I remember seeing something in a fishing mag years back about “grounding” a boat (sorta) and its electronics from lightning strikes. The idea was to get the charge to pass on thru to the water. Is this possible? What can be done?
I’ve heard to get all rods down on the deck, lower antennas and downriggers, and that lightning loves graphite rods.
looking for help on this, thanks,
NaClH20
What they were talking about is “bonding” which is when you would connect all the metal ie: stanchions, t-top, thru hulls, etc. on a boat together with a large common wire, usually a flat braided wire. This is then connected to a good “water” connection via thru hulls or a dynaplate. The theory is to route the lightning strike to the water (path of least resistance).
The jury is still out on whether to bond or not to bond. Some experts reccomend it, others would not. I personally have seen a 50’ boat that was pulled up from the bottom that had taken a direct lightning strike while at anchor. It had all metal bonded together and the resulting electrical charge traveling thru the bonding wire blew out every thru hull in the boat leaving about 6 plate sized holes in the hull!
Russ B.
Psalm 55:22
Seems like it would hasten and facilitate electrolysis to me, so I never did it. Also, I’ve seen electronics on land get zapped by spurious discharge and/or voltage spikes from lightenting even when the systems were all grounded with dedicated, copper grounding rods. Personally, I wouldn’t bother unless it was a really large vessel. There’s so much volatge in lightening that it can ark and disrupt things in ways seem to defy the physical laws sometimes. Just my opinion, though.
Gotcha Covered,
Lee Strickland
Strickland Marine Insurance, Inc.
843-795-1000 / 800-446-1862
Actually bonding can help to eliminate electrolysis that is caused by a marinas or nearby boats faulty wiring. One seems to find this in the larger marinas espicially.
Another thing I allways thought was funny abot lightning is when they say to “stand on a insulated mat or something”. Air is a pretty good insulator and that bolt of lightning just arced across however many miles of it , like a 1/2" of rubber matt is gonna stop it??!
It’s scary stuff for sure in my book, even the “experts” in the field of it say they don’t totally understand it.
Personally I try to avoid any and all storms that contain ligthning but sometimes one dosen’t have that option.
Russ B.
Psalm 55:22
Well, I disagree on the electrolysis, but then opinions are like butt holes, they say; everyone has one. 
(But, just in case this topic interests anyone or if anyone is considering whether or not to bond, the butt hole in the following article agrees with me. http://yachtpals.com/how-to/electrolysis)
“Air is a pretty good insulator and that bolt of lightning just arced across however many miles of it , like a 1/2” of rubber matt is gonna stop it??!"
Roger that, Russ. That’s kind of my point about the electronics. If your vessel gets struck, all bets are off, as it’s arcing where it wants to, and if things are tied together, that just makes it more likely to affect the otherwise-isolated units, IMO. They are more likely to be struck if they are grounded, also. You not being grounded makes you less of a target for the bolt, too, as it’s seeking ground through the tallest grounded object. But, as you said about the mat, if you are even close to a grounded, lower object (or a taller one for that matter), though, you’re a target, and that mat ain’t stopping the arc. All I know is that I have seen two incidents where lightening fried things that were well grounded, and in both cases, the destructive charge was actually suspected to have come FROM the ground wire. Another incident occurred where a friend of mine was knocked to the ground unconscious (briefly) from a charge that zapped him through the GROUND when a bolt hit nearby. As smart as we humans think we are, and as simple as textbooks would presume to make it, the theories on lightening are not really all that well figured out, it seems. Personally, in a lightening storm, I would prefer to be ungrounded and away from grounded objects. But, to me, the the idea of whether or not bonding will make any difference in a lightening strike seems similar the question of whether or not a fire extinguisher would make a difference on the sun. I would like to see some test data on the matter, myself, as theory just doesn’t seem to hold up too well on
Another thing I allways thought was funny abot lightning is when they say to “stand on a insulated mat or something”. Air is a pretty good insulator and that bolt of lightning just arced across however many miles of it , like a 1/2" of rubber matt is gonna stop it??!
[/quote]
FYI…
The air actually ionizes from the build up of an opposite charge on the ground/water and cloud, which makes it a decent conductor for a split second or so. Same idea behind a plasma cutter or a tig arc. Rubber maintains it’s insulating properties, so it’s a good idea to stand on it. Alright I’ll stop being Bill Nye-ish now…
Baker
Old, beat up 17’ McKee
Stay out of lightning.
GW 232GT Gulfstream
150Yam x 2
“3rd Day”
Gen. Chap.1 Vs.9-13
It is not electrolosis; it is galvanic corrosion. A bonding system will reduce corrosion because it eliminate stray currents caused by difference in volatages. When everything is bonded it is all at the same reference (ground) therefore if there is not voltage differences, then there will be no current.
Iain Pelto
Edgewater 185CC “Jumpin’ Bean II”
how can i increase the chance of a lighting strike?
On electrolysis, See section A under “Protection” in this article:
http://yachtpals.com/how-to/electrolysis
I agree with this author.
Gotcha Covered,
Lee Strickland
Strickland Marine Insurance, Inc.
843-795-1000 / 800-446-1862
quote:
On electrolysis, See section A under "Protection" in this article:http://yachtpals.com/how-to/electrolysis
The author writes information that is correct, but incorrectly uses the term “electrolysis” in place of galvanic. Electrolysis is the process of applying a current to cause a reaction to occur that normally would not do so. This is unlike galvanic reactions which occur naturally do to differences in reactivity.
Iain Pelto
Edgewater 185CC “Jumpin’ Bean II”
quote:
Originally posted by Gut Wrenchhow can i increase the chance of a lighting strike?
Go fly a kite.
Threads I will not click on:
“How Did Michael Jackson Impact Your Life?”
quote:
Originally posted by hairballquote:
On electrolysis, See section A under "Protection" in this article:http://yachtpals.com/how-to/electrolysis
The author writes information that is correct, but incorrectly uses the term “electrolysis” in place of galvanic. Electrolysis is the process of applying a current to cause a reaction to occur that normally would not do so. This is unlike galvanic reactions which occur naturally do to differences in reactivity.
Iain Pelto
Edgewater 185CC “Jumpin’ Bean II”
OK. Wrong word; right conclusion. Roger that.
Gotcha Covered,
Lee Strickland
Strickland Marine Insurance, Inc.
843-795-1000 / 800-446-1862
thanks for the replies, a lot to think about,
NaClH20