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All On wen evening the 22nd there was a Bad thunder storm in Roanoke Va. There is a Camping World there just off of I 81. There was a lot of lighting and a strike hit one of the New fifth wheel RV's. It was between 2 other 5ers. The lighting struck the Roof mounted AC unit and went straight down into the interior. Needless to say it started a fire. Someone noticed the smoke and called 911. The fire truck got there in time to contain the blaze to only that RV. It totally destroyed the interior but on the outside you couldn't tell there was a fire except for the broken glass, the open doors, and the Smell. I have a few pictures but I don't know how to get them on the forum. It was a open field. Why that one? No clue. It wasn't hooked up to any power. It wasn't any taller than the 2 next to it. Would any type of grounding helped? I don't know. Does anybody ground their unit? Would it have made any difference? With all that power I doubt it. That was part of the storm that flooded West Va. Out thoughts and prayers are with all of them. Pat

 

 

The Old Sailor

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Lightening goes where it wants to. The energy in a lightening strike cannot be redirected with a ground wire.

 

Ground wires (lightening rods) are used to dissipate the potential charge between the clouds and the ground, not to direct the lightening path. RVs are not tall enough to be a lightening rod base.

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Put the photos on photobucket.com, it is free and works well with these forums.

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Would any type of grounding helped?

 

I don't know.

 

Does anybody ground their unit?

 

Would it have made any difference?

 

With all that power I doubt it.

 

 

The Old Sailor

 

 

 

Would any type of grounding help? - NO

 

Does anybody ground their unit? - Hope not - but there *are* precautions that you can take.

 

As already stated - Lightning goes where it wants to......often nothing to do with tall things close by.

Ex: lightning strike on a paved (asphalt) street - with bldgs and trees nearby. Takes chunks out of the asphalt.

 

Good info (questions answered) here - "Lightning and RVs"

 

http://www.setrekclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Lighting.pdf

 

 

~

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Pat (Old Sailor) - my pleasure!

 

There is a shorter version that KOA "tech" made available, kind of a Reader's Digest Condensed Version......

 

 

http://rvservices.koa.com/rvinformation/rvmaintenance/rv-breaker-tips.asp

 

Note the third item of the "when to turn off the breaker" list.

 

Bottom line - (as contained in the KOA info - in the "I suspect...." paragraph) -

 

"And if lightning is on its way, its a good precaution to turn off the breaker, and then disconnect your RV from the campground electrical system".

 

No need to "store" your power cord.

 

Guess "fingers crossed" should be #4, LOL.

 

 

.

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Storing the cord isn't necessary but tucking the plug up in a dry location, well away from the campground power connection, isn't a bad idea. We'd toss our across one of the slide rails as that was easy to get to.

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Storing the cord isn't necessary but tucking the plug up in a dry location, well away from the campground power connection, isn't a bad idea. We'd toss our across one of the slide rails as that was easy to get to.

 

Stan - you might want to reconsider the slide rails part - but to each his own.

 

I was trying to get away from some very techie info regarding "to store - or not to store".....here's what I'm getting at -

 

In a lengthy dissertation about lightning protection, see the second item by John DeArmond:

(Lightning strikes).

 

In that lengthy missive - go down about 5-6 paragraphs, to.....

 

"One of the simplest and yet most effective means of diverting lightning energy - is to put a loop or two in all leads entering or leaving the equipment building.........etc.................In RV terms, looping the power cable a couple of loops near the outlet box will do wonders".

 

Skip (or read) the next lengthy paragraph Jacks, water connections, etc. - to cut to the chase (again)...."All that said, the easiest way to protect an RV is to simply unplug it when a storm approaches".

 

I like the: - breaker off, disconnect cord, couple of loops on the ground - - no 'storage'.-

Sandwich or grocery bag over plug (the "dry") and adios.

 

Now, if you have the time and or patience to follow this -very lengthy- write-up, here's the link (I hope) -

 

http://yarchive.net/electr/lightning_protect.html

 

 

Maybe "RandyA" could chime in on the above - think he just might be in in "kick back and read stuff

mode!".. :rolleyes:

 

 

.

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Pappy,

 

Like all subjects there are varying opinions and little actual data. I spoke to a professor at the University of Florida Lightning Research Center a couple of years ago about some of these issues. Sorry memory does not serve up his name. He said an RV with an aluminum frame does provide some limited "Faraday Cage" properties but would not be as good as an all metal framed car or truck. Secondly, rubber tires and wood or rubber supports under the legs in his opinion had no insulation value. A lightning bolt can contain up to 1 billion volts of electricity with the strongest on record being 6 billion Volts. It has traveled up to 5 miles from the cloud to get to you and those 5 inches to arc to ground are no issue. He did suggest unplugging from shore power and I had also read about "coiling" the cable to help and his answer was, do it if it makes you feel good but no real benefit in grounding your RV. At the East Coast Rally I presented some pictures of aircraft strikes in flight. Most strikes were innocuous but one showed a hole punched through the fuselage the size of a small melon. Your summary is a good one to follow.

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I taught Marine Electricity in the United States Power Squadron. There was information on to to ground a sailboat by putting a #4 wire over the side to a plate in the water and then attaching it to the mast. Again, the purpose of a lightening rod is to dissipate the potential static electricity that makes lightening. In the photo case I used, the lightening hit the mast and skipped the #4 wire and went straight through the cabin and through the hull.

 

I have a friend whose boat was not hit by lightening but the boat next to him was. The induced burst in his boat fried all the electronics.

 

As SuiteSuccess said, the energy in a lightening bolt does not need a conductor, the first several thousand feet is through the air.

 

A coiled power cord will have no effect on a lightening hit.

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Telcordia/Belcor and UL have proven that lightning rods work when installed properly. And they have proven that lightning will do what it wants. They have found lightning to jump the drain wire on bents. As well as work as they planned. Its all more a feel good thing to me. I have installed many a lightning protection systems. And have had the opportunity to see after the fact that a few of them have actually worked. Shielding is one of the most important parts of electrical design when it comes to telecom facilities. And providing the easiest path for energy to travel AWAY from what you want to protect is paramount. It may not work, but when it does. It will really save your bacon.

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Two problems with a lightening storm. One is most common and is the power surge traveling down the wires either electric power or cable/telephone. Un-plugging will protect you from that. Second is a direct strike. Even close can cause damage. Not much to do about that, except the odds are in your favor.

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That camper is like a big pine tree in our Yard. Over the last 20 years, that tree has been struck no less then 5 times. The first 15 years it would skin the bark down to the ground. 4 years ago it it blew a big hole in the ground, where it came out of the roots. Now other trees bigger and taller are within 10ft of this one. But this is the only one that gets hit. its the northwest tree and a storm coming in hits it first. It scares me to think of the fun its going to be when I have to cut it down this fall.

Pete

 

 


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Pete,

 

Don't cut that tree down. Just climb to the top and strap a 1 iron to it, cause remember what Lee Trevino said.

2006 Volvo 780 "Hoss" Volvo D12, 465hp, 1650 ft/lbs tq., ultrashift

Bed Build by "JW Morgan's Custom Welding"

2017 DRV 39DBRS3

2013 Smart Passion Coupe "Itty Bitty"

 

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first!"

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"Murph" - telecom facilities aside......what is "Murphy's law" for RV's ??

 

Try not to hang around to much lightning. Thou we have had a good bit of it here at home base, the trailer is in a metal shop.

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I recall years ago a lightening researcher investigated an open field location in Canada that received many repeated strikes despite not being the highest point around. He found there was a large underground iron deposit that came the closest to the surface at that point.

Dutch
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Dutch,

 

Sounds like a family in our home county. They built a house near their old farm place, lightning hit it a couple of years later and they re-built. Fast forward another few years, lightning hit and burned it down again. Vowing to not give up, they re-built yet again. 3 years after that, a tornado took everything to the ground except for the four solid bathroom walls where the family was riding out the storm. The last house they built is about 1/4 mile away in a field.

 

Was talking to an uncle of mine several years back about it before he passed and he remembered digging out lead for their rifle bullets from a seam of pure lead that was under the hill they built their first three houses on.

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