Sailboat lightning protection, does it really helps in fresh water? Anybody has the homemade one? I heard it could be done from regular 8 AWG wire.
Lightning protection?
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My thoughts....
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/outside-43.html
...take it for what it is worth,
Sum
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http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/outside-43.html
...take it for what it is worth,
Sum
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Our Endeavour 37
Our MacGregor 26-S Pages
Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida
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Lightning...
I once had this a similar discussion with an "old salt", he has been sailing for a long time and has even crossed the Atlantic. His comment was "why are you so afraid of lightning? You must have done some really bad stuff in your life"!
He has many stories of sailing in storms and doesn't seem to worry about it at all. He then went on to say the chances of being hit while on the boat are extremely low, his point was that boats spend more time in the marina than at sea and are rarely hit at the marina. I didn't buy his argument and I would be a bit nervous if I were at sea and a saw lightning storm approaching.
I once had this a similar discussion with an "old salt", he has been sailing for a long time and has even crossed the Atlantic. His comment was "why are you so afraid of lightning? You must have done some really bad stuff in your life"!
He has many stories of sailing in storms and doesn't seem to worry about it at all. He then went on to say the chances of being hit while on the boat are extremely low, his point was that boats spend more time in the marina than at sea and are rarely hit at the marina. I didn't buy his argument and I would be a bit nervous if I were at sea and a saw lightning storm approaching.
I had considered this when we bought our boat and did some research on it. What I came up with was the following. 1) Lightening arrester rod 3 feet highter then anything else on the mast and 'Insulated' from the mast. 2) Electric welders cable connected to that and run down the mast and connected to a plate minimum of 12'' square which was to be deployed over the side of the boat and deeper then the keel depth. This was to provide a cone of protection over the boat at I think 30 degree's from the tip of the arrester. Think of this as a patially opened umbrella.
I don't think #8 wire would handle the voltages involved in a lightening strike.
c_witch
In the airplane world, a severe lightning strike is considered to be 200,000 volts at 200,000 amps. Wire can handle the voltage. What it cannot handle is the current flow of amps at that voltage thus producing an energy level. With the systems mentioned above, I find it interesting that there really is no accreditation of any real simulated test results. I also find it interesting to see all the loops formed by all the parallel connections. High magnetic forces will try to straighten out bent current carrying conductors. Also, high magnetic fields due to large current flow during the strike are mostly responsible for electronics failures. Not a direct attachment. It would be interesting to see results of these systems being hit at a severe strike level. It can be done.....
there are many different theories from knowledgable people on how to handle lightning According to Practical Sailor, insurance companies figure one in a thousand boats get hit. The odds are in your favor. Before you do anything I would check with Hunter to see what they did when they built your boat.
I think it is important to point at that your mast a rigging create a Faraday cage and your likelyhood of being injured from a lighting strike is very remote. Damage to the boat, and thus the possibility of sinking, is another thing.
Look at a race like the Chicago/Mac that has run every July for over 100 years. July means thunder storms on Lake Mich and over 100 years these guys have sailed through countless thunder storms. The first loss of life from weather was this past year and resulted from a capsize of a questionabaly designed boat - not lightning.
I think it is important to point at that your mast a rigging create a Faraday cage and your likelyhood of being injured from a lighting strike is very remote. Damage to the boat, and thus the possibility of sinking, is another thing.
Look at a race like the Chicago/Mac that has run every July for over 100 years. July means thunder storms on Lake Mich and over 100 years these guys have sailed through countless thunder storms. The first loss of life from weather was this past year and resulted from a capsize of a questionabaly designed boat - not lightning.
Lightning
I have a neighbor, who is right across the canal from me. Maybe 150' at most. He is a NASA engineer, and has every type of lightning protection known to man on his boat. ( 50 Benny ) In the past five years he has been hit twice, bad both times. I on the other hand, have nothing for lightning protection, and have never been hit. Luck????? Probably
I have a neighbor, who is right across the canal from me. Maybe 150' at most. He is a NASA engineer, and has every type of lightning protection known to man on his boat. ( 50 Benny ) In the past five years he has been hit twice, bad both times. I on the other hand, have nothing for lightning protection, and have never been hit. Luck????? Probably
A few months ago there was a video a guy shot from a marina office, looking out to the marina. As he panned, a lightening bolt hit a boat. It hit a cabin cruiser that was quite a bit smaller than the sailboat next to it. Taller isn't necessarily worse- or better.
Lightning threads come up all the time and often end in someone getting pissed and others getting their feelings hurt.
The only real protection in a storm is get away from a boat and seek better shelter. Still the odds of dying on a boat struck by lightning is the same from dying falling out of bed.
The only real protection in a storm is get away from a boat and seek better shelter. Still the odds of dying on a boat struck by lightning is the same from dying falling out of bed.
as there has never in recorded history been a written record of cats being hit by lightning, i have one on boat--i also wear crocks, which do not attract anything. i wear rubber suit. i wear gloves. i wear rubber hat. i also have wooden masts.
there is no way to prevent lightning from hitting boat. i sailed with nice n easy thru all kinds of lightning-- didnt like it, but we didnt get hit.
i am very impressed about the nasa engineer who was hit 2 times in 5 yrs, just across the channel from nice n easy. seems if you wish to have your boat hit, use protection
there is no way to prevent lightning from hitting boat. i sailed with nice n easy thru all kinds of lightning-- didnt like it, but we didnt get hit.
i am very impressed about the nasa engineer who was hit 2 times in 5 yrs, just across the channel from nice n easy. seems if you wish to have your boat hit, use protection
I got hit!
My boat (O'day 27) got hit by lightning 2 years ago. It hit the top of the mast and ran through the boat. We found black peices of plastic all over the inside of the boat where the battery charger exploded. Still not sure why it didn't start a fire and burn the whole boat up. Switches in the DC panel were melted, radios were fried. Ended up having to replace ALL of the wiring on the boat (except for the Atomic 4 engine, go figure!). As near as we can tell, the strike left the boat through the shore power cable as there were no holes in the hull and the shore power meter was "broken".
I guess we dodged a bullet since the rest of the boat was still intact, but it still shakes you up, we could have been on board when it happened.
No predicting what lightning will do. Same lightning storm struck and sank a boat on our dock. Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to when/where/how it strikes. You pays your money and ya takes your chance!
My boat (O'day 27) got hit by lightning 2 years ago. It hit the top of the mast and ran through the boat. We found black peices of plastic all over the inside of the boat where the battery charger exploded. Still not sure why it didn't start a fire and burn the whole boat up. Switches in the DC panel were melted, radios were fried. Ended up having to replace ALL of the wiring on the boat (except for the Atomic 4 engine, go figure!). As near as we can tell, the strike left the boat through the shore power cable as there were no holes in the hull and the shore power meter was "broken".
I guess we dodged a bullet since the rest of the boat was still intact, but it still shakes you up, we could have been on board when it happened.
No predicting what lightning will do. Same lightning storm struck and sank a boat on our dock. Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to when/where/how it strikes. You pays your money and ya takes your chance!
Personally, I think the best way to approach the subject is to just accept the fact that nobody truly knows anything about the subject. Expert A contradicts Expert B, what was gospel ten years ago is now sacrilege, etc. etc. In my extremely unscientific and limited study of the subject, it seems that I have noticed a pattern, as follows: Those who do nothing to protect themselves from lighting have very little chance of being struck. Those who go to great lengths to protect themselves from lightning seem to have a somewhat higher chance of being struck, but suffer less damage if they do. So decide on which side of that equation you wish to dwell. But remember, nobody knows anything with certainty.
Our house was once struck by lightning. It broke a lightbulb in a hanging fixture, followed a crack across the driveway and blew a chunk of concrete out and dented the hub cap on a car, followed another crack and caved the bottom of a gallon can into a neat hollow. On the other hand I saw a tree get the entire top blown out by a lightning strike. The tree was at the foot of a hill alongside a paved road in a forest. There were many taller trees.
This is a subject that has had my interest since we have been in some really bad electrical storms.
I've read what I have been able to find on the subject but can't remember reading "Those who go to great lengths to protect themselves from lightning seem to have a somewhat higher chance of being struck". Do you have a source for that I could read?
I have read that they "suffer less damage".
Thanks,
Sum
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NASA employees many different types of engineers. Possibly, this one's forte isn't electrical and/or grounding. One thing is certain, NASA goes to great lengths to protect rockets and launch pads from lightning. I work in communications and can vouch that communications companies, radio stations, cell towers, all spare almost no expense protecting their equipment. Most suffer little damage as towers are often struck. The protections are not to prevent strikes, but an attempt to control the surge and route it to ground as quickly as possible and away from the equipment.zeehag said:
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