A.C. protection...and extra...

  • Thread starter Thread starter mixmkr
  • Start date Start date
of course, TV's etc and such are usually lost in these hits, as I can't afford UPS style protection on them...and they seem to take the hit thru the cable anyway (but I usually leave them unplugged until they are used)
Click to expand...

You might be able to thwart that a bit by installing a few MOV (metal-oxide varistors) between the cable's signal wire (center conductor) and your earth ground spike.

The MOV's will need to be fairly big :)
 
c7sus said:
The rubber tires are why you are safe if your car is hit by lightning.
Click to expand...

Static electricity is a whole different ball game. Rubber tires are not the reason you are safe in a car during a lightning storm. Take it from years in the (very static sensitive side of the) electronics business. The reason you are safe in a car during a lightning strike is because the steel chasis and body of the car will carry the electricity around you and not through you. Static electricity is very "lazy." I have seen demonstrations as to why static bags work for pc boards, and it is because rather than go through a non-conductive or even many conductive materials, static electricity will stay on the surface of it, so if the bag is closed, it can not get to the inner surface of the bag and the same goes for lightning. Also, accompanied by most lightning strikes is rain. Now pure water will not condict electricity, but contaminated water will, so this here will essentially remove the "ground lift" effect of your tires. Have you ever seen a car that was struck by lightning? Notice that the tires are in fact blown out and the metal rims are touching the ground. Lets not forget that you can generate static electricity from rubber. Propper grounding is required to soften the blow of a lightning strike, but in a home studio that is near impossable in most cases.
 
Last edited:
I agree that lightning protection and surge protection are not the same. For total protection from lightning, u must disconnect the contact with the outlet, there are power filter units, with caps. and surge protection, but they dont actually disconnect contact. During storms, or when not using, I would unplug it. I had a friend that lost his tv, stereo, amd computer due to lightning, and they were all plugged into power surge strips.
 
The only way I know how to provide effective protection against lighting strikes is to do what is standard practise in most European countries ... erect a brass conducting rod as the highest point of a building, and run that down to a good deep ground rod. Lighting looks for the highest / nearest available conductor and will prefer that route over a building's circuits.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top