lightning rods

J

jrcampbell

New member
During three different storms in the last year either my phone line or house got struck by lightning. First time got everything connected to the line. next was the dish receiver and power unit for computer. this last time was my phones, again.


The lightning rod cable runs down the corner of my house about a foot from the telephone line and I'm wondering if maybe lightning is jumping from cable to phone line? Is this possible? Seems to me the coating on the wires would protect it. was debating moving where the cable grounds at just to check if that's the problem.

Are lightning rods even useful anymore? rarely see them on new houses.

The phone company is basically useless in dealing with the problem, if it can even be dealt with. And I'm getting tired of replacing my stuff every time a bad storm rolls through. trying to decide if I should move the cable or take it down completely. Opinions please
 
What you need is a whole house surge protector installed on your main breaker panel. The next thing I would do is remove the lightning rods from your house. All them things do is promote lightning to hit your house. They do look pretty cool though.
 
Originally Posted By: NYyotekillerWhat you need is a whole house surge protector installed on your main breaker panel. The next thing I would do is remove the lightning rods from your house. All them things do is promote lightning to hit your house. They do look pretty cool though.

I'd have to agree.
Remove the rods and all cables associated with them from the house. The elevated earthen ground on your house is a magnet for lightning. Your lucky it hasn't caused a fire.
 
Oh and since your such a fan....

This was from a storm cell that ran right over the top of my house about two weeks ago. We watched it on the Weather Bug app on iPad from about 50 miles out as it approached. It was the most intense lightning storm I have ever seen. I took alot of pictures that night, heres a couple.






file_zpsce7d9803.jpg


 
Wow! those are some amazing pictures! That first picture is incredible how you can see where the lightning originates from. I would be placing that one in a frame. Awesome stuff Furhunter!
 
Originally Posted By: jrcampbell Are lightning rods even useful anymore? rarely see them on new houses.
Understand what makes a lightning rod effective. Many argue over what they observe. ie Sharp verses pointed. Mostly irrelevant. Since the item that makes a lightning rod so effective is buried in earth - the earth ground electrode.

How good was that lightning rod's earth ground? And how good was the earth ground for a telco 'installed for free' protector? Those determine if you had protection or damage.

Same applies to a 'whole house' protector. It does not do protection. It is a superior solution when connected low impedance (ie 'less than 10 foot') to single point earth ground. The same earth ground that a telco installed protector must connect to.

We have two concepts. Protection of a structure is provided by properly earthed lightning rods. Lightning will strike without or without those rods. Which path to earth do you want 20,000 amps to take? Harmlessly on a wire to earth? Or destructively via wood?

Another concept is appliance protection. That means a current must be earthed BEFORE entering the building. And again, a single point earth ground defines that.

Do not remove lightning rods. But get its earth ground inspected or upgraded. Same applies for the other protection system where every incoming wire (even the dish) must first connect within feet of the single point earth ground before entering.

All protection is defined by what harmlessly absorbs hundreds of thousands of joules. Not any protector or lightning rod. Earth.

Also inspect your 'primary' protection layer. A picture demonstrates what defines each protection layer and what should be inspected:
http://www.tvtower.com/fpl.html
 
What you likely have is a difference in potential somewhere. All electrical outlets in the house and any outside things like the dish and lightning rod all need to be connected to the same ground. Some info here>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_%28electricity%29

For instance, I have a detached garage that has a power feed form the main breaker in the house, so I must use the same grounding system as the house or I create a difference in potential. I can have a ground rod outside the garage, but it must be tied in with the one on the main service panel in the house

Go to a big box building supply and buy one of the recptecle testers you plug in the outlets and it lights up telling you if the circuit is not grounded, reversed polarity or wired correctly and check all the outlets in your house
 
sorry I haven't been on to state any of my findings. Been working on my roof for the last few weeks. I haven't got a chance to inspect the ground rod for the lightning rods, nor have I had any time to check much of anything. the receptecals in the house, other than the 2 bathrooms, which I already remodeled, are two prong outlets. I haven't noticed the dish being grounded anywhere. the phone box on the house is grounded, but I haven't traced it to where it goes, wich is into the house somewhere.

wt, I'll have to check out your pics better when I get some time and do some investigating. Does the lightning rod ground need to be hooked to the same ground as the rest of the house? I had a new 200 amp service installed 3 yrs ago and the electrician put a new ground rod when he did that. that's all the info I have at the moment.
 
Originally Posted By: jrcampbell Does the lightning rod ground need to be hooked to the same ground as the rest of the house?
Yes. And the telco installed surge protector also must make a low impedance (ie 'less than 10 foot', no sharp bends in the wire, etc) connection to that same earth ground. Dish wire from dish to receiver also must connect that short to the same earth ground before entering the building.

How to increase protection? Upgrade the earthing. Add more 10 foot earth ground rods (code says how far apart each ground rod must be).

A utility also demonstrates the concepts in their Tech Tip 8:
http://www.duke-energy.com/indiana-business/products/power-quality/tech-tip-08.asp
 


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