Lightning Protection Equipment

[PeteF]

I'm still waiting for a weather app that can read and approaching T-Storm and execute shutdown.exe when it gets within 20 miles!


Doug, here's a topic I've never heard
discussed on the forum to date.

LIGHTNING PROTECTION!

Back around 1993, before Internet, I had my own computer BBS
where people would dial in via modem. It was up 24 hours per day
and computer equipment was very expensive then, so I needed
a way to protect my equipment during the lightning storm season,
when I was away at work. That's when I discovered Rabun Labs
and their line of Lightning Protection equipment. I've had lightning
protection here on my phone lines since around 1993.

All my computers have been running 24/7 since 1993 and I never
had any damage due to lightning, or any powerline surge, spike,
brownout or outage. I use a BEST brand UPS for powerline
protection and a Rabun Labs Lightning Detector for my phone lines.

Let's talk Lightning Protection
Basically the UPS protects by filtering out any spikes that might be
induced onto the power lines via a close lightniing strike. The Rabun
Labs Lightning Detection system monitors atmospheric conditions
similar to how you can hear the static of a nearby lightning storm
on your AM radio. When a lightning storm gets nearby it completely
disconnects my phone lines from all my computer & telephone
equipment for about 20 minutes. Then it automaticaly resets and
continues monitoring again.

Back in 1993 I paid about $300 for my Rabun Labs lightning Detector
and about $1,200 for my 1100 watt BEST brand UPS system. Prices
have come down considerablly for similar UPS systems and I suspect
the same is true for the Lightning Detection device.

My Rabun Labs Lightning detector has all kinds of controls
and switches that the newer models do not have. You can
read more about Rabun Labs Lightning Detection protection here...
http://www.rabunlabs.com/intel_disconnect.htm

I just read the webpage above and it's not such a great
presentation or description. I'd call them and make them
explain it better before ordering anything. I'd like to see
the connections at the working end of the box. I'd also
like to see the installation manual online.


PS: The only time I ever turn my equipment off is when a lightning
storm is right over head and very intense with lightning striking
neraby. No amount of protection equipment is going to protect
against a direct strike.

---pete---

[dbarrow]

Ok, I recall reading about something similar, uses static on am radio to trip a breaker.
Leviathon makes a surge suppressor breaker you can have installed in your main circuit box, something I considered but it takes an electrician to install.
Most APC power conditioning units have a hefty surge suppressor.
I saw once where someone suggested that you "daisy chain" a series of power strip surge supressors, but, as they say, nothing protects against a direct strike.
I have mine 2 to 3 deep, 1 wall socket, power strip, power strip.

Rule in my house, hear thunder, shutdown sequence in effect! Everybody is well trained! They can shut down all machines in minutes. It's like a fire drill!

I never had a direct hit, but got a glancing blow in the old house that ate the circuit for an attic fan when it hit pole down the street. Didn't hurt the fan but blew out the wires and wire nuts in a box in the attic actually knocking the wires out of the wire nut and fusing a couple.
I've seen houses whacked with a direct hit and it sure did some strange stuff, like blow the solder out of every plumbing joint in the house!

[PeteF]

Most APC power conditioning units have a hefty surge suppressor.I saw once where someone suggested that you "daisy chain" a series of power strip surge supressors, but, as they say, nothing protects against a direct strike.
I have mine 2 to 3 deep, 1 wall socket, power strip, power strip.


Doug, unfortunately, daisy chaining power strips is not going to help
much. Surge suppressors don't help much when lightning is concerned.
It gets complicated due to issues related to ground loops, poor grounds,
and other paths such as phone lines and data lines in the system. A good
UPS with power line conditioning is the only answer for protection at the
AC power point, but you can't stop there because you have other paths to
protect. The CABLE or DSL or PHONE lines need to be protected too!
Then if you have a wired LAN, those lines can also be source of
induced electrical surge from a close lightning strike.


Rule in my house, hear thunder, shutdown sequence in effect! Everybody is well trained! They can shut down all machines in minutes. It's like a fire drill!


Shutting down the computers is wise because the chances of a
disruption in AC power is more likely, but to be proteced from a close
lightning strike, you need to pull the plug from the wall outlet and also
disconnect the CABLE or DSL lines. If you have extremely long ethernet
cables in a wired lan, you'd need to unplug those too.

Lightning protection can get very complicated depending upon your
system configuration, but the simplest solution is to get a good UPS
for each PC workstation; one that has protection for your data
lines too (DSL or CABLE and telephone).

I have extensive experience in this area with one client that routinely
gets whacked by lightning. Several years ago all 5 of their PCs were
damaged by lightning. Then we added a UPS to each workstation and still
they got whacked, but this time only a few network cards & the router got
damaged.

And yes, even the computer that was turned OFF got damaged.
One time it took out the modem (before we installed the UPS) and another
time it took out the network card (after we installed the UPS).

Finally, I added lightning protection modules to each of the ethernet lines
and that solved the problem. Most of those 5 computers are powered ON
24/7 even through severe lightning storms and they now survive.

I must also mention that we had to bring in an electrician to beef up
the grounding at the main electrical panel as well as repair the grounds
at a few of the AC outlets. Without a solid grounding system all the
UPS & spike protection equipment will be rendered useless.

---pete---

[PeteF]

Most APC power conditioning units have a hefty surge suppressor.I saw once where someone suggested that you "daisy chain" a series of power strip surge supressors, but, as they say, nothing protects against a direct strike.


I must mention one very impotant thing about power strip surge supressors.
Power strip surge supressors should NEVER be used in conjunction with a
UPS that also provides power line conditioning. The reason has to do with
the special circuitry in the UPS that uses a controlled technique to direct
the spike to ground. By placing a Power strip surge supressor on the
output side of the UPS you can end up defeating that special controlled
circuitry.

---pete---

[Tortanick]

Or you could just set up a few lightning rods?

[PeteF]

Or you could just set up a few lightning rods?

The key word is... JUST.
No, lightning rods alone won't protect you, they'd just help to increase
the odds that the lightning does not strike more vulnerabe targets.
A more vulnerable target such as the utility pole in front of your
house would surely do harm to your computer without additional
protection such as a UPS w/powerline conditioning.

I'd go with UPS/Powerline conditioning first. Also make sure the
data lines are protected. Most UPSes have ports for protecting
your data lines.

I'd go with lightning rods if my location was extremely vulnerable
to lightning. For example, one client of mine would get hit one or
more times each year by lightning. They are a good candidate for
lightning rods. It's the tallest building in the area.

My father lives in FLORIDA (the lightning state), he has three lightning
rods and whole house surge suppression installed at the circuit box.
He has no UPS or powerline conditioning at the outlet where the PC
is plugged in. I was at his place one time during a lightning storm
and a close strike caused his PC to malfunction. Fortunately, I was
able to shut down the PC and reboot to get things working again
but it proved to me that even with lightning rods and whole house
surge protection, you still need a UPS w/powerline conditioning
at the PC.

---pete---