August 16, 201213 yr any one make lightning rods ? i need some to put on the house and it looks as if i could make them ... just looking for ideas on how there constructed ...
August 16, 201213 yr Not something I would want to touch due to liability issues. Got a General Contractor license and related insurance? Does the phrase "Voids your insurance coverage" ring a bell? Lawyers run the world, we just live in it. Any non-professional roofing, wiring or plumbing, etc. done on your home puts the liability for subsequent damage on the homeowner. Building codes may apply. All of the old ones I have seen were made of copper or brass, so have been stored in a collection or antique shop. All the rest have been scrapped for cash over the years. The rods themselves were fairly thin at the core and deeply fluted for rigidity, so they looked like + or * from the top. The wires were a flat woven copper braid, seldom a single thick strand like modern ground wire.
August 16, 201213 yr Author ok , sounds good , i sead need but i ment for looks, think a mild steel one would work for just looks ?
August 16, 201213 yr Just for looks? I would think if you mounted a metal rod on your roof in a vertical position that at some point in time lightning might strike it. Why not set it up so it works and does its job which is to carry the voltage to ground and not to your house? I would think there would be more liability concern to put a metal rod on your roof and not ground it.
August 16, 201213 yr Author There was one up there at some point. Its gone but the wire and stake in the ground is still there. So ill do something ....
August 16, 201213 yr nice that the wire and stake are still there, that's half the battle! Just a thought, the rod looks simple enough, but what about a weathervane? Doesn't have to me too elaborate, just a directional arrow to keep it interesting. (You don't even need the N,S,E or W! Most people know which direction they're standing anyway!)
August 16, 201213 yr I like Jims idea of the weathervane........... in the shape of an anvil. Then when it is struck by lightening it will be welded in the direction it was pointing when the lightnening struck how cool would that be............... Well maybe not but it sounded cool when it went through my head the first time.......
August 17, 201213 yr Making your own lightning rod isn't a very good idea for reasons already stated. Using iron rather than copper is even worse. What a proper lightning rod actually does is discharge the potential between earth and upper air, without potential no lightning happens. Using iron means it won't discharge the potential nearly as well so you're a lot MORE likely to be struck and if struck being a poorer conductor means iron or steel is going to get a whole BUNCH hotter. Sounding better all the time eh? Frosty The Lucky.
August 17, 201213 yr http://www.lightningrod.com/ornaments.php Google returns this, seems fairly inexpensive ($50) but this appears to be the decorative element, and needs the lightening rod and grounding hardware. Phil
August 17, 201213 yr Be sure to inform the lightning that the conductive but poorly grounded lightning rod is only decortive and it will not get hit ? I am a licensed electrican but what do I know about it
August 17, 201213 yr Steve, I think you need a cookie. Follow the link. The site sells the lightning protection hardware in addition to decorative elements. The part I found is exactly pictured like the picture in the original post. Phil
August 17, 201213 yr Ok, then here's the question. Does anything you put on your house (or garage in my case) become an instant lightning rod? I was given a copper weathervane as a gift when we bought our house and tossed it up there without ever thinking about it. Is one metal less tempting for a lightning strike than others? In the olden days (20 years ago) every house had some sort of antenna (aluminum I think) to grab whatever tv signal they could. Some were quite elaborate, but I don't recall any being hit by lightning even though they were mounted at the highest point on the rooftops. Just wondering.
August 18, 201213 yr Author thats what i was thinking hows a lightning rod looking thing different than a weathervane? but i dont start things like that over the internet ..lol...i just dont post anymore about it....
August 18, 201213 yr FWIW, my house has lightning rods (we live in the middle of farmland on a coastal plain) and the house has been hit multiple times in just the past 10 years. Even though the lightning rods are connected with big heavy braided wires and grounded to earth through big rods driven into the ground, those lightning strikes have wiped out one computer, two pairs of telephone wires, one ISDN modem and one POTS telephone. It actually ruined the telephone...you KNOW it took some electrons to make a conventional telephone not work! (Glad no one was yakking on the phone when that happened...did you know most people killed by lightning are on the phone when they get hit?) My point is that this was a professionally installed system, and yet: 1) It still got hit by lightning at least twice in 10 years...which I thought was what lightning rods were supposed to prevent; and 2) The lightning still wiped stuff out. So this is just a longer way of saying, Proceed at your own risk, Your Mileage May Vary, Void Where Prohibited, asterisk asterisk dagger dagger.
August 18, 201213 yr Steve, I think you need a cookie. Follow the link. The site sells the lightning protection hardware in addition to decorative elements. The part I found is exactly pictured like the picture in the original post. Phil I was referring to connecting the old wiring left over from the last one. If he just wants to stick a metal spike on the roof thats fine, if not grounded its just a pretty. but when making ground connections they better be able to deal with the power of a lightning strikle or its asking for trouble. I have seen too many DIY electricians kill people, and burn houses down. the box stores sell all sorts of electrical items that most people are not qualified to replace or install themselves. so just because a company is selling something does not gain any credit with me.
August 18, 201213 yr Something tells me we will soon be seeing google links to lawyers on this thread ( forgive me but this is indeed serious stuff you are typing about ). The advice given from a google link is more than sad it is outrageous. Yeah, I'm havin a cookie right now.
August 18, 201213 yr Maybe I'm the one who needed a cookie. You are right, the whole system needs to be installed and work properly or it is inviting trouble. Phil
August 19, 201213 yr Uh yes Phil you do! Heck, we all need a cookie! Cookie break! As I recall taking the TV antenna down some years ago there was a pretty decent copper ground cable running from it to a ground rod. Frosty The Lucky.
August 19, 201213 yr Ok, then here's the question. Does anything you put on your house (or garage in my case) become an instant lightning rod? I was given a copper weathervane as a gift when we bought our house and tossed it up there without ever thinking about it. Is one metal less tempting for a lightning strike than others? In the olden days (20 years ago) every house had some sort of antenna (aluminum I think) to grab whatever tv signal they could. Some were quite elaborate, but I don't recall any being hit by lightning even though they were mounted at the highest point on the rooftops. Just wondering. Jim,that is why we had a lightning arrestor on our TV antenna. I remember my dad having to change it several times after storms and 1 time the lightning made it through before it blew the arrestor and blew up the TV. And yes our antenna and the lightning arrestor were well grounded all the time.
August 21, 201213 yr FWIW, my house has lightning rods (we live in the middle of farmland on a coastal plain) and the house has been hit multiple times in just the past 10 years. Maybe lightning rods attract lightning? :unsure: lol Lightning can and will strike wherever it chooses to but usually the highest point in a given area where conditions are right for it to occur. In an open plain a house will be highest with or without rods. In my area we ahve lots of trees so usually we see the tree get struck and the current arc over to the house closest to the tree. In the last month I have been to three houses struck by lightning (im a firefighter) only one was struck directly the other two was through a tree close by. in a local nearby city the roof was burned off a house that was struck. Lightening rods in our area (coastal virginia) are seldom seen except on much older houses.
August 21, 201213 yr FWIW, my house has lightning rods (we live in the middle of farmland on a coastal plain) and the house has been hit multiple times in just the past 10 years. Maybe lightning rods attract lightning? :unsure: lol Lightning can and will strike wherever it chooses to but usually the highest point in a given area where conditions are right for it to occur. In an open plain a house will be highest with or without rods. In my area we ahve lots of trees so usually we see the tree get struck and the current arc over to the house closest to the tree. In the last month I have been to three houses struck by lightning (im a firefighter) only one was struck directly the other two was through a tree close by. in a local nearby city the roof was burned off a house that was struck. Lightening rods in our area (coastal virginia) are seldom seen except on much older houses.
August 21, 201213 yr FWIW, my house has lightning rods (we live in the middle of farmland on a coastal plain) and the house has been hit multiple times in just the past 10 years. Maybe lightning rods attract lightning? :unsure: lol Actually that is what they are for, they are made to attract lightning. The idea is get it to go somewhere controled and drained into the ground, rather than a random strike burning your house/barn down, that is why I advise getting a qualified person to hook up lightning rods, But in a location where it is desired only for appearances, just for looks do not try to connect it. FYI most lightning starts at the gound and travels up to the clouds, maybe 5% or so start at the clouds, its a polarirty thing. I am sorry if I come across poorly at times. I am trying to get people to think rather than just accepting rumors as facts, and with all the hours of work I do for this site I dont always take a lot of time before typing, to make sure that my statements did not come out sounding bad.
August 22, 201213 yr FYI most lightning starts at the gound and travels up to the clouds, maybe 5% or so start at the clouds, its a polarirty thing. Steve, I don’t think that is quite correct. As the static charge increases in the clouds (a negative charge) a dielectric potential between the earth and the clouds causes runners (positively charged column of air) to be pulled up from the earth. When the potential exceeds the dielectric strength of the air, there is a discharge of electrons from the clouds to the earth, lightning. Technically it starts from the earth but the strike is from the clouds.
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