lightning

More on the lightning theme. Some woman's car got hit in the parking
lot and the car's antenna got blown clean off. The car computer
wasn't working after that either.

http://knitty-kat.blogspot.com/2006/...-he-smote.html

Crap. I really need to go to Home Depot and buying a grounding rod
and some heavy gauge wire.

-wolfgang
--
Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/

On Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:13:48 -0700, in alt.internet.wireless ,
"Wolfgang S. Rupprecht"
<wolfgang+(E-Mail Removed) .wsrcc.com> wrote:

>
>More on the lightning theme. Some woman's car got hit in the parking
>lot and the car's antenna got blown clean off. The car computer
>wasn't working after that either.
>
> http://knitty-kat.blogspot.com/2006/...-he-smote.html
>
>Crap. I really need to go to Home Depot and buying a grounding rod
>and some heavy gauge wire.

Nonono. Cars are naturally insulated (big rubber tyres remember) and
not attractive to lightning. Earthing them makes things worse - not
only does it become a target, but any charge flows rapidly to ground
through the wire, probably melting it and heating up nearby metal
bodywork to the point where petrol and plastics will catch fire.

If your car gets struck, apparently you should remain in it till the
charge leaks away naturally, which doesn't take long.
--
Mark McIntyre

Mark McIntyre explained on 26/07/2006 :
> On Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:13:48 -0700, in alt.internet.wireless ,
> "Wolfgang S. Rupprecht"
> <wolfgang+(E-Mail Removed) .wsrcc.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> More on the lightning theme. Some woman's car got hit in the parking
>> lot and the car's antenna got blown clean off. The car computer
>> wasn't working after that either.
>>
>> http://knitty-kat.blogspot.com/2006/...-he-smote.html
>>
>> Crap. I really need to go to Home Depot and buying a grounding rod
>> and some heavy gauge wire.
>
> Nonono. Cars are naturally insulated (big rubber tyres remember) and
> not attractive to lightning.

Lightning won't care about the size of your tires - its managed to jump
a couple of km or so before its hit your car - do you think it cares
about another 6"?

> Earthing them makes things worse - not
> only does it become a target, but any charge flows rapidly to ground
> through the wire, probably melting it and heating up nearby metal
> bodywork to the point where petrol and plastics will catch fire.

It won't make them any more of a target, but the rest of that statement
is true.

>
> If your car gets struck, apparently you should remain in it till the
> charge leaks away naturally, which doesn't take long.

Being in your car during a lightning storm is one of the safest places
you can be - it acts as a Faraday cage. Just remember to close the sun
roof ;-)

--
I'd have a fancy signature, but I haven't thought of one yet.

Wolfgang S. Rupprecht wrote:
> More on the lightning theme. Some woman's car got hit in the parking
> lot and the car's antenna got blown clean off. The car computer
> wasn't working after that either.
>
> http://knitty-kat.blogspot.com/2006/...-he-smote.html
>
> Crap. I really need to go to Home Depot and buying a grounding rod
> and some heavy gauge wire.
>
> -wolfgang
> --
> Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/

Not exactly on the lightning topic, but have you ever considered a
conductive grounding strap(s) for your car? They are rubber with what I
assume carbon mixen in to make it conductive. They drag on the ground,
so they are a wear item, but very cheap. I buy them on the east coast,
but I suspect you could get the straps in the Sierras. They tend to be
sold in cold areas for people that don't like getting zapped from the
static charge built up on the car.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>
>Not exactly on the lightning topic, but have you ever considered a
>conductive grounding strap(s) for your car? They are rubber with what I
>assume carbon mixen in to make it conductive. They drag on the ground,
>so they are a wear item, but very cheap. I buy them on the east coast,
>but I suspect you could get the straps in the Sierras. They tend to be
>sold in cold areas for people that don't like getting zapped from the
>static charge built up on the car.

Good tires have enough carbon in the rubber to act as natural grounding straps.
Unfortunately, the BF Goodrich tires on my Trailblazer do not fall into that
category.

On Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:13:48 -0700, "Wolfgang S. Rupprecht"
<wolfgang+(E-Mail Removed) .wsrcc.com> wrote:

>More on the lightning theme. Some woman's car got hit in the parking
>lot and the car's antenna got blown clean off. The car computer
>wasn't working after that either.
> http://knitty-kat.blogspot.com/2006/...-he-smote.html

Just the antenna? I expected a smoking hole in the ground. The
problem with such lightning hits is that divine retribution usually
means that you've done something wrong. For example, even the NWS can
incur the wrath of god:
http://www.kcci.com/weather/4666250/detail.html

There are those who can't seem to follow instructions. The trick is
to stay inside the car, which means to not dangle your arm out the
window:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13794491/

>Crap. I really need to go to Home Depot and buying a grounding rod
>and some heavy gauge wire.

The ground rod will work. However, I'm a bit concerned that the heavy
gauge wire extension cord between the ground rod and your vehicle
might be a bit short when you drive away.

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558 (E-Mail Removed)
# http://802.11junk.com (E-Mail Removed)
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS

Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote:
> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
> >
> >Not exactly on the lightning topic, but have you ever considered a
> >conductive grounding strap(s) for your car? They are rubber with what I
> >assume carbon mixen in to make it conductive. They drag on the ground,
> >so they are a wear item, but very cheap. I buy them on the east coast,
> >but I suspect you could get the straps in the Sierras. They tend to be
> >sold in cold areas for people that don't like getting zapped from the
> >static charge built up on the car.
>
> Good tires have enough carbon in the rubber to act as natural grounding straps.
> Unfortunately, the BF Goodrich tires on my Trailblazer do not fall into that
> category.

I generate amazing static electricity with Yokohama Geolanders.

sloblocks <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:
> Being in your car during a lightning storm is one of the safest places
> you can be - it acts as a Faraday cage. Just remember to close the sun
> roof ;-)

Actually I meant that seeing the antenna getting blown off the top of
the lady's car reminded me that I really needed to ground my rooftop
mast.

I'm not sure a passenger car is all that great of a Faraday cage. It
has big windows (with no protection) and the doors are only attached
to the frame at a ~3 points. Given a choice, I'd much prefer
something a bit more electrically solid like a large metal culvert.

-wolfgang
--
Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/

On Wed, 26 Jul 2006 23:18:40 +0100 Mark McIntyre <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
| On Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:13:48 -0700, in alt.internet.wireless ,
| "Wolfgang S. Rupprecht"
| <wolfgang+(E-Mail Removed) .wsrcc.com> wrote:
|
|>
|>More on the lightning theme. Some woman's car got hit in the parking
|>lot and the car's antenna got blown clean off. The car computer
|>wasn't working after that either.
|>
|> http://knitty-kat.blogspot.com/2006/...-he-smote.html
|>
|>Crap. I really need to go to Home Depot and buying a grounding rod
|>and some heavy gauge wire.
|
| Nonono. Cars are naturally insulated (big rubber tyres remember) and
| not attractive to lightning. Earthing them makes things worse - not
| only does it become a target, but any charge flows rapidly to ground
| through the wire, probably melting it and heating up nearby metal
| bodywork to the point where petrol and plastics will catch fire.
|
| If your car gets struck, apparently you should remain in it till the
| charge leaks away naturally, which doesn't take long.

Things can get exciting with high voltage. And this isn't even close to
the voltage lightning has. But apparently the current probably lasted a
bit longer.

http://tinyurl.com/kzxfw

--
|---------------------------------------/----------------------------------|
| Phil Howard KA9WGN (ka9wgn.ham.org) / Do not send to the address below |
| first name lower case at ipal.net / spamtrap-2006-07-27-(E-Mail Removed) |
|------------------------------------/-------------------------------------|

On Wed, 26 Jul 2006 22:35:32 GMT, in alt.internet.wireless , sloblocks
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Lightning won't care about the size of your tires - its managed to jump
>a couple of km or so before its hit your car - do you think it cares
>about another 6"?

Yes, if it has a choice of your car with insulated tyres, and a nearby
human connected directly to the ground.....

>> If your car gets struck, apparently you should remain in it till the
>> charge leaks away naturally, which doesn't take long.
>
>Being in your car during a lightning storm is one of the safest places
>you can be - it acts as a Faraday cage. Just remember to close the sun
>roof ;-)

Exactly !
--
Mark McIntyre