Since secondary effects cause most lighting related damage to electronic equipment, what are they?
Direct Energization poses an obvious threat for potential damage. A lightning strike (even some distance from the facility) onto electrical cabling or other conductive pathways such as water piping routed to a facility can introduce dangerous energy surges in excess of 100,000 volts into equipment connected at either end of the pathway.
Near Field Coupling results from the electric field developed during both cloud to cloud and cloud to ground lightning strikes. This field can create high voltages and currents along any electrically conductive path within the field. For example, field strengths of 8,000 volts per meter have been observed within 1 mile of a lightning strike. Exposure of 10 meters of cable to this field could produce an induced potential of 80,000 volts within the system.
Low Side Surge occurs when a ground potential gradient forms in areas adjacent to the earth contact point of a lightning strike and finds a lower potential path through a facility ground. This potential can find its way into electronic components through ground connections in the form of reverse current. Modern electronic components have virtually no tolerance for these reverse currents.
A typical facility ground provides inadequate protection against lightning and often contributes to damage through Ground Potential Rise. Even normal surges caused by load switching and utility transients can put system equipment at risk if ground impedance is high.
Lightning rods and surge suppressors can provide a path to electronic equipment rather than protect it. A full lightning protection system must address direct strikes, Direct Energization of all incoming lines, Near Field Coupling, and Low Side Surge.
RabunTM products are specifically designed to address these effects in a way no conventional surge suppression can.
Conventional surge suppression technology reacts once surges are already present in your incoming lines by diverting them to ground, often the source of the surges. The RabunTM system stops lighting induced surges before dangerous energy levels develop. The system creates an equipotential barrier by electrically isolating and grounding all incoming power and signal pathways. No current can flow – regardless of its source.
RabunTM’s patented active solid-state lightning detection and protection system automatically disconnects and isolates the protected equipment from electrical inputs and outputs for selectable periods of time upon detection of lightning. Once the lightning danger has passed, the system automatically and instantly restores all connections without losing operability. Your system could be safely protected from a lightning strike and you wouldn’t even notice.
