Lightning strike

MaineGuy · Aug 9, 2004

On Saturday afternoon my brother-in-law and I were mowing and doing some other tractor work and got in the house just in time to beat a major down pour and electrical storm. I was washing up at the bathroom sink and talking with the brother-in-law when we saw a white flash and my hand in the water got shocked. It was just enough to send a pain through my hand and a tingle through the rest of my body. While we were talking about what had just happened we stepped into the kitchen and saw another flash along the island counter top. There are electric outlets along the counter. A circuit breaker was broken. Broken and will not reset. I replaced it and reset the GFI on the kitchen counter and now everything is working. I assume we were hit by lightning, maybe twice. My question is where did the electricity come into the water supply and then the electrical system? Could it come through the well water? Is there anything I should be looking to change such as grounding or just look at it as a freak of nature? Anybody ever had this happen?
Maineiac

MicroPilot · Aug 9, 2004

What is the pipe that runs form the house to the well made of? IF its copper then there's the conductor for the electric into the water. Heck, a plastic pipe probably isn't going to slow lightining down too much. As for the breaker, it was probably a hit on the power pole nearby. I've had this happen before, but it didn't fry the breaker but some X-10 switches and a dimmer were shot. I've also had lightning hit the telephone lines and have lost 2 modems and an answering machine.

gotrocks · Aug 9, 2004

Ah yes brings back memories from high school days (40's). We lived on place with a dug well and a pump in pit by the well. During thunder storms I remember standing on the screen porch and watching the stand water pipe that came through the screen over the old steel sink that had a drain back to ground. Looked like Dr. Frankenstein between the stand pipe and the sink. Zap, zap.......

Then in the 60's had a strike on pecan tree. It ran down the tree and hit the shallowell pump, went (along the roots??) to my under ground elec. and water lines to shop in the back yard. Burst the PVC water pipe. Ran into shop and back to main in house. Shattered two breakers, shattered a switch on saw in the shop plus a few other things. We have low voltage "touch plate" system in the house and none of that was affected. Thank goodness.

Glad you were not injured. That must have been nerve racking to say the least.

MaineGuy · Aug 9, 2004

The pipe from the well is plastic with copper supply through the house. There is a ground post outside at the electric service and meter. I don't think there is a ground on the copper water pipes inside. I did not find anything that looks burnt or charred no even the breaker.
We are have had an unusual number of storms this summer. Unlike Kentucky and other parts of the country, thunder and lightning storms do not happen often in Maine. Back home in Ky. we sat out on the porch and watched the show on many summer evenings but we were never hit. I grew up in the suburbs and now live out in the country. Maybe that's the difference. I had a metel roof put on the house recently and wonder if that makes any difference?
Thanks for the thoughts.

slowrev · Aug 9, 2004

Do you have an electrical water heater ? If so does it still work properly ? I have found that lightning will come in on the power line and arc over to the plumbing thru the electric water heater elements, damaging them.
Also a garbage disposal might provide a jump over path for the lightning to jump from the power to the plumbing.

MaineGuy · Aug 9, 2004

The water heater is propane and we don't have a garbage disposal. I did a quick internet search on lightning. Of course I found that electrical and plumbing systems are the most likly entrance points and carriers in a house. The site did not give information about how to protect against strikes and damage. It did say stay away from water during a storm.

slowrev · Aug 9, 2004

One thing I have learned over the years is that lightning pretty much does what it wants to do.

JimR · Aug 9, 2004

It sounds like the lightning strike was real close to your house. It doesn't matter what you have for pipes or wiring. At that range you will get blasted. We have had our well nailed before. The transformer on the light pole in front of our house has been fried by lightning. Both times I heard snap crackle pop in our modern house. Water is a great line of travel for electricity. Don't take a shower in an electrical storm.

gotrocks · Aug 9, 2004

Don't take a shower in an electrical storm.


Yeah, and don't take a leak on an electric fence in fair weather.

GrayBeard · Aug 9, 2004

Maine,
The only thing sure about the path of lightning , is nothing...
My old house was hit twice and our new home once.
We lost the normal stuff, ie: phones, TV, VCR, and one computer. Surge suppressors help but you have to get into the better quality ones for a faster interuption time and usually they're still not fast enough with the right kind of strike.
I know I'm not fast enough :
Several years ago I was just getting home from work and we were about to get a tremendous T storm. I thought I'd let the truck set out and get her washed off a little.
I parked about 40 ft from the back door and thought I make a dash for it.
I just got out of the truck and walked about 10 ft. when I heard one of the loudest explosions I can remember and was knocked to the ground. As soon as I could , I got "collected" and ran to the house.
After the storm passed and I settled a little, I went outside.
Lightning had hit the truck:
The truck's computer was blown, two back tires( all the steel belts looked a big ball of tumbleweed) and about a 30 ft ditch was cut from the back wheel across the drive and down thru the woods. The ditch was 6 " wide and about 12" deep and had sheered off roots 4" in diameter laying all around.
I'm not lecturing, just be real careful.
Needless to say , I don't mess with lightning and thank the "Big Guy" a lot ...
I was real lucky !
GrayBeard

MaineGuy · Aug 9, 2004

Gray, I've talked with several folks today who have had similar experiences to yours and I know that I'm very fortunate and thankful. No permanent tissue damage is always a good thing. Thanks for your feedback.

slowrev · Aug 10, 2004

Hmmm..... and I had always heard that a vehicle was a good place to hide in a thunderstorm.......With the rubber tires and all, maybe the steel belts have decreased the insulation factor of the tires ?

Harv · Aug 10, 2004

( I had always heard that a vehicle was a good place to hide in a thunderstorm )

That's what I'd heard, too, but my understanding is that it's not so much the rubber tires, but the fact that a vehicle is a vessel. Electrical current tends to flow across the surface of a vessel (Faraday Effect?), bypassing the interior completely.

Maybe some of our engineering brethren can verify the theory.

SPIKER · Aug 10, 2004

yep lightning takes least path of resistance, the extra 6 feet of STEEL was easier to flow through than the surrounding air. then the last bit of rubber insulation was easy to jump across/through. and if the tires are wet then there is 0 insulation when millions of volts of static electricity are involved... lots of people FEEL the shock of lightning disapating inside homes cars & stuff as the lightning current disapates it travels away from strike location and small fingers like spread out away form the dirrect strike. reason for this is the spot it is hitting gets charged up, that charge then creats a volage match as more current flows into the spot, the lightning has to LOOK for a better spot to get into ground through... same for people with hands in the dish water they are absorbing the voltage a bit helping out the lightning to "Disipate" it's charge across the biggest area it can.

you would probably be safer in the shower than in the sink as you would be surrounded by water which would help carry the voltage/current past you rather than into you... either way you will in sorts become a battery storing a bit of the electrical energy for the lightning.

this has nothing to do with becoming a lighting rod, where in essence it travels through you to ground this is the stuff that usually compleatly kills you or at least you will be permatly disfigured from the escexx electrical current flowing through you're boddy, basically cooks you by boiling the water which we are made up of.. the people who DO survice are usually hit by one of the FINGERLETS which have already become highly discharged over that of the main bolt. those are usually not surviveable... same for high tension wires /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif any contact with those you will become a roasted crispy critter as the electrical current goes through you. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

mark M /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

MicroPilot · Aug 10, 2004

( Hmmm..... and I had always heard that a vehicle was a good place to hide in a thunderstorm.......With the rubber tires and all, maybe the steel belts have decreased the insulation factor of the tires ?
)

Never really bought that "myth". After all, the air is an insulator and that lightning bolt just traveled how many thousands of feet (miles?) through the insulating air to get to the ground, and a few inches of rubber is going to stop it?

GrayBeard · Aug 10, 2004

slow,
I've heard that also about being safe in a vehicle.
I do know that the tires were wet and the tires were blown completly apart. All the steel bands were shredded into very tiny threads. The interior of the rim looked as if you had tried to strike an arc with a welder about 100 times all around the rim.
It could have been safe in the truck but I'll bet it would "rock" you.(I'm not ready to try it) The truck's computer was under the driver's seat.It didn't blow apart just burned up the inside.
While cutting the ditch I mentioned, golfball sized rocks we're blown quite a long distance.
GrayBeard

MMM · Aug 10, 2004

Your right about going where it wants. I've got an antenna mounted 8' above my roof that's attatches to30' pipe driven in the ground- my lightnin' rod. So lighting strike, where does it go? Furnace vent. It traveled through and caught all my flex duct work on fire through the support wirre. Of course it ruined every electrical component I had too.

MMM · Aug 10, 2004

Your right about going where it wants. I've got an antenna mounted 8' above my roof that's attatches to30' pipe driven in the ground- my lightnin' rod. So lighting strike, where does it go? Furnace vent. It traveled through and caught all my flex duct work on fire through the support wirre. Of course it ruined every electrical component I had too. I'm just glad I was home to put the fire out.