Lightning Rod Installation

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Bennet07480

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nothern N.J.
Iam not a lightning rod expert, nor have I ever installed a lightning rod, but I have seen several lightning rods and they appear to be mounted at the highest point of the building structure and have some sort of bare wire from the lightning mast directly into the ground. At my code update classes there seemed to be some confusion about what exactly a lightning rod is supposed to do and weather or not building steel was to be bonded to the lightning rod wire before it goes into the ground. the two train of thoughts were 1- to be the preferred path to ground so that hopefully lightning will strike the mast and continue down the wire from the mast directly into the ground hopefully bypassing the residence or structure and not causing damage to the building. the second train of thought was, that the lightning rods wire was to be connected to building steel so that when the building got struck with lightning the electricity dissipated itself within the building and also into the ground. can you please assist and perhaps list references to which way is the UL listed, and NEC way to install modern lightning rods? thanks so much.
 
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GoldDigger

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The installation of lightning protection is covered by a different NPFA code.
There are rules about bonding to (ungrounded?) metal that is within a certain distance from the down conductor.
The idea being that you do not want the lightning current to try to find alternate paths but stay on the download.
 

cdslotz

Senior Member
Iam not a lightning rod expert, nor have I ever installed a lightning rod, but I have seen several lightning rods and they appear to be mounted at the highest point of the building structure and have some sort of bare wire from the lightning mast directly into the ground. At my code update classes there seemed to be some confusion about what exactly a lightning rod is supposed to do and weather or not building steel was to be bonded to the lightning rod wire before it goes into the ground. the two train of thoughts were 1- to be the preferred path to ground so that hopefully lightning will strike the mast and continue down the wire from the mast directly into the ground hopefully bypassing the residence or structure and not causing damage to the building. the second train of thought was, that the lightning rods wire was to be connected to building steel so that when the building got struck with lightning the electricity dissipated itself within the building and also into the ground. can you please assist and perhaps list references to which way is the UL listed, and NEC way to install modern lightning rods? thanks so much.

Are you being asked to install this? Or price this?
 

Bennet07480

Member
Location
nothern N.J.
I think the question should read alittle more like this: editing time had past

I think the question should read alittle more like this: editing time had past

Iam not a lightning protection expert, nor have I ever installed any lightning protection systems, but I have seen several air terminals and they appear to be mounted at the highest point of the building structure and have some sort cable from the air terminal directly onto the ground termination. At my code update classes there seemed to be some confusion about what exactly a lightning protection system is supposed to do and weather or not building steel was to be bonded to the cable coming from the air terminals before it goes into the ground. the two train of thoughts were 1- to be the preferred path to ground so that hopefully lightning will strike the air terminal first and continue down the cable from the air terminal directly into the ground termination hopefully bypassing the residence or structure and not causing damage to the building. the second train of thought was, that the cable coming from the air terminal was to be connected to building steel so that when the building got struck with lightning the electricity dissipated itself within the building and also into the ground termination. can you please assist and perhaps list references to which way is the UL listed, and NEC way to install modern lightning protection? thanks so much.
 

Bennet07480

Member
Location
nothern N.J.
reply

reply

lightning protection came up at my code class last night and I wanted to see if anyone new the proper installation of one, and could tell me weather building steel should be connected to the cable coming from the air terminal or terminals, or not.
thank you
 

GoldDigger

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Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
BTW, those pointy rods above the highest points of the building roof are commonly called lightning rods, but are properly referred to in code and by professionals as the "air terminals" of a Lightning Protection System.
 

bphgravity

Senior Member
Location
Florida
NFPA 780 - Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems

NFPA 70 - Section 250.60 & Section 250.106

UL 467 ? Grounding & Bonding Equipment (KDER) & (KDSH)

UL 96 ? Lightning Conductors, Air Terminals & Fittings (OUTZ)

UL 96A ? Lightning Protection System Installations (OWAY)

ANSI/UL 1449 - Standard for Safety for Surge Protection Devices


This more or less covers the standards that cover lightning protection systems...
 
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