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trumpwer · 09-13-2003, 04:56 PM

"Are we safe in our home? Not totally. As a boy, we had a big blue ball of plasma float around our living room for seconds and our telephone literally explode in front of us."

My mom was hard to live with sometimes too, but you got me beat! ; )

59toaster · 09-14-2003, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pahaska

Are we safe in our home? Not totally. As a boy, we had a big blue ball of plasma float around our living room for seconds and our telephone literally explode in front of us.

I have witnessed something simular.
As a Kid in Michigan I was doing my homework on the couch in the family room durring a storm. We had a big antenna mounted on the chiminy for the TV. We always unplugged the TV from the antenna in storms.

The antenna took a strike.The ligtning hit the antenna, came out the wall outlet, Jumped about 8 feet to the fireplace screen and found ground through the gas line for the fireplace starter. My parrents were sitting at the kitchen table and saw the flash. Scared the hell out of me!

85MH325 · 09-15-2003, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pahaska
Than would indicate an almost vanishingly small risk. Not zero, by any means, but less than, say comeone crossing the centerline and running into you (I have personally observed that numerous times).

Conclusion, I'll stay in the A/S and not worry about it. In the scale of life's risks, this is a very small one.

Hex, I've gotta weigh in with John on this one. The odds are overwhelmingly in your favor regarding lightning. There are many, many other natural phenomina that you're more likely to encounter; but the biggest risk is just driving down the road. Every car you encounter going the other way is a potential threat. Every mile you tow wears the tires, suspension, wheel bearings and hitch parts. At 65 or 70 mph the failure of any of those parts is going to be pretty devastating; yet few folks express any real concern as it doesn't happen often.

Not to be a pessimist or to cause you to not to want to travel, but I'd guess that there are a LOT more Airstreams totalled and their owners injured by traffic accidents than by lightning.

In the big scheme of life, being hit by lightning is not one of my concerns (and I'm one of the guys who sits out during thunderstorms watching for tornados so we can alert the folks who push the button for the sirens to sound.)

Roger

silverhawk · 09-15-2003, 05:20 AM

There are not many things that I remember from my 3rd grade year. But I do have vivid recall of that ball of energy floating around our classroom one day as a T-storm rumbled outside. The recolection of the day J.F.K. met his fate is another.
Bob

Fun-Lovin · 09-15-2003, 08:28 AM

Lightning like electricity takes the path of least resistanc. Planes are struk quite regulary with no effect to the people inside them. once it hits a metal structure it will travel around to the ground as metal conducts electricity better than a human body. After all the best place to be in a lightning storm is inside a metal cage, sounds crazy. I feel safer in an airstream during a electrical storm than in my wood frame house.

Buttercup · 12-17-2005, 02:13 PM

Here is some info on lightning and electricity from the boys who play with this stuff every day.

I have seen all the tires on a large dump truck blown out from a momentary contact with a 25000 volt power line ( I have pictures somewhere). Tires do not insulate at all.

The metal shell of the Airstream will provide protection from electrocution by providing an equi-potential zone around the person. When the lightning strikes the trailer metal, the potential of the entire trailer goes all at the same time so the person inside would not feel electricity. You need a difference in potential for current to flow.

Airplanes are struck frequently by lightning but the passengers are not shocked.

The real danger comes from the secondary effects such as fire, loud sound, etc... A strike could ignite any part of the trailer because the strike represents thousands of amps of flow and if you remem some basid physics – current squared times the resistance is power so a lightning strike of thousands of amps can really heat some metal and stuff up.

An isolation transformer will provide little lightning protection if any – the potential is just too great. There is a good chance (because nobody knows for sure) that the lightning will seek the wiring in the trailer and vaporize it seeking a nice path to ground. You could also see it go through the tires, sewer hose power connections, a twig leaning along the side – whatever...

Buttercup · 12-17-2005, 03:36 PM

I found my pictures of the truck. CLICK HERE to see them.

Buttercup · 12-17-2005, 03:59 PM

O.K. This is off topic but I uploaded some video's of electricity getting out of hand.

CLICK HERE to see them.

balrgn · 12-17-2005, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buttercup

O.K. This is off topic but I uploaded some video's of electricity getting out of hand.

CLICK HERE to see them.

Those are some nasty fires!

Buttercup · 12-17-2005, 04:42 PM

HERE is an airplane being hit by lightning.

john hd · 12-17-2005, 05:05 PM

buttercup

the third video in that link of the substation fire is commonly known as the "golf course video" we have seen in training films that are not commonly available to the public.

the version of that fire i saw was from the other side, the camerman drops his video camera and runs away! the camera falls on it's side and keeps rolling.

and who said being a lineman ain't fun!

john

Buttercup · 12-17-2005, 05:52 PM

Now all I need is an online link to the video where the 30Kv sub trans falls into the distrubution (after tree trimmers fall a branch into it) and doesn't relay but cooks a few homes.

It is nasty!

john hd · 12-17-2005, 07:05 PM

seen that one too!

sparks from the gutters on the houses!

john

dwightdi · 12-18-2005, 05:53 AM

If you are like many WBCCI people you have flag poles (lightning rods) mounted on your tongue jack. You also use a conductive jack stand (Call it a lightning grounding plate.) (required by the safety committee at all Internationals). Therefore; if you leave your flag poles up (which are higher than the Airstream) they will more likely to be hit by the lightning than the Airstream itself and will proceed directly to thru the jack stand. (Likely frying the motor, but that is better than frying yourself.)

Buttercup · 12-18-2005, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john hd

seen that one too!

sparks from the gutters on the houses!

john

That's it! Back to the topic of lightning. We use a display here that shows lightning in near realtime. The accuracy is about 1/2 mile and it tells us the type (cloud to cloud, ground to cloud and cloud to ground). It also shows the current (estimated) and the multiplicity or number of times the bolt flashed.

It is provided by Vaisala. This is cool stuff. I get calls all the time in the summer asking if there is lightning in the area. I can tell down to the street level. The link goes to the free display they have.

Tinsel Loaf · 12-18-2005, 11:12 AM

Uwe
If you AS got struck by lighting you would be alright but all that beautiful welding on the frame mighy be un-welded and you would have to start all over. What a horrable thought!

uwe · 12-18-2005, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tinsel Loaf

Uwe
If you AS got struck by lighting you would be alright but all that beautiful welding on the frame mighy be un-welded and you would have to start all over. What a horrable thought!

I would just clamp everything in place with some welding rod in strategic places, and wait for the next lightning bolt to hit it, which would then weld everything back together, no?