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Old 11-22-2013, 01:43 AM   #1
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Lightning safety

I was reading some articles regarding rv safety during a lighting storm. They mostly said that you are basically screwed if in a fibreglass camper.
There is a little more chance of survival with a metal camper. I do realize that my 26BH has a rubber roof but was wondering if there was any tin underneath it. Does anyone know?
I am hoping not to have to be in a storm but you never know what happens in life.
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Old 11-22-2013, 07:09 AM   #2
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Here is some interesting reading regarding LIGHTENING and RV's
Don

http://www.setrekclub.com/Lightening%20&%20RV's.pdf
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Old 11-22-2013, 07:49 AM   #3
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Lightning safety

Mustang, that link didn't work for me. Can you repost it?
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Old 11-22-2013, 07:54 AM   #4
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Works for me...if your using Windows 8 switch to desktop mode. The document is a .pdf
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Old 11-22-2013, 07:56 AM   #5
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Lightning safety

Ahh, I'm on Tapatalk on my mobile...I'll go to my laptop to view. Thx
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Old 11-22-2013, 10:02 PM   #6
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OK, I read the posted link. In the grand scheme of things, I think it might be worthwhile to unplug from a power pedestal & crank the TV antenna down, but beyond that I don't see a lot one could do. In my firefighting career, I have seen lightning do everything from burn a home down to create a multi-thousand dollar mess without so much as burning a stick of lumber in the structure. I even responded to an 11 year old boy that was struck and killed by lightning while riding his bicycle around a CG............ the parent thunderstorm the bolt came from was over 5 miles away and it was perfectly sunny at the CG.

In a CG, one is quite likely to be parked under or near trees, and they would be more likely to take the hit.

Think I'll place this way down my "things to worry about" list. I'd be more concerned about a thunderstorm that's popping tornadoes, in which case, we're outta the RV...................
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Old 11-23-2013, 06:25 AM   #7
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Just keep in mind the only RV frame ground you will have is when you are plugged into the power pedestal. Lightning is always looking for ground so who knows if that is a good idea to ground your RV frame or not...

You always hear the vehicles mounted on the rubber tires is safest place during thunderstorms. A Friend of mine was watching an approaching storm from his house porch and lightning struck his car sitting in the driveway. It lit up with the blueish corona and sit there like that for awhile. All finally dissipated...

When he got back inside the car all of the auto computer systems were destroyed but other than that no structure damage.

Like you said probably nothing you can do about lightning storms anyway. Hopefully the trees in the camping area will give the lightning a good path to ground. Or at least give the storm a good ionization dissipation point so that lightning won't strike that particular area.

Back on the farm our well pump was 50-75 feet down the well and would go out on just about every approaching storm front. We moved the well pump to the top of the well and never had another problem with it haha...

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Old 11-23-2013, 09:42 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chomperoni View Post
I was reading some articles regarding rv safety during a lighting storm. They mostly said that you are basically screwed if in a fibreglass camper.
There is a little more chance of survival with a metal camper. I do realize that my 26BH has a rubber roof but was wondering if there was any tin underneath it. Does anyone know?
I am hoping not to have to be in a storm but you never know what happens in life.
Question #1 Why would you be more screwed in a fiberglass camper or any other camper for that matter than you would be sitting in your living room at home? My house does not have a metal framework bonded to the earth or a metal roof.

Question #2 Do you camp very often or for any length of time? If you camp at all, you WILL be forced to endure a storm in your trailer or tent or whatever.

The reason you are "safe" in a car or truck is because the sheet metal body forms a Faraday cage around you. If the vehicle is struck by lightning or has a power line draped across it you will be "safe" inside as you would be just like a bird perched on a high voltage wire. As long as you don't become the path to ground your golden.
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Old 11-23-2013, 10:33 AM   #9
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As I write this sitting in my TT here in Gold Canyon AZ the wind is blowing this 10k pounds back and forth like mad with all sorts of strange noises scaring the dogs. It's rained for about 36 hours solid and the temp is a cold 48. Don't need to worry about getting fried on top of it. Jeez!
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Old 11-24-2013, 09:11 AM   #10
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Here's my read on the subject. How many tens of thousands of RV days occur each year where RV's and campgrounds are subject to heavy Tstorms and lightening. Now think back, how many stories have you seen about campers in RV's getting fried by lightening? My count is somewhere close to zero. For that matter short of a direct hit by a tornado, damage from storms in campgrounds I have been in is pretty much limited to awnings and other outside equipment that didn't get stowed before the storm or from trees or debris hitting the RV. Maybe I'm sticking my head in the sand on this, but my biggest concern during a storm [with or without lightening] is loss of my sat tv signal.
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Old 11-24-2013, 04:04 PM   #11
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Thanks for the lightning info Mustang65. Even though we might be able to comply totally, we can reduce the chances. Can anyone explain the energy flow from negative to positive, negative cloud bottom to neutral tree tops. Is that the only direction of flow? Are RV's of positive variety only? Can we change the polarity?
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Old 11-24-2013, 07:08 PM   #12
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Wouldn't the tree top be a positive charge seeing that it is connected to the earth via the trunk and root system? Buildings would also be positive polarity as well.
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Old 11-24-2013, 08:12 PM   #13
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I am not going to worry about it.
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Old 11-24-2013, 09:47 PM   #14
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Wouldn't the tree top be a positive charge seeing that it is connected to the earth via the trunk and root system? Buildings would also be positive polarity as well.
Not my trailer, but in 2004 about a week after we got the power back on following Hurricane Charley, lightning zapped a sand pine in our neighbor's yard..............and found it's way into our home's electrical system via the ground stake at the meter can. Fried several plug in surge suppressors, the meter base surge suppressor, 2 smoke detectors, a cordless phone base, a new TV and home theater. After the storm passed I went outside in my "what the hell was that?" mode looking for what/who got hit. Saw the pine tree with scorched bark about 15' up from the base of the trunk, but no other indication of a lightning strike.................until the tree died about 2 years later.

Don't know about polarity, but that stuff packs a wallop even with an indirect hit.................and that was the second time in the 27 years in our current home we've gotten an indirect jolt.
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Old 11-25-2013, 05:00 AM   #15
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I am not going to worry about it.
Me either but I like to discuss lightning and its unusual behaviors.
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Old 11-25-2013, 06:40 AM   #16
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This site gives a good explenation of lightning and good visuals.
Don

http://regentsprep.org/Regents/physi...s03/alightnin/
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