Does anyone have experience using surge protectors on their power panels or lightning dissipators (look like little metal brushes you put on top of a mast or the highest point in the boat) ? Brian Deans - Ocean Alexander 50

> Does anyone have experience using surge protectors on their power panels or > lightning dissipators (look like little metal brushes you put on top of a mast > or the highest point in the boat) ? > Brian Deans - Ocean Alexander 50 I was once anchored near a sailboat that got struck by lightning. The skipper had attached battery cable thick wires to the bottom of his stays and shrouds and let the exposed ends (about two feet peeled off insulation) hang in water. The lightning hit the top of the mast, ran down the standing rigging, and dissipated into the sea with no damage to the boat. Not even discoloration to any of the rigging, nor damage to the electronics (which were all turned off at the time). About a year and a half later I was moored next to another sailboat that got hit by lightning at the top of its mast. The current ran down the standing rigging and when it got to the chainplates it blew them right out of the hull trying to get to ground. Mast step also partially melted. Totally screwed the boat's electrical system, along with electronics, in addition to major damage to the rigging. In the first case I was about 200 yards from the boat that was hit and was also in a sailboat (much smaller) with grounded rigging. In the second case I was about 100 feet or less from the boat that was hit. I was in a bigger sailboat with a taller mast and had all the standing rigging grounded. Not a problem for me in either case, but definitely experiences I will vividly remember for the rest of my life (I was aboard my boat in both cases). Grounding your rigging will not prevent lightning strikes, but from what I've seen it will definitely minimize any damage to your boat if it is hit. BTW, some call it forming a Faraday Cage. Larry Haftl larry@larryhaftl.com http://LarryHaftl.com http://FukuokaFarmingOL.net

Baltimore Gas and Electric told me that no surge protector can protect equipment against a lightning strike. They do place a surge protector on the meter for $6.00 a month, but it is actually an insurance policy and merely tells them if you were hit by a strike or other damaging power transient. Ron Rogers ----- Original Message ----- | Does anyone have experience using surge protectors on their power panels | | > Brian Deans - Ocean Alexander 50