Should one ground a clothes line

[Midniteoyl]

That's where this "single point grounding" code has me confused. For years code said a ground block was required anywhere a cable entered the house. The satellite/cable guys knew that and ran a piece if wire down to a separate ground rod. As I understand it now, it all has to come back to a single grounding point that serves as the ground for the house where the main service is.

Floating ground - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[aczlan]

I guess some people don't realize that the clothes line is a high tensile steel cable, covered in vinyl.

Correction, SOME clothes line is a high tensile steel cable, covered in vinyl. Other is a cotton rope with a poly core.

Aaron Z

 

[Loadstar]

Faraday cage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Why is that linked to my post?

 

[Loadstar]

Correction, SOME clothes line is a high tensile steel cable, covered in vinyl. Other is a cotton rope with a poly core.

Aaron Z

My clothes line is about 50 years old and is solid copper wire. It is pretty tough.

 

[Coyote machine]

Lightning is a completed circuit to ground via ANYTHING the lightning may 'strike' which is highly random in it's predictability of chosen ground.
Lightning actually meets at some location between the actual ground, (earth) and the 'bolt' coming from the sky. Virtually invisible feelers are sent into the sky in an electrically charged atmospheric condition where they are met by their electrical counterpart and boom one has a lightning strike.
Lightening will travel via any conduit available and blow out all kinds of circuits, given the right set of circumstances. For example, my wife showed me a picture of her friend's yard where a recent electrical storm with lots of lightning hit a tree in her yard, care to earth and ran along the ground, tearing up the grass until it hit the casing of the well. It did NOT blow out the well or it's wires, but it did fry the cable modem inside the house.
Things like underground lines, cable, tel, underground utilities often get fried and sometimes they don't, but proper paths to ground for all possible conductors is just best practice regardless of potential site specific outcome.
My wife's uncle had a ball of fire (from lightning), come down his chimney and burn it's way across the living room floor in one storm- so anything can happen- remember we're talking mother nature here and we all know how predictable and consistent she is, right?!

 

[Dr_Zinj]

... Kind of reminds me when people say it's that 1/2 of rubber tire that saves you from lightning in a car. ....

The fact that you're safer in a car from lightning strike is more due to the metal cage around you than any grounding. The car body acts as a Faraday cage to conduct the charge around the outside of the car to where it can finally go to ground. If you were standing next to the car with a hand on the car, and a foot in a puddle, you'd become the shortest path of least resistance.

 

[Coyote machine]

A state trooper's cruiser was hit by lightning. It connected via one of the antennas and blew out one tire on it's way to ground, (earth).

 

[Loadstar]

The fact that you're safer in a car from lightning strike is more due to the metal cage around you than any grounding. The car body acts as a Faraday cage to conduct the charge around the outside of the car to where it can finally go to ground. If you were standing next to the car with a hand on the car, and a foot in a puddle, you'd become the shortest path of least resistance.

Here is my original post your referring to.

"Lightning just traveled through how many thousand feet of insulating air. You must have some really awesome disconnect switches if they stop lightning LOL. Kind of reminds me when people say it's that 1/2 of rubber tire that saves you from lightning in a car."

I never say that tires save you. I was implying it's laughable to me when people think that.

 

[dmccarty]

The fact that you're safer in a car from lightning strike is more due to the metal cage around you than any grounding. The car body acts as a Faraday cage to conduct the charge around the outside of the car to where it can finally go to ground. If you were standing next to the car with a hand on the car, and a foot in a puddle, you'd become the shortest path of least resistance.

I once was driving down I75 south of Tampa and I drove into the worst lightning storm I have ever seen. There were bolts striking the ground all around, and since the highway was elevated over the swamp, I was looking down into the trees as the strikes hit. This was not a bolt every 5-10 minutes, but a bolt every 15 seconds or so, at best. Never thought I would hear again from the loud thunder, if I survived at all. Now, I knew I was supposed to be protected by the car frame, but in a storm like this, that knowledge was not real comforting. I felt very, very, very infinitesimal as Thor was playing.

Since I am still here, I guess the car was able to out run the bolts! :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[buickanddeere]

My solar powered clothes dryer is grounded via the chain down to a buried anchor . I don't understand these people who install a clothesline pole without a brace.