Earlier this summer our H26 was struck by lightning. There was significant hull damage (a hole was blown through the hull about 8 inches above the water line) and an unknown amount of damage to the electrical components. Because the distribution panel was toasted, it has been impossible to assess the extent of the damage. I took the boat to my local dealer who said he didn't want to work on the electrical system. Since he is not interested in working on the electrical system, I am certainly not interested in having him do the bottom paint, etc. that I was going to have him do while the boat was in his yard. I am assuming that the electronic components (VHF radio, Tri-data, etc.) are trash. Has anyone else experienced a lightning strike and, if so, was there damage to the wiring or only to the electronic components? Has anyone had experience running new wiring to the various fixtures such as in the head? Any hints would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Philip Teter
Grounding
First I would suggest you check the boat's grounding. Properly grounded the lightning should have passed through the system and out through the keal with little or no damage. I don't think your boat has the grounding system required by the National Electrical Code. First correct the grounding system then reinstall the other electrical as required.
First I would suggest you check the boat's grounding. Properly grounded the lightning should have passed through the system and out through the keal with little or no damage. I don't think your boat has the grounding system required by the National Electrical Code. First correct the grounding system then reinstall the other electrical as required.
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Alex
No grounding system..
As far as I know , Hunters (and others as well..), even much bigger models, don't have the recomended grounding sytem , which basicly include bonding all mejor metal fittings (mast , shrouds,winches,stachions, etc.) via dedicated conductors to the keel . Somehow this seamenship practice , was gradualy disconected by some major builders in last 15-20 years or so,kept on by others ,altough the dangers of being hit are just the same ( or more , since more people take boating). I suppose your electrics would have been fried anyway , but this sytem can save your your boat from being holed..and your life.Regarding the wiring, I wouldn't trust that, but rewire . Hunter might give you the sytem layout if you don't have it in your owner manual. Frankly at this size of boat , I doubt if you would find one equipped with grounding system. But I wonder with these various safety regulations being upgraded from time to time ,how come this issue was left aside, at least for category A (ocean)and B (offshore) boats. ( and statistics quote is not -in my opinion- a valid answer on basic safety regulations).
As far as I know , Hunters (and others as well..), even much bigger models, don't have the recomended grounding sytem , which basicly include bonding all mejor metal fittings (mast , shrouds,winches,stachions, etc.) via dedicated conductors to the keel . Somehow this seamenship practice , was gradualy disconected by some major builders in last 15-20 years or so,kept on by others ,altough the dangers of being hit are just the same ( or more , since more people take boating). I suppose your electrics would have been fried anyway , but this sytem can save your your boat from being holed..and your life.Regarding the wiring, I wouldn't trust that, but rewire . Hunter might give you the sytem layout if you don't have it in your owner manual. Frankly at this size of boat , I doubt if you would find one equipped with grounding system. But I wonder with these various safety regulations being upgraded from time to time ,how come this issue was left aside, at least for category A (ocean)and B (offshore) boats. ( and statistics quote is not -in my opinion- a valid answer on basic safety regulations).
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mike43067
ground connection
My 23 has a small gauge wire connecting the mast to the keel. But I'm not so sure it wouldn't fry quickly from a lightning strike. Lightning is hard to protect against and when you ground everything, you only make yourself a better target. Some win the lottery, some get hit by lightning......luck of the draw I guess.
My 23 has a small gauge wire connecting the mast to the keel. But I'm not so sure it wouldn't fry quickly from a lightning strike. Lightning is hard to protect against and when you ground everything, you only make yourself a better target. Some win the lottery, some get hit by lightning......luck of the draw I guess.
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Mark Kissel
Lightning!
Hi Steve, Let me first say I'm sorry to hear your boat was damaged by lightning. I'm glad you weren't injured. Now let me trade in the captain's hat for my work hat...Okay, lightning strikes are composed of several individual strokes. Each stroke lasts a few milliseconds with some tens of milliseconds between strokes. This is why lightning appears to flicker. Keep this in mind because I'll come back to it in a minute. First we have to talk about insulation resistance. What the heck is that? In simple terms, it's the insulation's ability to prevent the electricity flowing in the conductor from escaping (arcing) to another conductor (an adjacent wire, a metal object, fingers, etc.). For example, normal household wiring is typically rated for 600 volts. That means the insulation can withstand 600 volts without arcing through to something else. So what? Well, for extremely brief periods of time, the insulation will contain much larger applied voltages. Now back to our flickering. So it is likely that your boat's wiring was exposed to high voltages but only very briefly, a few milliseconds at best. Your wiring is quite possibly okay. So how can you be sure? You can have it checked with a megohm meter (sometimes called a "megger"). This is not to be confused with a volt/ohm-meter. But you will need two things; someone who owns a megger and someone with enough savvy to know how to use it. It is extremely probable that your electronics are "fried" as you suggest. This happens as a direct result of inductive coupling. (Oh, jeesh, there he goes using big words again.) When lightning strikes the ground, a tremendous amount of current flow takes place. This causes magnetic fields to be generated (look it up in your old physics book). As the magnetic field crosses a long thin conductor, it inductively couples and a current is generated (induced) in the conductor. If this conductor happens to be the wire connecting your transducer to the instrument head, guess what? As the man says, "ain't no rocket science in that question." Hang in there, we're almost done. Having investigated thousands of land-based lightning strikes, I can only recall a very few instances where the wiring was damaged except at termination points. Termination points are susceptible to arcing because of charge distribution per square inch of surface area. I know, knock of the science lessons. Okay, let it suffice to say that arcing causes melting. Check your termination points at the panel, at light bulbs, in-line connectors/fuses, and other areas for signs of melting. If you see them, chances are that a poor contact will exist. Poor contact = FIRE HAZARD! Sorry to be so long-winded Steve, but due to so much misinformation regarding lightning flying around, I want you to have the facts. A few more (Wow, won't this guy ever shut up?)... A typical lightning discharge produces 10-20 million volts with current flows in the 30,000+ ampere range (an average house uses a 200 ampere service). The leader channel heats to 50,000 degrees F (nearly five times the temperature of the surface of the sun). If lightning hits your boat directly, grounded or not, you WILL see significant damage to the electronics. Depending on how the strike enters the boat, you will probably NOT have damage to the wiring. My advice is to have the wiring checked professionally with the proper meter. DO NOT USE AN OHM-METER!!! An ohmmeter will not indicate if the insulation resistance of the wiring has been compromised. Check your termination points; if you see black soot deposits or melting, either clean or re-terminate the wiring. As far as professional advice to prevent a future occurrence; keep your lucky rabbit's foot aboard (if only it were that easy). Mark Kissel Regional Manager Senior Technical Consultant LWG, Inc. (sometimes affectionately called "the lightning people") s/v Kittiwake H240
Hi Steve, Let me first say I'm sorry to hear your boat was damaged by lightning. I'm glad you weren't injured. Now let me trade in the captain's hat for my work hat...Okay, lightning strikes are composed of several individual strokes. Each stroke lasts a few milliseconds with some tens of milliseconds between strokes. This is why lightning appears to flicker. Keep this in mind because I'll come back to it in a minute. First we have to talk about insulation resistance. What the heck is that? In simple terms, it's the insulation's ability to prevent the electricity flowing in the conductor from escaping (arcing) to another conductor (an adjacent wire, a metal object, fingers, etc.). For example, normal household wiring is typically rated for 600 volts. That means the insulation can withstand 600 volts without arcing through to something else. So what? Well, for extremely brief periods of time, the insulation will contain much larger applied voltages. Now back to our flickering. So it is likely that your boat's wiring was exposed to high voltages but only very briefly, a few milliseconds at best. Your wiring is quite possibly okay. So how can you be sure? You can have it checked with a megohm meter (sometimes called a "megger"). This is not to be confused with a volt/ohm-meter. But you will need two things; someone who owns a megger and someone with enough savvy to know how to use it. It is extremely probable that your electronics are "fried" as you suggest. This happens as a direct result of inductive coupling. (Oh, jeesh, there he goes using big words again.) When lightning strikes the ground, a tremendous amount of current flow takes place. This causes magnetic fields to be generated (look it up in your old physics book). As the magnetic field crosses a long thin conductor, it inductively couples and a current is generated (induced) in the conductor. If this conductor happens to be the wire connecting your transducer to the instrument head, guess what? As the man says, "ain't no rocket science in that question." Hang in there, we're almost done. Having investigated thousands of land-based lightning strikes, I can only recall a very few instances where the wiring was damaged except at termination points. Termination points are susceptible to arcing because of charge distribution per square inch of surface area. I know, knock of the science lessons. Okay, let it suffice to say that arcing causes melting. Check your termination points at the panel, at light bulbs, in-line connectors/fuses, and other areas for signs of melting. If you see them, chances are that a poor contact will exist. Poor contact = FIRE HAZARD! Sorry to be so long-winded Steve, but due to so much misinformation regarding lightning flying around, I want you to have the facts. A few more (Wow, won't this guy ever shut up?)... A typical lightning discharge produces 10-20 million volts with current flows in the 30,000+ ampere range (an average house uses a 200 ampere service). The leader channel heats to 50,000 degrees F (nearly five times the temperature of the surface of the sun). If lightning hits your boat directly, grounded or not, you WILL see significant damage to the electronics. Depending on how the strike enters the boat, you will probably NOT have damage to the wiring. My advice is to have the wiring checked professionally with the proper meter. DO NOT USE AN OHM-METER!!! An ohmmeter will not indicate if the insulation resistance of the wiring has been compromised. Check your termination points; if you see black soot deposits or melting, either clean or re-terminate the wiring. As far as professional advice to prevent a future occurrence; keep your lucky rabbit's foot aboard (if only it were that easy). Mark Kissel Regional Manager Senior Technical Consultant LWG, Inc. (sometimes affectionately called "the lightning people") s/v Kittiwake H240
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Mike Alge
lighting protection
I am of the opinion that just grounding the mast is not enough. What is more important to me is preventing the strike in the first place. There is a devise on the market that deionizes the air around the mast making your boat less of a path to ground. On my Columbia 28 I had a lighting strike that blew a sizable hole in the lead keel. I therefor do not believe that just grounding the boat is the right choise .
I am of the opinion that just grounding the mast is not enough. What is more important to me is preventing the strike in the first place. There is a devise on the market that deionizes the air around the mast making your boat less of a path to ground. On my Columbia 28 I had a lighting strike that blew a sizable hole in the lead keel. I therefor do not believe that just grounding the boat is the right choise .
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Steve
Tell us more about the hole above the waterline
Where on the boat did the indicated hole appear? was it a random exit or did it follow something.. ???
Where on the boat did the indicated hole appear? was it a random exit or did it follow something.. ???
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Torrence Jenkins
I got hit. Bummer.
My boat got hit by lightining 4 years ago. There was three significant holes in the gel coat. All the elctronics were fried. Exception - Lights, running lights, mast light. Battery was damaged, charger was blown. Unfortunatly, I have not proven yet. But I suspect the altanator on the motor got a little whacked. I have blown a number of batteries since using the motor to charge my batteries. I had life caulk in the holes and was fine. I finnally hauled out this year, and found some other holes, under the waterline. Thank God no blisters, the keel actually had an area which looked a electical discharged could have taken place, not too sure but the paint was all spidered out at the mid chord. So I know it wasn't an impact. I used the same wire but changed my distribution panel and just cut about 4 inches off the end and respliced. The boat was renamed. Hence the name Flash. Good Luck TJ H26.5 "Flash"
My boat got hit by lightining 4 years ago. There was three significant holes in the gel coat. All the elctronics were fried. Exception - Lights, running lights, mast light. Battery was damaged, charger was blown. Unfortunatly, I have not proven yet. But I suspect the altanator on the motor got a little whacked. I have blown a number of batteries since using the motor to charge my batteries. I had life caulk in the holes and was fine. I finnally hauled out this year, and found some other holes, under the waterline. Thank God no blisters, the keel actually had an area which looked a electical discharged could have taken place, not too sure but the paint was all spidered out at the mid chord. So I know it wasn't an impact. I used the same wire but changed my distribution panel and just cut about 4 inches off the end and respliced. The boat was renamed. Hence the name Flash. Good Luck TJ H26.5 "Flash"
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Dave Condon
I just repaired a Hunter 26 that was hit by lightning on Smith Mountian Lake this past summer. Lightning will dissapte through the hull and even deck at various places but most notably below the water line. You will need to remove the centerboard as well. Essentially, all paint will need to be removed, areas fixed and apply epoxy barrier coatings. Make sure the boat stays out for at least 2-3 months before drying. As for the electrical, order a new panel from Hunter that is currenlty used on the 260. Check the fuses to the VHF and any stereo which may have saved them. As for the instruments, probably they are toasted since current would have flowed up to them from the transducers. If the battery did not blow, check the fuse on the positive side to see if blown. As for the motor, see if there is an internal fuse that would have saved the motor. The wiring was fine except for the external light cnnnection for the mast which I had to cut a hole to access to it. That was a job. IF you specifically need any other guide lines, call Gregg Emerson and I will help you over the phone
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Jeff Davis
My 240 lightning strike
Our new (1999) Hunter 240 was moored in our local lake and was struck by lightning last August. There were several exit holes in the hull above and below the waterline including under the ballast tank. Local experts said that there was no way to repair the ballast tank, and the boat was totaled! I got a full pay out from our insurance company, BoatUS. We bought a brand new 240.
Our new (1999) Hunter 240 was moored in our local lake and was struck by lightning last August. There were several exit holes in the hull above and below the waterline including under the ballast tank. Local experts said that there was no way to repair the ballast tank, and the boat was totaled! I got a full pay out from our insurance company, BoatUS. We bought a brand new 240.
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Michael Bell
If you do re-wire…
Pulling new wires in a boat (or in anything for that matter) can be made much easier by using the existing wire to pull the new wire. You just need to determine the size and length ahead of time (give yourself plenty of length). Think of it as a good way to really get to know the ins and outs of your boat.
Pulling new wires in a boat (or in anything for that matter) can be made much easier by using the existing wire to pull the new wire. You just need to determine the size and length ahead of time (give yourself plenty of length). Think of it as a good way to really get to know the ins and outs of your boat.
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Tom
Tell us more......!
One question that I am interested in is were you on the boat at the time the lightning struck??? Has ANYONE been on a boat when lightning struck? If so was there any plan in place or strategy for dealing with it? You know, don't touch anything metal, lower the mast, bend over and kiss your *** goodbye, etc. Steve, exactly where were you when this happened? This sort of information may be helpful to all... SAFE sailing.....
One question that I am interested in is were you on the boat at the time the lightning struck??? Has ANYONE been on a boat when lightning struck? If so was there any plan in place or strategy for dealing with it? You know, don't touch anything metal, lower the mast, bend over and kiss your *** goodbye, etc. Steve, exactly where were you when this happened? This sort of information may be helpful to all... SAFE sailing.....
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