Hydraulics and lightning (6 Viewers)

[Manxcat]

Currently in deep France and surrounded by thunder and lightning (very very frightening). The E&P hydraulics are down. My superior other half is uneasy as dhe thinks we will be struck by lightening and fried. Obviously we never worry when on 4 rubber tyres. Is this a worry when on 4 steel struts earthing us to the ground.

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

Currently in deep France and surrounded by thunder and lightning (very very frightening). The E&P hydraulics are down. My superior other half is uneasy as dhe thinks we will be struck by lightening and fried. Obviously we never worry when on 4 rubber tyres. Is this a worry when on 4 steel struts earthing us to the ground.

A very interesting question.

 

[Guigsy]

Rubber tyres make almost no difference. Air is a really good insulator, and yet lightning jumps hundreds of meters through air.

Cars (and mostly vans) are safe in a lightning storm because you're in a metal box and the discharge flows around the outside.

 

[meanders]

And if it is earthed through the struts, the van will act like a true Faraday cage making it the safest place in a storm.

 

[funflair]

Disconnect the hook up lead though, if it's plugged in

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[Hettie's Crew]

We were hit by lightning with the jacks down and EHU connected, on a camp in western France a few years ago.
We had a large tree to the rear of us, it was chucking it down, dark, very loud thunder and very bright lighting flashes. We felt very vulnerable and at the mercy of fate when suddenly a very loud violent bang hit us and all mains power went off. When the storm had passed we ventured out it looked likeveveryone else had evacuated and the site power was off. It felt very eerie. Turns out it was just us that had lost power with the mains switch having tripped and found a mark of bare aluminium on the rear corner of the motorhome.

 

[Gizmouk]

Disconnect the hook up lead though, if it's plugged in

You're better off staying inside the MH, rather than wandering around in the open holding on to something which is connected to earth.

 

[Figaro]

It does look extremely lively down there

 

[Paul Wilkins]

I'd buy a lottery ticket quick if I were you.

 

[gilbaro]

Would the faraday cage effect apply to a coach built mh with the rear made of wood/glass fibre.
I can see it for car or pvc but not coach built.
Frightening thought!

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[meanders]

Would the faraday cage effect apply to a coach built mh with the rear made of wood/glass fibre.
I can see it for car or pvc but not coach built.
Frightening thought!

It depends. Ours is aluminium skinned so yes. If all plastic or composite, then no, but it's still a good insulator. However the lightning would track the shortest route to earth, so might use the cab area bodywork to pass though. Anything sticking out that is metal (or wet wood =trees) will give the easiest route to ground so always park nearer something that's a little higher than you, (but not under a tree). However the chances of being struck by lighting are many times less than the likelihood of winning the lottery in the UK. (Roughly 2 people per year over the last 30 years so there are about 20 times more jackpot winners each year? How many jackpot winners do you know!

The biggest risk is standing on high ground as your head is then the nearest point. Remember too that you get e ground effect. When lightening hits the ground it dissipates over quite a large surface area. That's how farm animals get killed but show no signs of being struck. If the lightning hots the ground when the animals is facing, it travels across the surface, finds a nice water filled (80% roughly) animal, so travels up the front legs and down the back ones.

If indoors during a storm do not touch radiators, taps steel baths etc. If the lightning hits the ground nearby, it will pick up your water pipe and deliver quite a jolt if you happen to be touching it.

 

[philmc79]

Your biggest worry is what your van is underneath when lighting strikes, our was under the national grid transformer national grid thousands of amps which got hit by lightning went down the lightning arrester into the ground up our MH selfleveling steel legs into the van chassis then blew the MH computer all hell let loose alarm went off market lights flashing no window wipers no electric windows, blew the BCM ( body control module ) so over £ 1500 worth of damage and no use of the MH for 3 months while a BCM was obtained from Fiat in Italy, happened in June so Europe closed in August ????. So we never park under any transformers any more.
As a foot note the whole of the site had major problems as well, with blown up mobile phones as they where connected to the power on charge and the EPOS system in the site shop blew up to.

If you suspect there is going to be a Lightning storm retract the steel legs as we where told my national grid if we were on rubber tyres the damage would not have happened, maybe, maybe not, ?????

 

[Figaro]

Your biggest worry is what your van is underneath when lighting strikes, our was under the national grid transformer national grid thousands of amps which got hit by lightning went down the lightning arrester into the ground up our MH selfleveling steel legs into the van chassis then blew the MH computer all hell let loose alarm went off market lights flashing no window wipers no electric windows, blew the BCM ( body control module ) so over £ 1500 worth of damage and no use of the MH for 3 months while a BCM was obtained from Fiat in Italy, happened in June so Europe closed in August ????. So we never park under any transformers any more.
As a foot note the whole of the site had major problems as well, with blown up mobile phones as they where connected to the power on charge and the EPOS system in the site shop blew up to.

If you suspect there is going to be a Lightning storm retract the steel legs as we where told my national grid if we were on rubber tyres the damage would not have happened, maybe, maybe not, ?????

Frightening, who paid for repairs ?

 

[CAB96]

Rubber tyres don't insulate, they are reasonable conductors due to the carbon and other stuff mixed in. Especially when wet.

It is why those (plastic, insulating) things everyone had in the eighties which attached to the bumper were not only superfluous, but didn't work anyway! Even the ones with little silver lightning zigzags!