Do closed Remis blinds make a PVC into a Faraday cage?

[BrianS]

Well, according to Ken from the YouTube channel "Life is too short" it does! Go into 8 minutes on this video -


Anyone know if he is right? Is the material they are made from not a sort of paper?

 

[David and Sally]

Yes. Paper. Can’t see his reasoning.

More like a Twaddle cage in his case.

 

[Sixty-nine Chevy]

Never experienced any such problem in our campervan even with all blinds drawn.

 

[scotjimland]

glad you said go to 8min.. zzzzzz

life is indeed too short ..

 

[SpeedyDux]

Probably safer inside a van conversion than most coachbuilts in a thunderstorm.

The other hazards I am more worried about are falling branches and very big hailstones.

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[Speve]

I fail to see how plastic frames and paper make it one a load of twaddle if you ask me

 

[Guigsy]

We did find that phones had a bad signal in our previous PVC. It did seem that closing the blinds made it worse too. Putting an antenna on the roof for the 4G hotspot solved it.

Seems to be less of an issue in our coachbuild.

 

[Verteuil Man]

We have noticed a drop in single on our mobile when the blinds are closed. Some bl8nds have a reflective coating on the outside to reflect sunlight to keep the temperature down.
This can cause a problem with heat generation in the plastic windows.

 

[Spriddler]

Probably safer inside a van conversion than most coachbuilts in a thunderstorm.

But is that still the case when a vehicle is on rubber tyres?

 

[SpeedyDux]

But is that still the case when a vehicle is on rubber tyres?

I'll post about that if the van ever does get struck by lightning.

The closest I ever got to being struck was in the kitchen area of my parents' house. There was a loud BANG and bright FLASH as the junction box for the phone system flew past my head, leaving a smouldering bunch of wires behind. A nearby telephone pole had a direct hit.

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[Spriddler]

The closest I ever got to being struck was in the kitchen area of my parents' house. There was a loud BANG and bright FLASH as the junction box for the phone system flew past my head, leaving a smouldering bunch of wires behind.

I had much the same after moving into my first house when I had an electrician pal install my electric cooker as a favour late one evening. I still have the vision of him throwing the mains back on and flying backwards out of my under-stairs cupboard silhouetted by the blue flash. It was like a scene from a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

 

[Richard n Ann]

But is that still the case when a vehicle is on rubber tyres?

The lightning has already travelled a mile down out of the sky so 5 more inches won't make much difference

 

[scotjimland]

5 more inches won't make much difference

I'll ask Jan if that's the case ... or not

 

[BrianS]

I asked Ken and he replied "Close them no signal. Open them signal. I rest my case my Lord. If I put my phone in the roof light and hotspot from it it works well with them all shut."
Gonna have to try this for myself ;-)

 

[jezport]

Ours do reduce phone signal and in poor reception areas we have to.open some to stream video.

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[David and Sally]

Ours do reduce phone signal and in poor reception areas we have to.open some to stream video.

How? They are paper, but does a metal frame make a difference?

 

[Guigsy]

But is that still the case when a vehicle is on rubber tyres?

Rubber is about 5 times better at electrical insulation than air. Tyres also contain a lot of metal strands, so they probably don't make that much difference. But even if they were really good insulators, what would stop the bolt from just jumping from the underside of the car to the ground?

What does make a difference is the metal cage around you. As the electricity flows, it repels itself, so the current actually moves around the outside of the object. I think this is also responsible for the skin effect?

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

All the blinds in ours are those roller ones cream one side and silver the other. That is apart from the cab window and they’re the paper concertina type ones.

 

[jezport]

How? They are paper, but does a metal frame make a difference?

They have a foil layer.

 

[Ingwe]

I had much the same after moving into my first house when I had an electrician pal install my electric cooker as a favour late one evening. I still have the vision of him throwing the mains back on and flying backwards out of my under-stairs cupboard silhouetted by the blue flash. It was like a scene from a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

People are shocked when they find out I’m a crap electrician!

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[bigtwin]

It’s a Faraday Cage with, or without, the blinds (that’s why it’s called a cage (it has gaps (holes) in the surface)). Otherwise, it’d be a Faraday Shield.

Ian

 

[Pausim]

My mobile download speeds do sometimes drop off a bit when the foil backed blinds are shut. Similarly the DAB signal is weaker inside the van when they are shut. However none of this compares to the brain fade I get from listening to boring Youtube videos.

 

[Just smiffy]

I asked Ken and he replied "Close them no signal. Open them signal. I rest my case my Lord. If I put my phone in the roof light and hotspot from it it works well with them all shut."
Gonna have to try this for myself ;-)

This is what I do, my blinds do have a silver/foil backing and the signal does deteriorate when shut… as I’m on my iPad most of the time I just put my phone up in the skylight and hotspot the iPad to it…

 

[tonyidle]

But is that still the case when a vehicle is on rubber tyres?

A spark that has jumped from a cloud several 100, if not several 1000, feet to reach the roof of your van will not be troubled by an extra few inches of rubber.

 

[David and Sally]

Ah I see. Our blinds are not foiled so I understand how foiled blinds might block signals.

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[bigtwin]

A spark that has jumped from a cloud several 100, if not several 1000, feet to reach the roof of your van will not be troubled by an extra few inches of rubber.

It’s a Faraday cage, the rubber is irrelevant.

Ian

 

[CAB96]

But is that still the case when a vehicle is on rubber tyres?

Tyre rubber is more conductive than pure rubber I understand, presumably a lot of carbon in it.

And wet, well might as well be metal.

Damn sight better conductors than those dangly plastic things you used to get.

Connected to a plastic bumper!

 

[tonyidle]

It’s a Faraday cage, the rubber is irrelevant.

Ian

I know - I was replying to the post about lightning.

 

[David and Sally]

Tyre rubber is more conductive than pure rubber I understand, presumably a lot of carbon in it.

And wet, well might as well be metal.

Damn sight better conductors than those dangly plastic things you used to get.

Connected to a plastic bumper!

My dangly bits have never been connected to a bumper.

 

[Tombola]

We did find that phones had a bad signal in our previous PVC. It did seem that closing the blinds made it worse too. Putting an antenna on the roof for the 4G hotspot solved it.

Seems to be less of an issue in our coachbuild.

I had the same