lightning rods any believers ?

[Transit]

Yes, lightning is very fickled. People have been killed while talking on the phone, sleeping in a metal frame bed or in their kitchen changing a light bulb in the ceiling. Check out Ball Lightning and St. Elmo's fire for some real cool stories.

 

[riptides]

I want to preface my comments by stating that I have zero education in working with lightning rods, but I did have a shovel I was holding get hit once and it burnt my belt buckle and blew the steel toe off my right shoe. I lived, as you may have guessed.

....

Funniest post on TBN, I don't believe you lived.

Sounds like your proof positive for lightning rods.

 

[John47]

I am not an expert and Have never seen any evidince either way but I have my doubts that they will work.

The only ones you see around here anymore are on OLD barns and structures. Dads place (early 1900's farm house) has them on a few of the structures. They are aluminum with and aluminum cable. I have my doubts how good this would be in a lightning strike. I would think that it would just vaporize the cable in an instant.

Also, If he is putting on a metal roof, what good are the rods sticking up in the air? The whole roof is metal and will be electrified.

Again, this is just my opinion and observations so take it with a grain of salt because I may have no clue at all. But whatever you do, follow the code in the area. Regardless of what you "want" to do, They are always right

Next time you pass your local electricity switching yard, take a good look!! You will see many lightning rods!
They WORK by diverting a strike away from what's protected.
Lightning protection is an engineering science based on many years of experience gained in the "field".
There are expert companies that specialize in installing lightning protection to buildings, towers, and electricity supply and generating companies.
Aluminum wiring should never be used in lightning protection, heavy gauge copper should be the choice every time.

 

[framer]

Read your reply John. I have aluminum wire and rods should it be reused?
thanks. framer

 

[LD1]

As with many other thins on the market, it will have its believers and non believers. Just because something has been on the market and tested and designed by highly paid engineers, doesn't mean it will work.

I think there have already been many posts on here about people who have had them and they worked, and people who have them and they didn't work.

There is also many who have had them and their hose still burned down, and some have had them and suffered minimal damage.

Every lightning bolt is different. Every circumstance is different. How come one person can be struck by lightning and survive with minimal injury and the next person gets killed instantly???

In the rural sticks where I live, there are a lot of old farm houses and structures. Some protected and some not. I have seen many aluminum cables for the straps. I have also seen steel cables tied in with a metal roof and connected to a grounding rod. Either way, even if copper were used, I think it would have to be a 4 or 5 inch cable to handle it. Maybe biggger. And I have never seen anything close.

Bottom line, I personally have never seen any proof that they work. Sure I have seen many small scale expirements. But for all the ones out there that prove they work, there is just as many that prove they dont. So I will continue to be a non believer until someone can show me real hard proof on a full scale. And then be able to prove whether the damage with the rods is less than what would have happened without the rods.

I think someone should submit this to mythbusters:laughing:

 

[SPYDERLK]

I want to preface my comments by stating that I have zero education in working with lightning rods, but I did have a shovel I was holding get hit once and it burnt my belt buckle and blew the steel toe off my right shoe. I lived, as you may have guessed.

Funniest post on TBN, I don't believe you lived.

Sounds like your proof positive for lightning rods.

Yeah, he had me wondering a bit. This could explain it.
larry

 

[MikeD74T]

LD1, I won't try to change your mind but if you ever do want to be convinced come in from the "sticks" & go to the Ben Franklin Museum in Philadelphia. There are demonstrations re: how both lightning & lightning rods work. For example there's an explanation about how Ben realized he was about to be struck by lightning during his kite experiment & rapidly ended the experiment.

As for simply grounding the roof, there's a specific electrical code for lightning rod systems seperate from grounding codes. Contact your insurance company for statistics on improperly installed lightning rods. They'll convince you via your wallet, keeping in mind that without someone's occasional loss they'd be out of business.

Right outside my office wall is a nuclear reactor containment structure with 4 flagpole sized lightning rods. I've stood within 200' of the grounding cables, about 5/8" diameter stranded copper, & observed direct strikes. Never seen anything vaporized. As others have said our high voltage termination yard and transmission lines are similarly protected & it works despite your skepticism. MikeD74T

 

[SPYDERLK]

In the rural sticks where I live, there are a lot of old farm houses and structures. Some protected and some not. I have seen many aluminum cables for the straps. I have also seen steel cables tied in with a metal roof and connected to a grounding rod. [[Either way, even if copper were used, I think it would have to be a 4 or 5 inch cable to handle it.]] Maybe biggger. And I have never seen anything close.

Bottom line, I personally have never seen any proof that they work. Sure I have seen many small scale expirements. But for all the ones out there that prove they work, there is just as many that prove they dont. So I will continue to be a non believer until someone can show me real hard proof on a full scale. And then be able to prove whether the damage with the rods is less than what would have happened without the rods.

I think someone should submit this to mythbusters:laughing:

[] Cu fer sher, altho not so big as that. Good conductor and hi mass. This gives it a lot of thermal "inertia" and lightening, atho a huge current, is very short duration and would hardly warm a several inch cable. Turns out that the inherent almost instant action of electrostatic events favors conduction by a flat profile conductor to lessen inductance vs a round one. Id go for about a 2" wide ground strap similar to the [smaller] ones often used in vehicles to handle the start current. Id be concerned that it not be touching combustibles tho because it may warm to several hundred degrees in a strike. --- Another reason for Cu: high melt point vs Al. ... ~1900 vs 1100F
larry

 

[CTW]

Read a story a while back out of Florida that involved lightning striking a Queen Palm tree in the front yard in which the current went down the trunk, into the landscape wiring and right into the house. From what I recall, the homeowner lost most of his expensive electronics that were not surge protected. I tried to find an article link but couldn't locate one, probably too long ago. I thought most people these days had everything of sensitive and expensive in nature surge protected.

 

[/pine]

...homeowner lost most of his expensive electronics that were not surge protected...

FWIW...

"surge protectors" are not lightning protectors...check the warranties

if you use a back-up battery system (UPS) or uninterruptible power supply...everytime it "chirps" or kicks on and off you are seeing a typical "surge"...normal house current can surge many times a day even when there are no electrical storms etc...these surges are what "surge protectors" are meant to neutralize...and can cause damage to sensitive electronic equipment...