Lightning Protection

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When there was an attempt to add those types of devices to NFPA 780 they were rejected for lack of any technical substantiation that they actually work. The only UL certification for their products is for use as a standard lighting air terminal that is used in a conventional lighting protection system.
 
caribconsult said:
Can anyone here talk about lightning protection of a Tesla system?
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If power line transients are destroying equipment, I'd consider industrial SPD that resets after each event.

Living near tall power lines may give Zeus & Poseidon something else to aim at, but your electrode system may be absorbing too much.
 
ramsy said:
If power line transients are destroying equipment, I'd consider industrial SPD that resets after each event.

Living near tall power lines may give Zeus & Poseidon something else to aim at, but your electrode system may be absorbing too much.
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Thanks for replying. Power line transients are not the problem...we're on the Tesla battery most of the time. It's nearby lightning strikes that are frying our battery, plus assorted wifi gear, router, tv, control of electric gate, etc. I don't know how this lightning is entering our electric system since it's disconnected from the grid unless needed, we've never had a direct strike on the house, just nearby, perhaps 30' away, but a huge one. I installed a lightning strike protector that looks like a clear glass bulb with blue LED's to let you know it's connected, and says it will clamp any jolt up to 100,000v, so we'll see. It's connected across the 220 lines to the house, whichever feed it's getting, Tesla or the grid. I'll go fish out the name and model and put it up here for you to see.
 
caribconsult said:
we've never had a direct strike on the house, just nearby, perhaps 30' away, but a huge one.
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Close proximity lighting strikes are natural sources of EMP known to destroy un-shielded electronics or wiring.

Surge protection wont stop EMP. You need taller decoys placed further away, like metal-frame windmills with some deep electrodes. None metallic structures burn or blow up when struck by lighting.

DuckAssist BETA says:
Lightning is primarily attracted to tall, pointy, and isolated objects. While materials that conduct electricity, like metal, do not attract lightning more than other materials, they can provide a path for lightning to follow if struck.
 
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ramsy said:
Close proximity lighting strikes are natural sources of EMP known to destroy un-shielded electronics or wiring.

Surge protection wont stop EMP. You need taller decoys placed further away, like metal-frame windmills with some deep electrodes. None metallic structures burn or blow up when struck by lighting.

DuckAssist BETA says:
Lightning is primarily attracted to tall, pointy, and isolated objects. While materials that conduct electricity, like metal, do not attract lightning more than other materials, they can provide a path for lightning to follow if struck.
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I tend to agree with the EMP explanation. There could have been induced power under ground via the main entrance cables to our house which are bured and I dont' think shielded. I don't think windmills are on tht table. We live in a semi-rural mountainous area and I think the neighbors would throw us out if we constructed one. THere was just recently a neighborhood demonstration agains a new CELL tower going, which we certainly needed. We are surrounded by tall palms, which are also said to be natural attractors of lightning, and at least two were struck and died. My solution to this the next time we have a lightning storm in our area, I will just shut down the Tesla and disconnect all grid feeds to it.

Thanks to all of you folks who contributed.
 
ramsy said:
Close proximity lighting strikes are natural sources of EMP known to destroy un-shielded electronics or wiring.

Surge protection wont stop EMP. You need taller decoys placed further away, like metal-frame windmills with some deep electrodes. None metallic structures burn or blow up when struck by lighting.

DuckAssist BETA says:
Lightning is primarily attracted to tall, pointy, and isolated objects. While materials that conduct electricity, like metal, do not attract lightning more than other materials, they can provide a path for lightning to follow if struck.
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I tend to agree with this explanation. It's got to be via induction of an EMP from the nearby lightning strike, since nothing on the house got hit, and we were off grid at the time.
 
caribconsult said:
I tend to agree with this explanation. It's got to be via induction of an EMP from the nearby lightning strike, since nothing on the house got hit, and we were off grid at the time.
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That article only mentioned the Faraday cage for remediation, and the discipline of study:
"Ensuring correct equipment operation in the presence of EMP and other RF threats is known as electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)."

I believe metallic enclosures, conduit, and shielded cable, also act like a Faraday cage if properly bonded to earth.
 
hbiss said:
I can attest to that happening to ethernet wiring and connected devices as well as telephone system equipment via the wiring. As far as I know, there is little you can do about it that's practical.

-Hal
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With that, changing to fiber is the most practical. My son in law did the IT work at a large Church that had several outbuildings and a cell tower next door. He changed to fiber between the buildings and resolved that problem. Not any help for the op though.
 
All the wiring in our house is in EMT (electro metallic tubing) except the main feed from the power pedestal outside by the road where the meter is, to the house. All of that is buried underground (about 75') and I don't believe it's in any sort of tube protection, so perhaps that's where the EMP is entering our Tesla system, which is connected to the grid even though the grid is not 'on' in the sense of powering the house or charging the battery...we are almost 100% off grid most of the year, but it is connected to the Tesla just to allow the Tesla to monitor it for quality in case we need to connect to it due to low battery. The two big lightning strikes were in the vacant lot next door, about 50' from the house. We had fried the Tesla battery twice in two separate strikes and it was warranteed replaced. I don't see any plan to dig up that cable and try to enclose it insome tube. Thanks to all for your input.
 
l did install an SPD device rated to 100,000 volts at the entrance to the house circuits, so whether the Tesla is running the house or the house is on directly to the grid, there's protection on that circuit. We haven't had a really close lightning strike all year so it's hard to evaluate it but next hurricane season will be here soon enough and I will post any incidents or developments right here. Thanks to all who've contributed here.
 
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