Hiya,
My sister recently had a bolt of lightning hit very near to her house. She
lost a number of electronic appliances as a result. My initial thought is
that she may not have a good ground for her house. I'm wondering if there
is a way to test it or is it mostly just a visual thing? As well, are whole
house surge protectors good for this type of application? I suspect not but
thought I'd ask. I'm in a high lightning area (2nd highest number in this
state, FL is no. 1) and really don't have any trees nearby so I'm beginning
to think maybe a separate ground system just for lightning protection might
make sense. Obviously I'd locate the ground rod as far away from the house
ground but I'm wondering if this makes sense?
Cheers,
cc

James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote:
Hiya,
My sister recently had a bolt of lightning hit very near to
her house. She lost a number of electronic appliances as
a result. My initial thought is that she may not have a
good ground for her house. I'm wondering if there is a
way to test it or is it mostly just a visual thing? As
well, are whole house surge protectors good for this type
of application? I suspect not but thought I'd ask. I'm
in a high lightning area (2nd highest number in this state,
FL is no. 1) and really don't have any trees nearby so I'm
beginning to think maybe a separate ground system just for
lightning protection might make sense. Obviously I'd
locate the ground rod as far away from the house ground but
I'm wondering if this makes sense? Cheers,
cc

A good resource is your local code enforcement office. We
learned the hard way that a lightning hit, IF it uses the house
wiring to get to earth, or vice-versa, can cause the earth rod to
lose its conductivity to earth. Apparently it affects the earth
for a radius ofa 6 or 8 feet or so because they moved our ground
rod about twelve feet over and drove a new one. We wouldn't have
noticed it except for 220V equipment that started acting up due
to the lack of a good earth ground reference between the two 110
"phases" (US). The new rod fixed all the problems.
Our local code enforcement is the one referred us to a good
electrician who came out and figured it out in about 5 minutes.
That was after three guys from the yellow pages who were just
"electricians"; this guy was an inspector and knew what to look
for apparently. The only thing he charged us for was the rod and
some cable to the meter. The other folks wanted to start tearing
things apart. I'm glad I resisted.

HTH
Pop

Pop wrote:

James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote:
Hiya,
My sister recently had a bolt of lightning hit very near to
her house. She lost a number of electronic appliances as
a result. My initial thought is that she may not have a
good ground for her house. I'm wondering if there is a
way to test it or is it mostly just a visual thing? As
well, are whole house surge protectors good for this type
of application? I suspect not but thought I'd ask. I'm
in a high lightning area (2nd highest number in this state,
FL is no. 1) and really don't have any trees nearby so I'm
beginning to think maybe a separate ground system just for
lightning protection might make sense. Obviously I'd
locate the ground rod as far away from the house ground but
I'm wondering if this makes sense? Cheers,
cc

A good resource is your local code enforcement office. We
learned the hard way that a lightning hit, IF it uses the house
wiring to get to earth, or vice-versa, can cause the earth rod to
lose its conductivity to earth. Apparently it affects the earth
for a radius ofa 6 or 8 feet or so because they moved our ground
rod about twelve feet over and drove a new one. We wouldn't have
noticed it except for 220V equipment that started acting up due
to the lack of a good earth ground reference between the two 110
"phases" (US). The new rod fixed all the problems.
Our local code enforcement is the one referred us to a good
electrician who came out and figured it out in about 5 minutes.
That was after three guys from the yellow pages who were just
"electricians"; this guy was an inspector and knew what to look
for apparently. The only thing he charged us for was the rod and
some cable to the meter. The other folks wanted to start tearing
things apart. I'm glad I resisted.

HTH
Pop

A lightning strike could well affect the soil conductivity around the
grounding electrode(s) aka ground rods, but that will not cause problems
with 220V appliances. The ground is *not* the reference for the 110V
power, the neutral is and that comes from the distribution transformer
on the pole (or pad). The ground and neutral are bonded at the service
panel, but the ground is *not* a substitute in any way for the neutral
from the transformer.

Pete C.

Ok. So now you've got me thinking a bit here. On my sister's house,
she's connected to city water and I've not looked to see where the pipe
enters from the street vs. where the electrical service/ground is. Would
the best bet be to tie the two together assuming she has a dedicated ground
near the meter? Obviously, if the two were close together, this wouldn't be
a good thing. On my house, I'm on a well and the pipe coming in is
approx. 15 feet or so from the rod driven into the ground near the meter.
My gas supply/meter is very near that water line. Would it do any good to
connect the dedicated ground to the water line that runs out to the well
especially being so close to the gas meter? I do plan to upgrade my
service and when I do I'll add the whole house surge protector and possibly
a lightning arrestor but it appears the best prevention is a good ground.
Thanks for the advice.
Cheers,
cc

Pete C. wrote:
Pop wrote:

James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote:
Hiya,
My sister recently had a bolt of lightning hit very
near to her house. She lost a number of electronic
appliances as a result. My initial thought is that
she may not have a good ground for her house. I'm
wondering if there is a way to test it or is it mostly
just a visual thing? As well, are whole house surge
protectors good for this type of application? I
suspect not but thought I'd ask. I'm in a high
lightning area (2nd highest number in this state, FL is
no. 1) and really don't have any trees nearby so I'm
beginning to think maybe a separate ground system just
for lightning protection might make sense. Obviously
I'd locate the ground rod as far away from the house
ground but I'm wondering if this makes sense? Cheers,
cc

A good resource is your local code enforcement office. We
learned the hard way that a lightning hit, IF it uses the
house wiring to get to earth, or vice-versa, can cause
the earth rod to lose its conductivity to earth.
Apparently it affects the earth for a radius ofa 6 or 8
feet or so because they moved our ground rod about twelve
feet over and drove a new one. We wouldn't have noticed
it except for 220V equipment that started acting up due
to the lack of a good earth ground reference between the
two 110 "phases" (US). The new rod fixed all the
problems. Our local code enforcement is the one referred
us to a good electrician who came out and figured it out
in about 5 minutes. That was after three guys from the
yellow pages who were just "electricians"; this guy was
an inspector and knew what to look for apparently. The
only thing he charged us for was the rod and some cable
to the meter. The other folks wanted to start tearing
things apart. I'm glad I resisted.

HTH
Pop

A lightning strike could well affect the soil conductivity
around the grounding electrode(s) aka ground rods, but that
will not cause problems with 220V appliances. The ground is
*not* the reference for the 110V power, the neutral is and
that comes from the distribution transformer on the pole
(or pad). The ground and neutral are bonded at the service
panel, but the ground is *not* a substitute in any way for
the neutral from the transformer.

Pete C.

Hmm, you're right, of course. I think, logically anyway. Maybe
he did more work than I realized or was aware of, but ... .

If there was no earth, it would float, and since it's tied to
Neutral in the box ... and since the transformer's ... ouch;
brain ache! The problems were apparent out in the barn, about
100 ft away from the box. House itself didn't show Neutral
problems per sae, but the air pump & water pump would show up in
the house incandescents but not wildley;
Oof! I quit!

O well!
Pop`

James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote:

Hiya,
My sister recently had a bolt of lightning hit very near to her house. She
lost a number of electronic appliances as a result. My initial thought is
that she may not have a good ground for her house. I'm wondering if there
is a way to test it or is it mostly just a visual thing? As well, are whole
house surge protectors good for this type of application? I suspect not but
thought I'd ask. I'm in a high lightning area (2nd highest number in this
state, FL is no. 1) and really don't have any trees nearby so I'm beginning
to think maybe a separate ground system just for lightning protection might
make sense. Obviously I'd locate the ground rod as far away from the house
ground but I'm wondering if this makes sense?
Cheers,
cc



The best information I have seen on surge protection is at
http://www.mikeholt.com/files/PDF/Li...ion_May051.pdf
- the title is "How to protect your house and its contents from
lightning: IEEE guide for surge protection of equipment connected to AC
power and communication circuits"
- it was published by the IEEE in 2005 (the IEEE is the dominant
organization of electrical and electronic engineers in the US)

A second reference is
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/p.../surgesfnl.pdf
- this is the "NIST recommended practice guide: Surges Happen!: how to
protect the appliances in your home"
- it is published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
the US government agency formerly called the National Bureau of
Standards in 2001

Both guides were intended for wide distribution to the general public to
explain surges and how to protect against them. The IEEE guide was
targeted at people who have some (not much) technical background. Read
one (or both) to understand surges and protection.

Includes service panel protector, plug-in protector, system ground,
single point ground.

Note that when using a plug-in surge suppressor and a device, like a
computer, has connections other than power, like a phone line, they have
to be connected through the surge suppressor also. This type of
suppressor is called a surge reference equalizer (SRE) by the IEEE (also
described by the NIST). The idea is that all wires connected to the
device (power, phone, CATV, LAN, ...) are clamped to the common ground
at the SRE. The voltage on all wires passing through the SRE to the
protected device are held to a voltage safe to the device.


bud--

On Wed, 5 Jul 2006 21:01:33 -0600, "James \"Cubby\" Culbertson"
wrote:

Hiya,
My sister recently had a bolt of lightning hit very near to her house. She
lost a number of electronic appliances as a result. My initial thought is
that she may not have a good ground for her house. I'm wondering if there
is a way to test it or is it mostly just a visual thing? As well, are whole
house surge protectors good for this type of application? I suspect not but
thought I'd ask. I'm in a high lightning area (2nd highest number in this
state, FL is no. 1) and really don't have any trees nearby so I'm beginning
to think maybe a separate ground system just for lightning protection might
make sense. Obviously I'd locate the ground rod as far away from the house
ground but I'm wondering if this makes sense?
Cheers,
cc


My house was hit by lightning back in 48. Everyone that lived there
was killed. I still recall my own funeral was held 3 days later,
because my penis exploded from the overheated urine, and aunt
Gertrude's breasts exploded from pressure of the the boiling milk. It
was horrible to see. The insurance adjuster blamed the deaths on the
lightning bolt. It turned out the lightning bolt was not grounded.
God was charged with murder and found guilty. They are still trying
to get him in prison but he always escapes the second they capture
him.

wrote in message
...

My house was hit by lightning back in 48. Everyone that lived there
was killed. I still recall my own funeral was held 3 days later,
because my penis exploded from the overheated urine, and aunt
Gertrude's breasts exploded from pressure of the the boiling milk. It
was horrible to see. The insurance adjuster blamed the deaths on the
lightning bolt. It turned out the lightning bolt was not grounded.
God was charged with murder and found guilty. They are still trying
to get him in prison but he always escapes the second they capture
him.

Oh why don't you just get a life!!!