Eric R Snow wrote:

On Sun, 16 Oct 2005 17:15:14 -0500, Andy Asberry
wrote:

Do you leave your welder, grinder, drill press, lathe, mill, etc.
plugged in all the time?

We had a lightning strike. Luckily, it hit the house instead of my new
shop! It blew everything EXCEPT light bulbs. Some things were
turned on but most were not. That indicates to me that there was a lot
of arcing across switch contacts.

So, how great is the danger of burning some shop equipment? Has it
happened to you? Or even one of Steve B's mythical friends?
Here in WA state north of Seattle all my machines are either left
plugged in or are permanently wired. My building is all metal and all
the machines are properly grounded but I know that's no real
protection if powerlines are struck. We just don't seem to get that
much lightning. I did visit a fellow in North Carolina who had his
phone blow off the wall when the lines outside were struck. The
scorched wall was pretty graphic.
ERS



A couple of extra grounding rods at the service enterance, and if you
have a well, make sure the casing is grounded directly to the service
enterance ground with at least a #4 wire, the larger the better with no
sharp bends.

John