residual static electricity from lightening strike?

Status
Not open for further replies.

bikerbob54

New member
Location
mclean, va
there was a lightening strike near our home that burned the cable line from its connection(no other known problems) Several days later, people felt electricity in metal that is not grounded on my deck. this has never been there before and cannot be repeated. Could static electricity have remained on these locations to be dissipated days later when the touching allowed it to reach ground?
 

roger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Fl
Occupation
Retired Electrician
Even though the OP is not associated with the trades he his not asking DIY advice so I am going to allow this thread for discussion.

Roger
 

charlie b

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Lockport, IL
Occupation
Retired Electrical Engineer
I cannot tell you that that is what happened. All I can say is that it is possible. There is a very common electronic component known as a capacitor, one purpose of which is to store energy. It is constructed of parallel metal plates separated by a material that does not conduct electricity. So the charge that builds up on one plate cannot travel through that material and reach the other plate. If you touch its two wires together, current will flow from one plate to the other through the connected wires. That current will continue to flow until the charge has completely discharged from the plates, a matter of milliseconds in duration. Your deck with its metal parts and the dirt below the deck could constitute a similar set of parallel plates. The lightning could impose a charge on this “make shift capacitor,” and a person touching the metal part of the deck could act the same as the two wires of a capacitor being connected to each other.
 

mgookin

Senior Member
Location
Fort Myers, FL
Questions:
When the people felt the voltage, was it instantaneous as in a static shock or sustained until they no longer touched it?
Was it involving more than one metal object?
Did the people feel this at the same time, or one after another on the same or different object?

I'll suggest you have an electrician visit the site and inspect/ test/ measure/ discharge everything metal in the area.

As Charlie stated, there's no way to know for sure what happened. Being safe is #1.
 

junkhound

Senior Member
Location
Renton, WA
Occupation
EE, power electronics specialty
+2 on 'damage not visible'.

OP should contact insurance company (who will likely recommend an electrician experienced with lightning damage, megger checks, etc).

"on deck" also implies damage and partial short of line to ground. Many pressure treated deck materials are somewhat conductive - my suspect is that undetected damage to HO wiring nearly certain if the shocks are worse in humid or wet conditions.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top