Valdemar in the Aegean - Click Image to Enlarge. According to published reports, aluminnum the US out of the annual average of about deaths due to lightning, approximately 13 are aboard boats. Suffice it to say that if lightning is a hazard where Aluminum Boats And Lightning 900 your boat will be used, a plan should be developed to deal with the possibility of a direct strike. In the Pacific Northwest lightning is relatively rare.

Aluminum boats and lightning layout Ligntning, some areas annually have more than fifty strikes per square mile.! According to the well known lightning researcher Ewen Thompson, lightning can develop lightninh the order of one hundred million volts, peak currents of tens of thousands of amps, and generate temperatures of some fifty five thousand degrees. A lightning alumknum involves an extremely rapid change in an electric current, generating a momentary but extremely powerful magnetic field.

This electro-magnetic pulse EMP will readily induce currents in adjacent wiring. Ane induced in wires by the EMP from a lightning strike may do lightinng very weird things, such as fry every piece of electronics aboard. A strike nearby or on anx boat can fry the electronics aboard your boat without even requiring an electrical connection or direct strike.

A direct or aluminum boats and lightning layout strike may have a radical and permanent influence on the compass, and may lgihtning that it be completely re-calibrated. Strikes have been known to erase all the cassette tapes on a boat! Consider what would happen to other magnetic media, such as your hard drive! Sensitive electronics hardly stand a chance. An issue that has nad been made public is that all of the new electronically controlled diesel engines are quite vulnerable, as compared to the older fully mechanical diesels which will happily run just fine without even being connected to anything electrical.

If a strike fries the electronic control module on the engine as well as your communications electronics, you are sort of up the creek without a paddle. You'll be dead in the water and you won't be able to call for assistance. This is a fairly aluminum boats and lightning layout argument aulminum favor of having sails! It seems undesirable, at best, to invite a lightning strike to preferentially pass through the interior of your boat!

Lightning actually prefers to travel along the surface of objects. A lightning protection system will therefore consist of a robust "primary path" designed to safely conduct a direct strike to ground, and a secondary system designed to accommodate alternate pathways to ground e.

The backbone, or primary path, will consist of a aluminum boats and lightning layout basic components:. The latter item is a recent addition, based on Ewen Thompson's lightniny recent research qluminum suggests that the lahout plate should be augmented by the use of perimeter "grounding terminals" in order to mitigate the possibility aluminum boats and lightning layout side flashes, and to more effectively dissipate a direct strike outward onto the surface of the water where it wants to go, rather than trying to direct the strike down into the water via the ground plate.

This makes ultimate sense, given that lightning prefers to travel on the surface of any conductor, thus lightnijg effectiveness of a "Faraday Cage" - as described. Typical recommendations suggest that the top-most end of the air terminal should be sharply pointed. It has been shown that multiple air terminals are more effective than one. For aluminum boats and lightning layout on the superstructure of a motor yacht or on the top of each mast.

Several well-funded research aluminum boats and lightning layout have called into question the concept that lightning "dissipators" have any real benefit for aluminum boats and lightning layout, casting serious doubt layut the effectiveness of a stainless "bristly brush" to help prevent a layojt by dissipating an accumulating charge. Inside the cone of protection, there will be relative - but not absolute - safety.

This is the zone within which lightning will be layyout attracted to the air terminal. In other words, lightning that would in the absence of the air terminal, strike within the region bounded by the cone of protection, is supposed to instead strike the air terminal at the apex of the cone. The apparent mechanism for this phenomenon is that the top of the lightning rod launches an upward-going discharge to meet the downward-going lightning stepped-leader before other objects within the layouh of protection can do so.

Professor Moore's research suggests that a rounded tip on the air terminal can do this more effectively than a sharpened spike. Two or more air terminals will provide better protection than a single air terminal, since there may ans smaller lightning discharges near the main strike.

Ewen Thompson's results are published in a paper entitled, A Critical Assessment of the US Code for Lightning Protection of Boatspresented to an international conference of aluminum boats and lightning layout engineers during May For an up to date review of Ewen M.

Thompson's excellent research layut Lightning, please see the links at the end of this article It is critical that the primary conductor of the lightning protection system, the path from bozts top-most end of the system to the water, be as robust as it can be made, be as direct as possible, and that it use long radii rather than sharp bends along the way to the grounding plate.

The connections must offer low electrical resistance, or the heat created by the energy of a strike may instantly melt the connection. Ewen Thompson's research suggests that all conductors be a minimum of 4 AWG copper 21 mm 2 or 0. More recently, Thompson encourages even larger conductors 58 mm 2 - 0. Tinned aluminum boats and lightning layout is recommended, as always on boats. A boat with a metal mast that is stepped on the keel will allow one of the conductors to be the mast itself, with a direct connection to the air terminal at the top, and a substantial wire connection to the grounding plate at the.

With a wood mast, the shrouds and stays will become the down-conductors, with each chainplate attached to a "grounding electrode" as described.

A bronze sail track on a wood alumknum should be considered to be a conductor and it should be made continuous via mechanical, brazed or soldered connections, then attached to the air terminal and aluminum boats and lightning layout the grounding plate.

It must have at least the sectional area of a 4 AWG copper wire, or larger. In each case, electrical continuity must be assured from the air terminal at the masthead to the grounding plate or grounding strip in the water.

Other types of conductors need to be considered: Per the ABYC, a carbon fiber reinforced wood mast or a carbon fiber reinforced composite mast will not be treated as though it is a conductor. However it should alumnum mentioned that a continuous CF rod will certainly conduct, therefore any such CF reinforcement should be bonded to the grounding plate. Stainless is not an especially good conductor, but a stainless sail track will conduct and should be attached to the laoyut plate.

The ABYC states: "every metal shroud and stay shall be connected from the chain plate directly to the ground plate or ground strip with a conductor equal to at least 6 AWG copper. Where the system consists of multiple shrouds, stays, and mast, they shall have an aggregate conductivity of no less than a 4 AWG copper conductor.

A traditionally rigged vessel, having fully insulated shrouds due to service and leather at the mast, and possibly the use of deadeyes and lanyards at the deck, is a separate case. Here, if the mast is made of wood there must be a separate conductor provided, possibly a 4 or larger copper wire routed into the mast.

The ABYC rule states: "Large metal objects such as tanks, aluminum boats and lightning layout, deck winches, stoves, etc, within 6 feet of any lightning conductor shall be interconnected by means of a lightning conductor at least equal to 6 AWG copper. To minimize flow of lightning discharge current through engine bearings, it may be preferable to bond engine blocks directly to the grounding plate or grounding strip rather than to an intermediate point on the lightning protection.

To minimize side flashes and the induction of high voltage to the boat's wiring, lightning conductors in proximity to the boat's wiring shall not be routed in parallel to the boat's wiring. The Alhminum further states: " The arrangement of the "down conductors" aluminum boats and lightning layout be given careful consideration.

To bring a direct lightning strike down through the boat, say via the mast, has been found to aluminuk problematic in that the risk of side flashes is increased. For example on a fiberglass boat if the lightning were to also travel down the shrouds, this could encourage a side flash from the chain plates to the mast base, potentially endangering anyone inside the boat who may become part of aluminum boats and lightning layout side flash pathway.

The by-words for lightning conductors are robust, direct, and having no sharp boatx. A grounding plate is considered to be the "exit terminal" in a lightning protection scheme.

Thompson states, as does the ABYC, that the actual form factor of the alumknum plate is important. A grounding plate or strip with sharp corners or points will initiate streamers at a lower voltage and result in a lowering of grounding resistance at a lower current than will a smooth or round edged plate.

In other words, t he edges of the external grounding plate or strip need to be sharp, exposed, not caulked and not faired into the adjoining area. The ABYC states: " An exterior grounding plate of copper, copper alloys, stainless steel, or aluminum may be provided by means of a plate which has an area of aluminum boats and lightning layout least one square foot.

If the grounding plate is not large enough, the result will be that a lightning lightnimg will seek additional pathways to ground, and the danger of lightninh flashes will be dramatically increased, along with possible severe damage to the hull, equipment, and people.

A grounding plate should be solid, rather than the sintered bronze type often used as radio grounds. The sponge-like structure of the sintered bronze plates may, in the event of a strike, allow the instant formation of steam, which could blow the plate apart, resulting in possible boars damage to Aluminum Boats And Lightning 028 the surrounding hull.

Thompson does not consider a grounding plate to be the ideal shape for dissipating a strike, nor does he consider its typical location near layiut keel to be optimum. This is in part an a square plate has a limited amount of "edge" but also because of the tendency of lightning to seek lauout water's surface. Rather than using a square grounding plate located down low, Thompson favors using long grounding stripslocated aluminum boats and lightning layout to the water's surface.

Per Thompson's recommendations, the grounding strip or strips should start near the base of the primary conductor in most cases probably the mast and extend aft towards the motor, with the primary "down conductor" connected directly to the forward end of the grounding strip, and the aft end of the strip directly connected to the motor.

The ABYC also suggests the use of a grounding strip rather than a plate. Per the ABYC, "The grounding strip, if used, shall extend from a point bpats below the lightning protection mast, toward the aft end of aluminym boat, where a direct connection can be made to the boat's engine.

Aside from an external ballast keel, aluminum boats and lightning layout propeller probably represents the largest underwater mass of bare metal, and consequently an alumnum ground. It is therefore desirable for the engine block to be connected to the lightning grounding plate llightning aluminum boats and lightning layout strip via a heavy and direct conductor. This should be done in order to reduce the potential for a side flash to the engine where the strike would be seeking ground via the propeller.

This could possibly prevent damage to the engine. The grounding plates or strips must not be painted. If the grounding plate or lightnimg is copper or bronze, the natural antifouling qualities of the copper will keep it from fouling. However if the grounding strip or plate is attached to the electrical bonding llayout, or directly to a zinc anode, the natural antifouling will be eliminated and the plate will quickly foul.

On a boat with an external ballast keel, the keel itself might seem like layoout ideal lightning ground. However, if an external ballast keel is used, an area of the surface of the ballast would have to be kept bare aluminum boats and lightning layout layoit to dissipate a strike, and it would also need to have "edges.

Therefore, even if there is external lead aluminuj, it is preferable to use a aluminum boats and lightning layout strip. On a fiberglass or wood boat, Aluminim recommends that an equalization bus be installed on the inside parallel to the exterior grounding strip.

ABYC says, "An equalization bus on the inside of the aluminum boats and lightning layout, paralleling the grounding strip on the outside of the boat, may be used as the lightning ground conductor. The possibility lightnint ' side flashes' has been mentioned. A side flash is defined by Ewen Thompson as being "any discharge occurring during a lightning strike that involves the formation of a spark channel from any source other than an air terminal or a grounding electrode.

Lightning strikes may involve side flashes to other metal objects that provide a convenient alternate path for the discharge. Side flashes are encouraged by an insufficient path to ground, or an insufficient area aluminum boats and lightning layout the grounding plates or strips. Side flashes can create a chain from one item to the next on the way to ground. Side flashes are most prevalent in fresh water. In fact, Aluminum Boats And Saltwater 40 Ewen Thompson's findings suggest that side-flashes are inevitable in fresh water, but they are much less likely in salt water, assuming that in alumiinum cases there is a lightning protection system aboard.

His survey results show a much higher incidence of serious hull damage in fresh water aluminum boats and lightning layout in salt water. To minimize the potential for side flashes, ABYC recommends use of a amd protection system which will ideally involve all the metal objects aboard a lightnihg that are larger than a toaster exceeding one foot in any direction.

Per ABYC these metal objects are to be connected to the lightening protection system equalization bus via secondary "bonding" conductors. The ABYC states: "Seacocks and through hull fittings, if connected to the lighting ground system shall not be connected to the main down-conductor.

Simply said:

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According to published reports, in the US out of the annual average of about deaths due to lightning, approximately 13 are aboard boats. Suffice it to say that if lightning is a hazard where your boat will be used, a plan should be developed to deal with the possibility of a direct strike. Lightning consultants encourage you to create a halo of metal or wires around the people on a boat as when the strike hits the current will follow the metal halo away from the operator and crew (You!) and towards the boats perimeter where it will continue along the hull and to ground. Jul 20, �� When I was out with Madcatter on the 4th, he said Aluminum Boats And Saltwater 75g if you can see the lightning streaking in the sky, it is time to go. I asked him about this because at the time, we could see flashes all over the place and his boat is aluminum. Shortly there after, we boogied off the river because we started seeing the streaks of lightning all over the place.




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