Lightning rod?

[Industrial Toys]

I still don't know what to make of people that proclaim they just LOVE a good thunderstorm!

 

[Fuddy1952]

Oh...this is how I got on roof today. In 90s so I couldn't do much. I did manage to run braided copper wire chimney to chimney then down to ground rod. I tucked flat cable under roof cap shingles as I went along.
Near ground rod I have a big fake rock to cover a Malibu light transformer. Yes there was a big 'ol black snake under there.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I hope you went down each side. I believe that's important to form as much of a cage as possible.

Snakes make me very uncomfortable. But I hope you were nice to it.

Funny. My Lady friend just called. We spoke about the heat and lack of rain. Wouldn't she just go and say, she just loves a good thunderstorm. I said, good, you can pay for the stuff that gets destroyed!

 

[tallyho8]

In my last home before I moved here, lightning struck the power cables while I was watching TV. A flash came out of an electric outlet in the room and afterwards I discovered that my doorbell transformer was blown, the timer in my washing machine was burned out, my refrigerator defrost timer was blown and one telephone suffered a meltdown. It seemed that only things with very small wiring had been damaged.

Another time I was out coonhunting at night when a thunderstorm came up. Just after I removed my light and batteries and opened the door to my truck, my hair went straight up as pulled by static electricity. I dove to the seat of my truck and saw a bright flash but heard nothing. When I got up a few seconds later I saw the tree next to my truck smoking with branches missing and a big split down the side. I never figured out why I did not hear anything.

Last year my electric fence was hit ruining the fence charger, the 8x8 post it was on and the electric outlet and about 3 feet of romex going to the outlet. In the last 13 years since Katrina I have had about 20 of my large trees destroyed or damaged by lightning and I am losing trees faster than they can grow back. South Louisiana has more thunderstorms than just about any other part of the country but they seem much worse in the last 20 years than ever before.

That being said I still love to sit back and gaze out the windows during a lightning storm watching the show and I still feel safe inside my home.

 

[bigtiller]

If current flows from negative to positive, then it makes me want to agree that lighting rods dispel negative electrons and lessening the chances of a strike.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Years ago when I had aluminum siding replaced with vinyl I started having lightning problems, sparks out of outlets, every light bulb popping. I called my insurance company who recommended a company to take tv's, stereos, etc. to which turned out to be my company. That was strange.
Some people after a lightning strike thought they won the lottery. Fact is most electronic things depreciate and aren't worth much.
After I put a whole house arrestor on the main panel box I haven't had trouble.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Consumer stuff isn't worth much to begin with. I just heard of a scandal in Germany about how much return merchandise Amazon destroys every day. IF I recall, it's in the millions. The point is, that CONSUMER JUNK isn't worth much at all.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

In my early days as a HVAC/Refrigeration Tech I was working on an AC unit on a roof when lightning hit in the area. It jumped around to many metallic items such as teh AC, TV antenna, and plumbing stacks (back then they were iron or steel), it blew me off the roof but no damage to me from the lightning (as far as I know). Scared the S*** out of me though and hitting the ground (10' down) was the trauma part. No damage to the AC unit but a plumbing stack was blown away above the roof; that was probably ground zero. Climbed back up to the roof and finished the job. Oh, this was in Scottsdale AZ.

Ron

 

[techman]

Another time I was out coonhunting at night when a thunderstorm came up. Just after I removed my light and batteries and opened the door to my truck, my hair went straight up as pulled by static electricity. I dove to the seat of my truck and saw a bright flash but heard nothing. When I got up a few seconds later I saw the tree next to my truck smoking with branches missing and a big split down the side. I never figured out why I did not hear anything..

This is not uncommon. Prior to many lightning strikes, the static voltage in the air can reach several hundred volts per meter above ground. There are many reports of peoples hair standing up just prior to a close strike. In these conditions lightning rods and other devices to bleed off the static charge in the air can help to prevent a strike in that area.

paul

 

[Ritothebull]

I recently had the power company change my service from above ground to underground because the line came through the woods and it was cheaper to bury it than constantly deal with all the trees. When they installed the transformer they drove in a 30' ground rod, when I mentioned that most home rods were only in 8' they said that they probably won't work.