD BAD FROM THE HIT? OR WOULD SOMETHING ELSE BE CAUSING IT TO SMOKE.
I FOUND THE CIRCUIT BOARD ON SEARS PARTS. ITS CALLED A DEFROST CONTROL PCB. THERE IS ALSO A FAN CONTROL CIRCUIT BOARD TOO, BUT I DONT THINK IT IS SMOKING.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU FOLKS THAT HAVE SOME IDEA OF WHAT I SHOULD DO..:madhell: ITS HOT AND MUGGY HERE AND I MAY HAVE TO START CUSSIN'! HAHA!
THANKS ALOT!

Unfortunately that lightening strike and blown fuse leave those boards suspect. My guess is it is one of the boards since they are the most susceptible to a strike, and the fuse may not have protected them.

I would start to see if you have 24VAC to the main board and replace if so. I'm on the fence as to whether to immediately replace the defrost board. One the one hand it appears to have been damaged, but may not be critical in getting the system working. For true piece of mind I would replace both boards if you have power to the main board.

There is also the possibility that other parts were damage like the compressor. If so, that may not be worth fixing depending on the system age. There is a way to check Ohms on that to determine roughly if it appears okay.

Hey thanks for the response.
I just started it up again, so I could see it in the daylight. I turned on the thermostat to start the system. Everything came on as usual.. the inside fan and the outside fan were on and condensation started to appear on the large copper tube going into the house. After 3 or 4 minutes, smoke started coming out of a rectangular black box that is part (it is attached to the upper right side of the board)of the top (largest) circuit board. I believe that is the Defrost control board (according to the Sears Parts schematic illustration).
There are two black wires that go from that black rectangular box(that is on the circuit board), to the Contactor.
There is a Compressor diagnostic module, with alert lights on it. I do not see the red light coming on, so it appears that is ok.
My question is: If the contactor is bad also, could it be making the black box smoke?
You mentioned the main circuit board, and holding off on the defrost board.. according to the schematic, the biggest and top board, is the defrost board. The smaller board below says "
CNTRL 2 SPEED FAN (IF USED"). So, which is the main board?
Sorry to have soo many questions.. I appreciate any and all input.. you rock!

Hey thanks for the response.
I just started it up again, so I could see it in the daylight. I turned on the thermostat to start the system. Everything came on as usual.. the inside fan and the outside fan were on and condensation started to appear on the large copper tube going into the house. After 3 or 4 minutes, smoke started coming out of a rectangular black box that is part (it is attached to the upper right side of the board)of the top (largest) circuit board. I believe that is the Defrost control board (according to the Sears Parts schematic illustration).
There are two black wires that go from that black rectangular box(that is on the circuit board), to the Contactor.
There is a Compressor diagnostic module, with alert lights on it. I do not see the red light coming on, so it appears that is ok.
My question is: If the contactor is bad also, could it be making the black box smoke?
You mentioned the main circuit board, and holding off on the defrost board.. according to the schematic, the biggest and top board, is the defrost board. The smaller board below says "
CNTRL 2 SPEED FAN (IF USED"). So, which is the main board?
Sorry to have soo many questions.. I appreciate any and all input.. you rock!
Edit/Delete Message

Hey thanks for the response.
I just started it up again, so I could see it in the daylight. I turned on the thermostat to start the system. Everything came on as usual.. the inside fan and the outside fan were on and condensation started to appear on the large copper tube going into the house. After 3 or 4 minutes, smoke started coming out of a rectangular black box that is part (it is attached to the upper right side of the board)of the top (largest) circuit board. I believe that is the Defrost control board (according to the Sears Parts schematic illustration).
There are two black wires that go from that black rectangular box(that is on the circuit board), to the Contactor.
There is a Compressor diagnostic module, with alert lights on it. I do not see the red light coming on, so it appears that is ok.
My question is: If the contactor is bad also, could it be making the black box smoke?
You mentioned the main circuit board, and holding off on the defrost board.. according to the schematic, the biggest and top board, is the defrost board. The smaller board below says "
CNTRL 2 SPEED FAN (IF USED"). So, which is the main board?
Sorry to have soo many questions.. I appreciate any and all input.. you rock!
Edit/Delete Message

You need a new defrost board. That little black box on the defrost board is the relay for the outdoor fan. You sould have a pro check it all out at this point.

Oops, I got your equipment mixed up with another post. Please submit a pic of the control compartment of your HP or call a pro:)

Typically a bad contactor would not cause just your defrost board problems. I would look into replacing the defrost board or start testing a few items such as power to the unit on both the 220V power and 24V control wires.