Lightning VS Mahindra and battery cut off switch

[nelsond7004]

Hi Guys,
My neighbor had the misfortune of having his Mahindra 4110 struck by lightning over the weekend. At least they think it is lighting that did it. We have had some rather violent storms here in Southwest Virginia during the time frame the tractor was struck.

To make a long story short, they heard what sounded like a buzzer/horn going off and they came out to find that the instrument panel was up in flame. All wiring, switches, tach, etc burned. It was like you had removed the entire instrument cluster. Very sad for another Mahindra tractor owner to see to say the least. Luckily nothing else appearance wise on the tractor was damaged. The tractor is at the dealer undergoing repair. As of now all wiring on the tractor will have to be replaced according to the dealer.

I know when lightning strikes, it generally shows no mercy and there is no preventative measures that can be taken. Do you think it would hurt for someone to install a battery cut off switch at the battery? It might not stop damage especially during a lightning strike, but it might prevent unnecessary power circulating through the wiring system. The only concern that I have about this is if the tractor has a computer that has to "relearn/adapt" like regular vehicles do. Any thoughts on this?

 

[DonWorrell]

I might just be dumb but how did lighting strike he tactor?. Being on ruibber tires would that not stop the tractor from being grounded?

Don

 

[nelsond7004]

I honestly don't know how lightning struck the tractor and truthfully I am not all convinced that it did. I am not sure exactly where the tractor was parked in relation to their house, but I know that lightning strikes in the vicinity have occurred quite frequently. As a matter of fact, the National Weather Service has a tower on his property since it is one of the highest peaks around.

I used to think that if something was isolated by rubber that it would be safe. In 1989 my grandmother's Oldsmobile Delta 88 got struck in the front yard. It fried the on board computer and did some other damage. The car wasn't the same after. As intense as lightning is, I would not underestimate its abilities.

The only thing I can think of is that his FEL was resting on the ground which might have contributed to the power surge entering the tractor. This will probably remain a mystery, but for now the insurance company has wrote it off as a lightning strike.

 

[YanmarFever]

I had 2 Yanmars burn up in customers buildings.

I feel both times it was a mouse that chewed the wires and it sparked a fire in the mouse nest.
Both times the fires started in the dashboard...

 

[bindian]

I honestly don't know how lightning struck the tractor and truthfully I am not all convinced that it did. I am not sure exactly where the tractor was parked in relation to their house, but I know that lightning strikes in the vicinity have occurred quite frequently. As a matter of fact, the National Weather Service has a tower on his property since it is one of the highest peaks around.

I used to think that if something was isolated by rubber that it would be safe. In 1989 my grandmother's Oldsmobile Delta 88 got struck in the front yard. It fried the on board computer and did some other damage. The car wasn't the same after. As intense as lightning is, I would not underestimate its abilities.

The only thing I can think of is that his FEL was resting on the ground which might have contributed to the power surge entering the tractor. This will probably remain a mystery, but for now the insurance company has wrote it off as a lightning strike.

Any discolored paint on burn marks on the loader where is could have been contacting ground? Discolored, burnt paint (and an edge of rivets melted) is how we find lightning strikes on an airliner. Sounds to me like a wiring problem gone bad or vandalism. Rodents and animals do strange stuff to wiring. I had to repair my truck's trailer wiring as something ate all the exposed wires just forward of the bumper.
hugs, Brandi

 

[k0ua]

Think about it, Lightning has no trouble jumping an air gap of several thousand feet how much trouble would it be to jump 6 inches of rubber?
Besides rubber tires contains carbon which is a conductor. Rubber tires offer zero protection from lightning strikes. The shell of the automobile does offer some protection not from preventing a strike but when the car is struck the occupants are protected somewhat by the energy being conducted by the metal shell of the vehicle. By the way airplanes are often struck while in the air and the occupants are usually ok. All that said, I would suspect wiring damage caused the fire, but of course the lightning strike is possible.

James K0UA

 

[hicksdt1]

Yes u are correct I have a 3505 di lightning fried instrument panel i am looking for a way to bypass instrumet panel i don't have to have lights

 

[grsthegreat]

All a battery disconnect switch would protect would POSSIBLY be the battery, as the current would travel everywheres else..... and i agree it would probibly just jump that ark gap anyways (as stated above).

i also would have thought the rubber tires would protect it.... back when i lived in texas and we got those nasty lightning storms ( strikes on the ground all over the place), we were told that if you were on the road to pull over, roll up all windows and dont touch anything metal... hard to do but we all did it.


kind of like the old cold war duck under the table garbage probibly. We all knew a table could shield a nuke :laughing: