Lightning Rods

[Calman]

I would like to hear the pro's and con's on Lightning rods.
The good the bad and the ugly :lol: :lol:

Cal

 

[Jogeephus]

The one on the left's name was Stuart. The one behind it that found it suitable to die in the middle of the fence making removal rather difficult was Daisy. The two further in the woods to the right was Fred and Velma. That's about sums up my knowledge of lightning rods other than they have four hooves. Except Stuart. He only has two. His other two are about 30 feet from where he lays.

 

[skyhightree1]

Jo that sucks... Sorry that happened to you.

 

[Kingfisher]

They just showed a pic on CNN with a twister coming across a pasture if Hereford clustered in the field. 100mph wind got to be hard on a cow I suppose?

 

[greybeard]

They just showed a pic on CNN with a twister coming across a pasture if Hereford clustered in the field. 100mph wind got to be hard on a cow I suppose?

I dunno--they don't look too stressed to me..
[youtube]2dQgjrrEeHA[/youtube]

 

[Commercialfarmer]

The one on the left's name was Stuart. The one behind it that found it suitable to die in the middle of the fence making removal rather difficult was Daisy. The two further in the woods to the right was Fred and Velma. That's about sums up my knowledge of lightning rods other than they have four hooves. Except Stuart. He only has two. His other two are about 30 feet from where he lays.

Count your blessings Jo, you could have lost some of those nice pines. You just can't go to a sale barn and find replacements so quickly. :hide:

 

[Calman]

We'll it kinda looks like no one else knows anything about lightning rods either.
I have three on the top of my house and I'm kinda thinking they are attracting lightning.
Lightning hit close and took out everything with a micro processor in my house.
I'm thinking maybe I will purchase a in home surge protector that wires into the main box.
Anyone ever used these,or should I ask. :lol:

Cal

 

[john250]

I bought a power conditioner back in the late 80's or early 90's. Supposed to smooth out the highs and lows in your home voltage. It's a metal box with magical insides and 4 connections. Not sold for surge protection.

 

[Jogeephus]

Sorry about that. I don't know anything about them but my grandmother was a big believer in them and she had them all over her house and barn and it was never hit. Our house has never been hit either but we don't have them. I think your best bet is to use a surge protector and back up your important stuff in the cloud so to speak. If you look at my dead cows its puzzling because there were taller trees just a hundred yards from these smaller trees. We are told lightning is supposed to hit the tallest object right? Least that's what I always thought. Apparently lightning hits whatever it wants to hit no matter how tall it is. I think when your number is drawn there isn't much you can do.

 

[Kingfisher]

We'll it kinda looks like no one else knows anything about lightning rods either.
I have three on the top of my house and I'm kinda thinking they are attracting lightning.
Lightning hit close and took out everything with a micro processor in my house.
I'm thinking maybe I will purchase a in home surge protector that wires into the main box.
Anyone ever used these,or should I ask. :lol:

Cal

Yea that stinks..I've lost some stuff from either lightning or around here they loose some capacitors from time to time from heat or squirrels. They usually switch over pretty quick but that surge damages things too in my opinion. Will your insurance cover anything? You might talk to either your power provider about protection.

 

[greybeard]

Sorry about that. I don't know anything about them but my grandmother was a big believer in them and she had them all over her house and barn and it was never hit. Our house has never been hit either but we don't have them. I think your best bet is to use a surge protector and back up your important stuff in the cloud so to speak. If you look at my dead cows its puzzling because there were taller trees just a hundred yards from these smaller trees. We are told lightning is supposed to hit the tallest object right? Least that's what I always thought. Apparently lightning hits whatever it wants to hit no matter how tall it is. I think when your number is drawn there isn't much you can do.

It is drawn toward the tallest things around, but the actual strike point isn't always that tall pine. If it has enough charge to go straight to where it really wants to go (earth ground) it will bypass the trees and find the best conductor around.
When I was struck decades ago, there were tall trees all around me, but that barbed wire fence I was working on made for a better conductor. By the same token, when our house was struck in the 60s (metal roof and metal sides), it didn't hit the peak of the roof or even the TV antenna that stuck up over the peak--it hit a 4" cast iron pipe that was vent for the sewer drain just under the eave of the roof.

 

[lavacarancher]

We'll it kinda looks like no one else knows anything about lightning rods either.
I have three on the top of my house and I'm kinda thinking they are attracting lightning.
Lightning hit close and took out everything with a micro processor in my house.
I'm thinking maybe I will purchase a in home surge protector that wires into the main box.
Anyone ever used these,or should I ask. :lol:

Cal

Most of those devices, called MOV's (Metal Oxide Varistor) will only work one time. So if you suspect you've been struck by lightning you need to check your surge protector and replace it as necessary. If a strike occurs that takes out your electronics it probably, or could have, occurred miles away on the power lines.

If you think about it, having a good path to ground (lightning rod) is what lightning is looking for. So putting them on your house, seems to me, would attract lightning that would not otherwise have struck.

Bottom line is, it's kinda like the old saying about a nuclear strike - "sit in the corner, put your head between your legs and ....... kiss your a$$ goodbye".

 

[westom]

Most of those devices, called MOV's (Metal Oxide Varistor) will only work one time. So if you suspect you've been struck by lightning you need to check your surge protector and replace it as necessary.

If a protector fails due to a surge, then the protector was grossly undersized. Often a profit center that makes no protection claims from destructive surges. And in rare cases is a potential house fire.

The other type (a properly earthed) protector even comes with spec numbers that claim to earth a surge - and remain functional. For example, a direct lightning strike may be 20,000 amps. So one minimally sized 'whole house' protector (to protect every household appliance) is 50,000 amps. These are routinely provided by more responsible manufacturers including ABB, Siemens, Square D, Eaton (Cutler-Hammer), General Electric, Polyphaser, Intermatic, Syscom, Leviton, and Ditek - to name but a few.

To avert a fire, an undersized protector has a thermal fuse to disconnect protector parts as fast as possible. While leaving a surge connected to appliances. Where is protection? As stated in a previous post, protection is always about where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate.

Effective solutions are recommended with spec numbers. Another and different device (also called a protector) is often recommended only subjectively. Because it does not claim to protect from typically destructive surges. And can fail (disconnect) on a first surge. Subjective claims and failures get many to recommend that 'other' device. Rather than say where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate - so that nobody even knew a surge existed.

 

[westom]

Where is protection? As stated in a previous post, protection is always about where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate.

The previous post was approved, posted, and then removed. It discussed why and how lightning rods work when proper precautions are exercised. That lightning rods are earth for structure protection. 'Whole house' type protectors are earth for appliances protection.

Administrator - please find and restore a deleted post that answered the OPs specific question.

 

[larryshoat]

Sorry about that. I don't know anything about them but my grandmother was a big believer in them and she had them all over her house and barn and it was never hit. Our house has never been hit either but we don't have them. I think your best bet is to use a surge protector and back up your important stuff in the cloud so to speak. If you look at my dead cows its puzzling because there were taller trees just a hundred yards from these smaller trees. We are told lightning is supposed to hit the tallest object right? Least that's what I always thought. Apparently lightning hits whatever it wants to hit no matter how tall it is. I think when your number is drawn there isn't much you can do.

The same with my grandparents, they had a barn burn in the20's from a lightning strike. You sure don't see them put on any more and the ones you do see about half don't have the wire hooked to anything, worse than none I suppose.

Larry

 

[LauraleesFarm]

I don't know anything about lightning rods but I probably should learn. We live in a 2 story metal house which has I-beam columns and rafters. Perhaps THEY are the lightning rods. ?

Last winter we put out hay in our metal hay ring in the pasture beside the house. It was storming. Looked out a few minutes later and the bale was engulfed in flames. Lightning had struck the hay ring--blasted a hole in it. The heifers had been at that bale not 5 minutes earlier.

 

[Ouachita]

I don't know anything about lightning rods but I probably should learn. We live in a 2 story metal house which has I-beam columns and rafters. Perhaps THEY are the lightning rods. ?

Last winter we put out hay in our metal hay ring in the pasture beside the house. It was storming. Looked out a few minutes later and the bale was engulfed in flames. Lightning had struck the hay ring--blasted a hole in it. The heifers had been at that bale not 5 minutes earlier.

Our house is the same. Lived in it for 13 years now without any strikes.

 

[greybeard]

I don't know anything about lightning rods but I probably should learn. We live in a 2 story metal house which has I-beam columns and rafters. Perhaps THEY are the lightning rods. ?

Last winter we put out hay in our metal hay ring in the pasture beside the house. It was storming. Looked out a few minutes later and the bale was engulfed in flames. Lightning had struck the hay ring--blasted a hole in it. The heifers had been at that bale not 5 minutes earlier.

Our house is the same. Lived in it for 13 years now without any strikes.

I have a 30' tall flagpole 2" pipe sunk 6' into the ground 50' from the house, and in all the years I've had it, nothing has ever hit it either, but it has struck my garden 6' chain link fence about 20 feet away from the flagpole. Go figure.
(rope broke on it a couple years ago and I haven't figure out how to get it restrung without cuttin it down with my torch)

 

[dun]

I don't know anything about lightning rods but I probably should learn. We live in a 2 story metal house which has I-beam columns and rafters. Perhaps THEY are the lightning rods. ?

Last winter we put out hay in our metal hay ring in the pasture beside the house. It was storming. Looked out a few minutes later and the bale was engulfed in flames. Lightning had struck the hay ring--blasted a hole in it. The heifers had been at that bale not 5 minutes earlier.

Our house is the same. Lived in it for 13 years now without any strikes.

I have a 30' tall flagpole 2" pipe sunk 6' into the ground 50' from the house, and in all the years I've had it, nothing has ever hit it either, but it has struck my garden 6' chain link fence about 20 feet away from the flagpole. Go figure.
(rope broke on it a couple years ago and I haven't figure out how to get it restrung without cuttin it down with my torch)

A bucket truck would make short work of fixing the rope

 

[greybeard]

Yeah, I know, but the only bucket truck rentals around here are 30 miles away in Conroe unless I can get Entergy to do it next time they are out fixing the power line.
I need to get Caustic over here with his bow and arrow and shoot a leader thru the pulley.


I almost bought a bucket truck once to fish from.
I'd heard all my life, to catch crappie, ya need to fish the tree tops.
(ughh--that's bad)
:roll: