I would like to know if there's anyone that has given a solution to lightning strokes. I am interested in giving a solution as far as grounding is concerned and how can I drive the lighting stroke to do ground through the keel.
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Monday nite I got stroked
June 19, 20000, 9;30 pm, living in th lightening capital of USA, a bolt cracked above me and discintergrated my VHF antennea, and took out my 12V sys. 4 radios, panel, and B/I 3 bank battery charger, I have a tall rig, I also was moving about, which would cause the mast to move also, I have a cutter rig, w/ 12 pc's of standing rig, but it didn't touch the 110 ac sys.my rig is grounded to the keel, my SSB is grounded to the intake water seacock, so when it hit the antennea, then mast then rigging into the 12v ground into the keel, and water, I haven't figgured out what went, but all the fuses to the 4 radios look good, it might be only the 12v circuit breaker(I HOPE).
June 19, 20000, 9;30 pm, living in th lightening capital of USA, a bolt cracked above me and discintergrated my VHF antennea, and took out my 12V sys. 4 radios, panel, and B/I 3 bank battery charger, I have a tall rig, I also was moving about, which would cause the mast to move also, I have a cutter rig, w/ 12 pc's of standing rig, but it didn't touch the 110 ac sys.my rig is grounded to the keel, my SSB is grounded to the intake water seacock, so when it hit the antennea, then mast then rigging into the 12v ground into the keel, and water, I haven't figgured out what went, but all the fuses to the 4 radios look good, it might be only the 12v circuit breaker(I HOPE).
ANSI/NFPA 78
Go to http://205.67.213.10/Information?Lightning/LIGHTNING.htm and scroll down to "Boating-Lightning Protection" by William J. Becker. He covers the recomendations of ANSI/NFPA 78 (Lightning Protection Code) Be sure to bond ALL grounded items to prevent side flashes.
Go to http://205.67.213.10/Information?Lightning/LIGHTNING.htm and scroll down to "Boating-Lightning Protection" by William J. Becker. He covers the recomendations of ANSI/NFPA 78 (Lightning Protection Code) Be sure to bond ALL grounded items to prevent side flashes.
Bonding all metals would help but..
..unless done at factory as part of building process , it would be difficult to do this afterwards on new production sailboats . On some boats ,winches, metal deck hardware and statchions, for example, have no visual metal backplates under the deck(but screw onto aluminium plate moulded into deck) to which the bonding strip can be strongly atached. Same bonding strips , connecting the mast, stays chainplates, and other metal components to keel, should be routed in stright no-cornered paths a difficult thing to acheave on finished boat with all floors and furniture in place ,without canibalizing the boat... It a pity , that due to marketing and economic reasons , most builders don't do that anymore, unlike 20-25 years ago when even a 81' 28 footer Beneteau ( like my former boat) had this system as standard. Just a week ago , a friend sailing a chartered new 40 footer Jeaneau along beautifull south Turkish coast ( on her maiden sail) in normal weather condition for the season , was struck by lightening , which made a fist size hole in mast and made a 'total loss' of ALL electric and electronic equipment, incl all wiring and conduits in the boat.. None was injured and being just before entering a marina , he succesfully docked in. He was advised that the whole rigging should be checked , and maybe replaced.. He was given of course another boat. Were it a private boat , damage would be al least 20-25 thousands .., and they were lucky that the hull was not holed at chainplates area ,and they were in relatively calm waters near the coast.. I never read in magazines or web sites any comment from manufacturers why they avoid this basic safety protection feature , at least on 30+ footers category B (offshore) boats ,which are expected to do longer trips away from coast.
..unless done at factory as part of building process , it would be difficult to do this afterwards on new production sailboats . On some boats ,winches, metal deck hardware and statchions, for example, have no visual metal backplates under the deck(but screw onto aluminium plate moulded into deck) to which the bonding strip can be strongly atached. Same bonding strips , connecting the mast, stays chainplates, and other metal components to keel, should be routed in stright no-cornered paths a difficult thing to acheave on finished boat with all floors and furniture in place ,without canibalizing the boat... It a pity , that due to marketing and economic reasons , most builders don't do that anymore, unlike 20-25 years ago when even a 81' 28 footer Beneteau ( like my former boat) had this system as standard. Just a week ago , a friend sailing a chartered new 40 footer Jeaneau along beautifull south Turkish coast ( on her maiden sail) in normal weather condition for the season , was struck by lightening , which made a fist size hole in mast and made a 'total loss' of ALL electric and electronic equipment, incl all wiring and conduits in the boat.. None was injured and being just before entering a marina , he succesfully docked in. He was advised that the whole rigging should be checked , and maybe replaced.. He was given of course another boat. Were it a private boat , damage would be al least 20-25 thousands .., and they were lucky that the hull was not holed at chainplates area ,and they were in relatively calm waters near the coast.. I never read in magazines or web sites any comment from manufacturers why they avoid this basic safety protection feature , at least on 30+ footers category B (offshore) boats ,which are expected to do longer trips away from coast.
or not
The reason Hunter doesn't bond the thru-hulls, and there is some controversy about this, is because of the danger of lightning putting holes where there used to be seacocks. Some experts think that a floating ground better insulates the boat from lightning charges. ANSI still prefers bonding.
The reason Hunter doesn't bond the thru-hulls, and there is some controversy about this, is because of the danger of lightning putting holes where there used to be seacocks. Some experts think that a floating ground better insulates the boat from lightning charges. ANSI still prefers bonding.
Phil T: URL?
Phil -- the address you gave didn't work for me and didn't appear to be a good WWW address. Tom M -- sorry to here about your mishap and hope the damage was not as extensive as feared (or that you have good insurance). I thought I got cracked crossing over from Bimini last weekend. Went thru a 30kt squall, and as the wind was dying down, I said to my buddy, "well, at least there wasn't any lightning" when BOOM! It was so close you could hear that scratching sound before the BOOM, and the light and thunder were simultaneous. We headed belowdecks, expecting the electrics to be fried but everything was working.
Phil -- the address you gave didn't work for me and didn't appear to be a good WWW address. Tom M -- sorry to here about your mishap and hope the damage was not as extensive as feared (or that you have good insurance). I thought I got cracked crossing over from Bimini last weekend. Went thru a 30kt squall, and as the wind was dying down, I said to my buddy, "well, at least there wasn't any lightning" when BOOM! It was so close you could hear that scratching sound before the BOOM, and the light and thunder were simultaneous. We headed belowdecks, expecting the electrics to be fried but everything was working.
Address correction
Bryan: Try www.cdc.gov/niosh/nasd/docs/as04800.html I don't know what happened to that other address - I couldn't get to work today eather. Sorry for the bad address. Phil
Bryan: Try www.cdc.gov/niosh/nasd/docs/as04800.html I don't know what happened to that other address - I couldn't get to work today eather. Sorry for the bad address. Phil
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