And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
1. You can buy anything on Amazon. 2. Would this really work or just draw the lightning to your building?
They arn't intended to attract lightning strikes but to provide a safe ground path for any strikes that would otherwise use your building (or you) to seek ground.
You may be able to buy them on Amazon or your local farm store but it's better to have a professional install done, someone with experience and a bunch of insurance.
I saw those all over the place when I was working on roof tops and some towers. The way I understand it, they bleed off the charge before it can build up to cause a strike. The sharper the tip, the higher the current it can bleed, but the more the tip will erode. That's why they are rounded a bit. I was a broadcast engineer and two way radio field service guy for 30 years. Gosh, that was something to type just now.... time waits for no man....
They work by making your building have the same electrical potential as the earth. Think of it as "camoflage" from an electrical perspective. The intent is to fully surround the building with a low resistance path to earth, so that lightning is not attracted to your building by a particular low resistance path. If the building and the surrounding terrain have the same resistance, there is nothing to attract lightning to the building. Lightning air gaps should never attract lightning. the low resistance path also dissipates induced current from a near strike.
The question above states: "1. You can buy anything on Amazon. 2. Would this really work or just draw the lightning to your building?" So, you're telling us that these devices work not by telling the lightning to come to it, and then dissipate down into the building, and then down into the ground, . . . but by telling the lightning that the device and the building it is attached to is no more attractive to go to than anywhere else nearby?
Popular in the prairie states. The old ones had a glass bulb. The real expense is the thick braided copper wire that you'll need from the roof all the way down to the ground, and then a nice 6 ft all-copper grounding stake to complete the system.
You will likely need more than a single rod, that professional I suggested above would perform ground resistance testing to determine how much grounding is needed for your soil.
As hundreds of bullet-camera films have documented, electricity first goes up from the ground, following the highest and shortest path, in a blazing path to the heavens. Milliseconds later, the return charge follows the path (theoretically, of the just-ionized air) and returns from whence it came.
All that atmosphere is like a big balloon rubbing on the earth constantly, and the static buildup on the ground just wants to be free. (This is why when your hair stands up during electrical storms, you're too close to where there's about to be a rapid bi-directional exchange of voltage.)
I was in a helicopter above a boat doing training hoists & it was getting dark. The helo is sitting there with those 3 big blades rubbing electrons and the hook at the end of the cable is approaching the deck of the boat, they are training a new guy on the boat. Every time he reaches for the hook there is a big blue arc that jumps from the hook to his hand, it being almost dark you can see the spark really well. Pop! Pop! He was bit at least twice and now he was hesitant... His trainer just reaches out and grabs the hook to show him how to do it if you're not going to use a grounding hook, (a wooden handle maybe 18" long with a metal rod sticking out one end, bent into an "L" shape, a long cable is attached to the rod so you can clamp to something grounded or even just stand on it giving a path for the static electricity to follow.).
It was educational to see the static built up by the helo running the blades through the air, I thought about some months later when lowering the hook to a small boat with an outboard and they kept wanting me to put the hook down next to the metal gas can.
those things, being pure copper, are best at attracting tweekers looking for recycle material for their next fix. and, no, being on a roof is not a deterint
They arn't intended to attract lightning strikes but to provide a safe ground path for any strikes that would otherwise use your building (or you) to seek ground.
ReplyDeleteYou may be able to buy them on Amazon or your local farm store but it's better to have a professional install done, someone with experience and a bunch of insurance.
You must work for the government.
Delete“Made of pure copper”
ReplyDeleteAlso, in product details:
“ Material: 304 stainless steel”
Ahh, the English language.. . You see it is actually a steel rod coated in the purest copper money can buy!
DeleteI saw those all over the place when I was working on roof tops and some towers. The way I understand it, they bleed off the charge before it can build up to cause a strike. The sharper the tip, the higher the current it can bleed, but the more the tip will erode. That's why they are rounded a bit. I was a broadcast engineer and two way radio field service guy for 30 years. Gosh, that was something to type just now.... time waits for no man....
ReplyDeleteThey work by making your building have the same electrical potential as the earth. Think of it as "camoflage" from an electrical perspective. The intent is to fully surround the building with a low resistance path to earth, so that lightning is not attracted to your building by a particular low resistance path. If the building and the surrounding terrain have the same resistance, there is nothing to attract lightning to the building. Lightning air gaps should never attract lightning. the low resistance path also dissipates induced current from a near strike.
ReplyDeleteGot a boat yard full of those, sailboat masts make great lightning rods. Outriggers are good too. Really makes a mess of the wiring & electronics.
ReplyDeleteThe question above states: "1. You can buy anything on Amazon. 2. Would this really work or just draw the lightning to your building?" So, you're telling us that these devices work not by telling the lightning to come to it, and then dissipate down into the building, and then down into the ground, . . . but by telling the lightning that the device and the building it is attached to is no more attractive to go to than anywhere else nearby?
ReplyDeleteVery definitely would work! But you need a ground rod and connecting wire to provide a path to "earth"
ReplyDeleteSufficiently deep as to provide a good ground as well as #4 Cu ($$$) (not household romex) to run to it.
DeleteHook it up to your Tesla and see what happens. :)
ReplyDelete--this smells like it contains a buncha chinesium----
ReplyDeleteI never saw one of those until I got back east.
ReplyDeletePopular in the prairie states. The old ones had a glass bulb. The real expense is the thick braided copper wire that you'll need from the roof all the way down to the ground, and then a nice 6 ft all-copper grounding stake to complete the system.
ReplyDeleteYou will likely need more than a single rod, that professional I suggested above would perform ground resistance testing to determine how much grounding is needed for your soil.
DeleteYou should try putting in ground radials for a whip antenna.
DeletePoint of Order:
ReplyDeleteLightning doesn't "strike" down.
As hundreds of bullet-camera films have documented, electricity first goes up from the ground, following the highest and shortest path, in a blazing path to the heavens. Milliseconds later, the return charge follows the path (theoretically, of the just-ionized air) and returns from whence it came.
All that atmosphere is like a big balloon rubbing on the earth constantly, and the static buildup on the ground just wants to be free. (This is why when your hair stands up during electrical storms, you're too close to where there's about to be a rapid bi-directional exchange of voltage.)
All that friction from electrons rubbing on each other.
DeleteI was in a helicopter above a boat doing training hoists & it was getting dark. The helo is sitting there with those 3 big blades rubbing electrons and the hook at the end of the cable is approaching the deck of the boat, they are training a new guy on the boat.
DeleteEvery time he reaches for the hook there is a big blue arc that jumps from the hook to his hand, it being almost dark you can see the spark really well. Pop! Pop! He was bit at least twice and now he was hesitant... His trainer just reaches out and grabs the hook to show him how to do it if you're not going to use a grounding hook, (a wooden handle maybe 18" long with a metal rod sticking out one end, bent into an "L" shape, a long cable is attached to the rod so you can clamp to something grounded or even just stand on it giving a path for the static electricity to follow.).
It was educational to see the static built up by the helo running the blades through the air, I thought about some months later when lowering the hook to a small boat with an outboard and they kept wanting me to put the hook down next to the metal gas can.
those things, being pure copper, are best at attracting tweekers looking for recycle material for their next fix. and, no, being on a roof is not a deterint
ReplyDeleteSilver is a better conductor than copper, go with the solid silver rods :/
Delete