[TowerTalk] TowerTalk Digest, Vol 127, Issue 27

[Stan Labinsky Jr.]

Hmmm... took out normally rugged appliances.  "Cook stove, dryer, etc."
These have, or should have, only one path to ground, back through the power 
cabling.

Sounds like the strike came in on the L1 and L2, the two 120 volt lines.
Suspect that the jolt hit the pole transformer's primary and raised the 
secondary voltage to a point where equipment insulation broke down... ouch!
Don't know that I'd blame grounding or the lack of it for that failure.
But probably easier for the power company to blame grounding than trying to 
educate the victims on what really happened.  They don't care why, they just 
want it fixed!

Proper station grounding is aimed at making sure that no strike CURRENT 
flows THROUGH the equipment.
The current is the bad guy.  The voltage makes it flow.
Keep the potential difference to a minimum by causing the strike to bypass 
the equipment... should be able to survive the strike.
Think, "putting all the equipment into a cocoon with only one connection to 
the outside world and you'll get the picture on station grounding.

Stan

-----Original Message----- 
From: Steve Sacco NN4X
Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2013 8:25 AM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] TowerTalk Digest, Vol 127, Issue 27

Skip -

Lighting protection is science, not religion, and requires no "belief".

Consider that tall buildings, towers, the electrical grid, and aircraft,
among many other things, are routinely hit by lightning and survive
unscathed.

Clearly, the lighting damage you and your neighbors experienced was due
to insufficient grounding.

73,
Steve
NN4X


>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2013 12:28:13 -0400
> From: "Skip K3CC"<k3cc at verizon.net>
> To:<towertalk at contesting.com>
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] lightening strike
> Message-ID: <1799C47B78784951BBB6AE974178086C at k3ccPC>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I have had one very bad lightening strike that I lost almost all
> the appliance's  connected to the electrical service.
> THey included, hot water heater, cook stove, freezer, dishwasher
> my entire radio station, computers , TV, Stereo ETC.  You get the picture.
>
> The strike was a ground strike that came in through the ground system of 
> the
> electrical panel and phone line.
> This strike took out 4 homes and all the under ground utilities had to be 
> replaced.
>
> I have never believed in any kind of lightening protection.  I used to 
> live on top of
> a hill at 1200 ft.  I now live in a 20 acres field at 2300 ft.  How can 
> you protect against
> a strike through the grounding system ????
>
> de Skip
> Skip Kauffman
> ARS K3CC
> EC ARES Potter CO, PA
> www.k3cc.net
>

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