From: "Andy Willis" <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com>
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Message-ID: <4A317D3D.7040902@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:55:09 -0600
Reply-To: abwillis1@gmail.com
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To: OS/2 Wireless Users Mailing List <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com>
Subject: Warpstock question Re: [OS2Wireless] Re: Lightning strike
References: <list-2533635@2rosenthals.com>
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Will Honea wrote:
> ** Reply to message from "Jeffrey Race"<os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com>  on
> Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:34:54 +0700
>
>
>    
>> Further to previous msg I'd appreciate recommendations about
>> coax and ethernet protective devices (clamping devices) to
>> protect my equipment so not destroyed a second time
>> jeffrey race
>>      
>
> This could get to be a long discussion - lightning problems pre-date
> electronics by centuries and the first practical lightning arrestors were the
> ones Benjamin Franklin devised in the late 1700s.  First, don't even sweat the
> internal wiring like coax until you REALLY solve the external threat: your
> power lines.  Those expose you for a radius of miles in some cases.  Next, look
> at the building itself.  Such things as aerials, chimneys, and metal gutters -
> ground those really well.  You might even want to install a specific lightning
> rod and grounding mesh if your area is prone to a lot of lightning.  As part of
> this, verify and test your internal power ground - I see too darned many of
> those 3rd wire power grounds that are worse than useless.  Once you have done
> that, you can proceed to reduce the risks elsewhere but until you provide a
> reasonable shell around the internal equipment you are really just wasting time
> and money.
>
> When you have snubbed the environmental exposures the next step is the power
> system.  Virtually all the damage I've dealt with in nearly 40 years of site
> installations entered the system through either the power line or external
> communications lines (telephone, TV cable or antennae, etc.).  While structural
> strikes cause some electronic damage, you usually have bigger problems to deal
> with than electronics when they hit.  The most common point of entry is the ac
> power line.  Several companies make gas tube protectors which will shunt up to
> several kilojoules.  These are sturdy glass and metal tubes with a gap in an
> inert gas (typically argon) which will arc to ground with a breakover voltage
> of 150 volts or so.  One or more of those each lead of the power line followed
> by an isolation transformer is pretty much the best you can do.  Those wall
> socket mounted to power strip jobs are useful for small glitches but they are
> really too puny to give major protection.
>
> As a compromise, I use a relatively small gas tube/inductor coil setup ( the
> manufacturer that made mine is out of business now) followed by a hefty UPS for
> the main station with smaller UPS units for the other clusters of gear.  That
> has served through several nearby lightning strikes (Colorado gets more than
> its' share!) and a single UPS is a lot cheaper to replace than the whole
> system.  Note: GROUNDING IS CRITICAL!!!
>
> For the phone and TV lines, I put my own gas tube shunt (minus the inductors)
> across the input lines and to ground from each side.  I follow that with
> smaller MOV type shunts at the place my equipment plugs in but I don't even try
> to isolate the internal wiring.  The only time I've seen problems with that was
> in a metal building where the internal leads were installed near the roof or
> walls and a strike would arc between the metal building and the wires.  I can't
> recall ever losing equipment to a direct strike on internal wiring in a wood
> frame structure - it always got zapped either by proximity to some externally
> connected metal part or by over powering the protection on the input leads from
> outside.
>
> All the years of experience point to one primary target: GROUND.  I can't say
> it enough for that is the single most important component of any protection
> scheme.  If you have doubts, simply run a heavy copper lead - 8 ga. or so -
> between the third wire "ground " lead and a nearby cold water pipe (assuming
> metal pipes - plastic pipes are useless) every place you can.  That will do as
> much to protect you as most of the cheap surge suppressors on the market and
> without a good ground even those are worse than useless.
>
>    
I didn't recall you were in Colorado as well... are you planning on 
going to Warpstock?  I plan to drive down and have room in the car.
Andy