Lightning and cows

[MossRoad]

A kid I knew when I was young was sitting in the kitchen with his family waiting for dinner. They had a Spanish style house with stucco walls, tiled roof, and heavy floor tiles. Lighting came through the roof, through the 2nd floor, hit a floor tile on the kitchen floor, bounced up and blew their built-in oven's door off and ruined their dinner..... I'll say! :laughing:

When my wife and I got married, our new elderly neighbors found out I could repair TV's and asked me to see what was wrong with theirs. The burnt smell in the living room was the first clue. The second clue was the smoked TV back, burn hole in the living room wall, kitchen wall, hallway wall, bedroom wall, and exterior walls.

 

[Dadnatron]

Growing up, we lost a couple cows each year. We had a dead tree by a ditch bank around which cows tended to congregate. Well, it was dead because of lightning strikes and we would find one not infrequently. We also ran cows at about 9000' and had big thunderstorms roll through. It was much harder to find one that had been hit in the mountains. Especially given bears and coyotes around.

In the Lexington area, high $$$ horses are struck, not infrequently. Farm managers watch the weather closer than my wife. Just last summer, a $1.2M winning stallion was struck in the pasture at Three Chimney's farm. He was standing at stud for $5000 a pop.

 

[k0ua]

I have a lightning story. (I actually have several from my years as a Telephone tech) This one was a school we had an intercom/speaker system in. This was a brand new school, and it seemed to get hit every time a black cloud formed in the sky. Anyway after one of these hits, myself and another tech were just finishing up with him replacing all of the amplified speakers in the hallways, and I replaced all the equipment in the mainframe and rewired some burnt wiring.

The other tech walked back into the room just as I finished up putting the last bridging clip into one of the mainframe punch blocks, and stepped back away from them and said "well that should do it". Just then another storm and blown up and a huge bolt of lightning struck the school. A huge ball of fire came off of the mainframe where I was just standing and we heard every one of the speakers he had replaced exploded with a loud bang.

We went out to the center of the hallway until the storm passed. Needless to say it killed everything we had just replaced, and we were out of parts for the day.
I told the superintendent that I felt something was wrong with the building and suggested he call an electrician. He finally called a competent electrician, and he found that the building was not grounded. It appeared to be, but the original contractor had not properly grounded the building at all. Once proper grounding was put in, we never lost another thing due to lightning. We had our surge protection modules attached to the electrical ground, but it was apparently floating.

I am just glad I was not standing where the ball of fire popped out. That was impressive.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I have a lightning story. (I actually have several from my years as a Telephone tech) This one was a school we had an intercom/speaker system in. This was a brand new school, and it seemed to get hit every time a black cloud formed in the sky. Anyway after one of these hits, myself and another tech were just finishing up with him replacing all of the amplified speakers in the hallways, and I replaced all the equipment in the mainframe and rewired some burnt wiring.

The other tech walked back into the room just as I finished up putting the last bridging clip into one of the mainframe punch blocks, and stepped back away from them and said "well that should do it". Just then another storm and blown up and a huge bolt of lightning struck the school. A huge ball of fire came off of the mainframe where I was just standing and we heard every one of the speakers he had replaced exploded with a loud bang.

We went out to the center of the hallway until the storm passed. Needless to say it killed everything we had just replaced, and we were out of parts for the day.
I told the superintendent that I felt something was wrong with the building and suggested he call an electrician. He finally called a competent electrician, and he found that the building was not grounded. It appeared to be, but the original contractor had not properly grounded the building at all. Once proper grounding was put in, we never lost another thing due to lightning. We had our surge protection modules attached to the electrical ground, but it was apparently floating.

I am just glad I was not standing where the ball of fire popped out. That was impressive.

My britches would've been a tad smellier.

 

[k0ua]

My britches would've been a tad smellier.

I can assure you, we both were a bit "scary". We waited some time out in the hallway as we thought it the safest place. We actually had several of the station wires in the rooms melt where they terminated in the call boxes. We had never seen that kind of damage internal to a building before.

 

[FatTire]

Wow. Not making a proper ground connection in a building that size (or any building really) is a big mistake for an electrician. Do you know or remember what the mistake was?

 

[k0ua]

Wow. Not making a proper ground connection in a building that size (or any building really) is a big mistake for an electrician. Do you know or remember what the mistake was?

Well I wasn't there to see it but I heard the building was supposed to be grounded at its 4 corners but it didn't happen during construction. All I know for sure is the Superintendent said it was corrected, and we never lost the paging components again after that. I remember another similar situation in a building in Missouri where we constantly had damage to the telephone equipment, and vaporization of the surge protection modules we installed. In that building a Professional engineering company was called in, and I saw some of the testing that they performed with a device called a megger. Taking ground measurements. What they found was the ground rod in the electrical room was apparently in a "void" not touching ground, Just through the concrete floor and driven into nothing. This was corrected and we never lost any more equipment there either. This was at a trailer manufacturing plant of a well know boat builder.

 

[CobyRupert]

Cows and horses are more susceptible to electrocution when in proximity to lightning strikes than a person is because of the greater distance between their legs.
In fact, a person should stand with their legs close together if lightning is around.
It's called "step potential".
When lightning hits, the voltage of the earth around "ground zero" is also raised up hundred, if not thousands of volts, with the voltage diminishing the farther away one is from ground zero. So a person with their legs together is sort of like a "bird on the wire" and won't be harmed, whereas the voltage of the ground at the cows front legs may be very different from the ground under its rear legs. The ground is a bad conductor so the current would rather flow through the cow than the ground.

 

[k0ua]

Cows and horses are more susceptible to electrocution when in proximity to lightning strikes than a person is because of the greater distance between their legs.
In fact, a person should stand with their legs close together if lightning is around.
It's called "step potential".
When lightning hits, the voltage of the earth around "ground zero" is also raised up hundred, if not thousands of volts, with the voltage diminishing the farther away one is from ground zero. So a person with their legs together is sort of like a "bird on the wire" and won't be harmed, whereas the voltage of the ground at the cows front legs may be very different from the ground under its rear legs. The ground is a bad conductor so the current would rather flow through the cow than the ground.

View attachment 504947

While we are discussing being electrocuted, this video offers some useful tips.

This Might Shock You: Downed Power Line - YouTube

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Cows and horses are more susceptible to electrocution when in proximity to lightning strikes than a person is because of the greater distance between their legs.
In fact, a person should stand with their legs close together if lightning is around.
It's called "step potential".
When lightning hits, the voltage of the earth around "ground zero" is also raised up hundred, if not thousands of volts, with the voltage diminishing the farther away one is from ground zero. So a person with their legs together is sort of like a "bird on the wire" and won't be harmed, whereas the voltage of the ground at the cows front legs may be very different from the ground under its rear legs. The ground is a bad conductor so the current would rather flow through the cow than the ground.

View attachment 504947

Stand on one leg in a lightning storm too.

 

[FatTire]

Well I wasn't there to see it but I heard the building was supposed to be grounded at its 4 corners but it didn't happen during construction. All I know for sure is the Superintendent said it was corrected, and we never lost the paging components again after that. I remember another similar situation in a building in Missouri where we constantly had damage to the telephone equipment, and vaporization of the surge protection modules we installed. In that building a Professional engineering company was called in, and I saw some of the testing that they performed with a device called a megger. Taking ground measurements. What they found was the ground rod in the electrical room was apparently in a "void" not touching ground, Just through the concrete floor and driven into nothing. This was corrected and we never lost any more equipment there either. This was at a trailer manufacturing plant of a well know boat builder.

Grounding can be tricky. Same with lightning protection for structures. Most "real world" situations can't easily be analyzed from an engineering standpoint, so it takes someone who has practical experience and who wants to see it done right. I got into it just a little bit when I was in college working for MSHA (coal mine safety) where I had a glimpse of how much I didn't know. Which is still almost everything.

 

[Zerk]

Well I wasn't there to see it but I heard the building was supposed to be grounded at its 4 corners but it didn't happen during construction.

I am not sure that is true. Not true in residential. Utlities only do two ground for a structure, though they have a ground grid under ground connecting everything, so not the same.

 

[AGRIMAN]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm truly thankful it was just a cow which can easily be replaced and not one of us.

The one thing we have been wondering about..... was he mid well or well?

 

[AGRIMAN]

Cows and horses are more susceptible to electrocution when in proximity to lightning strikes than a person is because of the greater distance between their legs.
In fact, a person should stand with their legs close together if lightning is around.
It's called "step potential".
When lightning hits, the voltage of the earth around "ground zero" is also raised up hundred, if not thousands of volts, with the voltage diminishing the farther away one is from ground zero. So a person with their legs together is sort of like a "bird on the wire" and won't be harmed, whereas the voltage of the ground at the cows front legs may be very different from the ground under its rear legs. The ground is a bad conductor so the current would rather flow through the cow than the ground.

View attachment 504947

Hmmm, never heard the four legged thing before.

 

[k0ua]

Hmmm, never heard the four legged thing before.

Did you watch the video? It works for 2 legged critters too..

 

[MossRoad]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm truly thankful it was just a cow which can easily be replaced and not one of us.

The one thing we have been wondering about..... was he mid well or well?

OOOOhhh!!!! You went there! :laughing:

I was waiting for someone... :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

 

[AGRIMAN]

Did you watch the video? It works for 2 legged critters too..

To be honest, no I overlooked the video but I did go back a watch it. Thanks.

i never had to deal with many down power lines, but I did get involved once with an incounter between a power line and a cotton picker......it went very bad, very quick.

 

[AGRIMAN]

OOOOhhh!!!! You went there! :laughing:

I was waiting for someone... :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

You know everybody was think about it.:laughing: I can't cry so might as well laugh.

 

[charlton289]

My mother had a bad experience with lightning and in the old days telephone she got zapped and lost her hearing for a short time when lightning hit several miles away and traveling thru the phone wire that was back in the early 60,s and if she heard thunder she would not answer the phone. It's not as big deal nowadays but I heard it can happen even with Cell phones​. And I did watch the video it was a good teaching video and put into a everyday scenario people can understand.

 

[boggen]

i have seen lighting hit one end of a fence line and travel down it. zapping stuff.

rented the tillable area on farm out years ago. and the one farmer, got nailed 2 to 3 times. once or twice while on tractor, once while on ground each time near a fence line and the lighting traveled down the fence line.

to this day, still remember when young 4 to 6 years old. opening up curtain to sliding glass door. and seeing a piece of straw come through window and get stuck in the window. did not break the glass. just going so fast it penetrated through the glass.