Lightning Storm in RV

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I haven't seen anything definitive here for leaving the antenna up OR for cranking it down. So I think I'll just put the thing down in a lightning storm. It sure isn't going to hurt anything cranking it down.

Wendy
 
Tony_Alberta said:
That article is wrong in one minor aspect.  CB microphones generally don't have metal that you touch.  That said I wouldn't be holding the mic either as the lightning could easily travel from the antenna through the radio into the microphone.
In my 1st post in this thread I told about a lightning strike we had.  Here's the rest of the story...A the time of the strike, I was shaving.  Our bathroom lavatory was the old enamel coated cast iron type that hung from the wall.  I was shaving with my trusty old Norelco electric (pre-battery powered) leaning against the sink to peer closely in the mirror.  Pow!  The lights went out.  Those in the house and mine, too.  I woke up laying on the floor in pitch darkness.  I thought for a while I was blind.  I had been caught between that old cast iron sink and the shaver in my hand.  I can tell you from experience, hanging onto an electrical device that is connected to house wiring in some way during an electrical storm can result in a very rude awakening (pun intended).
 
No, I'm not kidding about Tornados knowing the difference.. However I will add that the difference is not often enough to matter...  (That is I would take shelter in the approved shelter if a Tornado was approaching)

There are other factors as well  And not a one of 'em applies to where I'm parked TODAY, Tomorrow perhaps but not Today.

That said... Right now this thread on an RV in a lightening storm.... That's what I'm sitting in, an RV in a Lightening storm.
 
In 2008 me and 1750 coaches were at the Winnebago Grand National Rally in Iowa.  During the week a few lightning storms passed by.  Each time I disconnected the power cord from the pedestal.  I believe that it is safer to avoid the huge power line spikes that result from a nearby strike.

The last storm was particularly strong and son-of-a-gun, lightning struck a friends motorhome about 500 ft away.  It hit Mike's CB antenna and fried his CB mounted under the dash.  Mike was 3 ft away on his computer in the passenger seat and was uninjured (as well as his wife and dog) except for the ringing in his ears.  They said it was like a M80 exploding near your head.  I was in his motorhome about 15 min later and they were still shaking.  The motorhome about 15 ft away had a large area on his sidewall with the paint blistered. 

Everything seemed to work til the generator was turned on, then we found that one side of the transfer switch was fried.  A few days later, half way home, his transmission module quit and had to be replaced.  The next day I met a guy buying a new microwave at the Winnie surplus store.  He said he was 3 rows over from the the lightning strike.

I believe that having the power disconnected keeps the surges out of the electronics and is a little safer.  Unless it is a direct hit.... then all bets off.
 
Duner said:
I believe that having the power disconnected keeps the surges out of the electronics and is a little safer. 

Agreed.  Even if you have one of those fancy surge protectors why have it "give up it's life" saving other equipment when you can just run off the converter/inverter for a while.

Duner said:
Unless it is a direct hit.... then all bets off.
Ayup.
 
A few years ago in our last TT.... I didn't listen to my wife.... who said "with the thunderstorm coming in, shouldn't you put the awning up".... Well, the thunder, wind and lightning came in pretty good... so I went out and started to struggle with the awning, wind and rain was so bad that the awning arms separated and while putting them back together... CRACK!  Lightning had struck right next to the trailer and electricity was everywhere... I ended up on my butt, in the pounding rain with my arms numb.  Was not a wonderful experience, that's for sure.  Needless to say, first sign of thunder/lightning storms I put the awning in!  Actually much easier now, just push the button on the electric awning.  I actually don't put the antenna in... guess I'll learn that the hard way as well before changing practice.  That's when I'll get the inevitable "I told you so..." I'm sure.
 
Just so I understand -- if in a lightning storm, it is better to disconnect shore power. But, is it then okay to run the generator, or is that asking for more trouble?
 
You unplug the shore power cord to remove your RV from the giant antenna called the power grid.  Once you do that, it's fine to run your generator.
 
Trees notwithstanding, you do NOT want to be the tallest ground rod in the area, nor do you want sharp pointie metal things in the air; there is a reason that lightening rods on buildings and towers look like that. YES, disconnect the power, and get the cord up off the ground, because if you don't and are unlucky enough to get hit, that cord just laying on the ground will arc through and probably take anything plugged into the RV out.

As for tires being a good insulator, I would agree as long as the jacks are pulled up. Good in a driving rain? Absolutely not... There was a news truck several years ago here in LA that parked up off of a sidewalk with one side of it next to some grass with the sprinklers that were on at the time. The operator raised the mast into what I think were ~16kv power lines.. That energy went through the fiberglass dish (about the same size as a Slimline), found the copper mesh, down the telescopic mast and welded the sections together in-place, through the truck, 200' away via coax from the truck to the camera, blew the camera apart as it found ground through the tripod, blew the operator away from the camera and injured her badly. Back to the truck where Adrian Alpert was sitting inside.. because the tires were now completely washed down, the energy went straight through them, and cauterized the rubber from the wheel to the ground... IE- wet rubber = conductor at these levels. Ardian would have been fine had she stayer inside. Instead she opened the door and stepped out while her hand was still on the handle. At the end of the day Adrian lost most of one arm, pieces of legs, and I don't remember what else. It can be Goggled, but the lawyers squashed a lot of the information.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter what kind of insulator it is because lightening doesn't care. If you are in a car or RV, stay there and away from metal (and pull down the "come get me's"). The trick is that you want your body to rise at the same rate and potential as everything around you, even if it's a million volts, that's OK. What you don't want is your body or the cage around you to rise or fall at a different rate. That will probably ruin someones day.

 
Good points, Jeff.  I remember that accident, but I don't recall hearing anything about a sprinkler system.  As I heard it the truck was parked on asphalt and the 16Kv arced straight through the dry tires to ground.
 
There are allot of things that wern't well known about that event. I was the one that heard a radio call from a local radio news station on their 450 and called a friend at KABC to ask where exactly his Hollywood truck was. As I was describing what I knew, the LA City fire dispatch went out. And at the same time the desk had lost comms with the operator who was knocked on her can out by the camera.. From those that saw the vehicle before it was quarantined, there was a burn mark melted in the shape of a hand in the door handle. That was Adrian's last connect between the truck and the ground she was now standing on. It wasn't a good day.
 
I realize this is a very old topic, but it's an important one. http://www.setrekclub.com/Lightening%20&%20RV's.pdf is a link to a great paper on RV safety during lightening storms. It addresses, with factual information, many of the questions raised by various posters. While personal anecdotes about riding out a storm or a friend's experience doing the same are interesting, they don't necessarily contain the best information. I thought this might be a good link, especially for newbie RVers.
 
Lightening storms are no joke.  I did not know much about this until this past July.  My DW and son were driving down to Miami and in their way in northern FL, in Ocala, her 2013 Equinox was hit by lightening so bad that the car spend the next 26 days in the dealer at a cost of over $12.500.  The car died on the spot and 5 computers inside the car were replaced, even the door keys, injectors, .....Thanks God for Geico, as they cover all but $250.  However, my DW and son can tell you that it is a horrible experience,  Glad nothing happened to them.  In the process, I learned that this happens to a lot of people specially in Ocala, FL.  According to insurance, it is the area in the US where these events happen more often.  The same day other cars were also hit.  Before this, I never knew someone who had actually had this experience. No joke.
 
Re: Levers retracted for safety.....  After reading the previous moving vehicle post an old thought came to mind. Rubber tires saving you from damage ?  I don't think so.

A lightning bolt with a zillion Volts and a zillion potential amps will have no problem penetrating  a few inches of 1/2" rubber between the rims and the ground surface for a direct short; with 6 wheels the total resistant path will be even less. Or, the whole vehicle gets so ionized that nothing will save it from electronic destruction.

  Heavy stuff, I know. What say. I don't think that a lightning bolt necessarily looks for the easy way out to expend the energy. Not for things at ground level. JMHO.
 
I always wonder about lightning striking the tallest things around.  I'm a commercial fisherman, and have watched lightning strike the ocean right next to my boat.  My antenna is about 20 feet tall, and no strike.  But, a friend of mine got hit by lightning and lost all his electronics.  The longest piece of his antenna was about 6".  Go figure. 8)
 
Lightning is a strange phenomenon, but not totally misunderstood.  For example, there have been some mentions of lightning rods and what affect raising or lowering a TV antenna might have.  In fact, lightning could care less - once it is actually "lightning" or a concentration of ionized air passing huge volumes of electrons (current) from earth to cloud or cloud to earth.  The function of lightning rods is not to absorb or divert a lightning strike necessarily, but to try to prevent it in the first place.  In fact, if lightning strikes a lightning rod, the lightning rod has failed in its intended function.  As a secondary function the rod will hopefully provide a low resistance path to ground and bypass the structure it is protecting.  Lightning is caused by a build up in difference of potential (voltage) between the earth and areas of the atmosphere (generally clouds).  If this build up can be slowed or reduced between two points in the sky and ground, a lightning strike can be reduced or even averted, at least at that specific location.  The principle behind the "sharp pointy thing" on a lightning rod is to allow a trickling affect of electrons to stream between the two different charges and possibly preventing the charge from reaching the point of ionization.  Anyone familiar with aircraft will likely have seen the little pendants of nylon braid hanging from the craft, commonly the wingtips or from the rotors on a helicopter.  The purpose is to give a discharge path for the build up of static electricity, thus preventing the extreme charge which can be very dangerous when someone on the ground touches an aircraft that has just landed (for example).  Lightning rods serve much the same purpose.  Your TV antenna could serve the same purpose as a lightning rod if there is a good ground path, so leaving your power cord plugged in and antenna up could reduce the likelihood of a strike.

All that said, lightning is far too unpredictable as to how fast a static charge will build and how dry or humid the air is between the charges, which determines when ionization might occur.  Your best bet to protecting electronic and other electrical equipment in your RV is to disconnect from shore power and stow your power cord.  If connected to shore water, it would be a good idea to disconnect that as well.  But, bottom line...RUN FORREST (but stay away from trees)!!!!  :eek: :eek: :eek:
 

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