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Hello, all,
I joined this group not because I am an engineer of any sort. I joined it because I have some questions to ask people who know a heck of a lot more than I do about this subject. This is going to be a little weird, I know, but please bear with me.
I am a historical recreationist, and within this strange little subculture, I am a fortuneteller. I frequently live in a gypsy wagon parked outside. I am often camped in an area where we see a lot of pretty intense storms. What I live in fear of is my wagon getting hit by lightning and frying me in my bed.
Let me tell you a little about my wagon. The base of it is made of steel, and it has rubber tires and a steel tongue. I use truck jacks to stabilize it when I’m living in it. The rest of the wagon is made of wood, except for the hinges and wing nuts that hold it together. It has wooden hoops covered with canvas that makes up the body. These hoops have metal hinges in them so they can fold up when the wagon is being towed. Basically, it looks like a conestoga wagon that has dreams of being a showgirl. Picture a very flamboyant covered wagon and you have my “house.”
Am I in danger of becoming a gypsy flambé in this thing? If so, what can I do, if anything, to avoid being the local lightning rod? This thing usually gets set up in a low lying forest near a creek, so it’s not the tallest thing. But it IS metal. If I did have it set up in an open field, I doubt I’d want to stay in it during bad weather, because in my mind, that is just SO asking for it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I joined this group not because I am an engineer of any sort. I joined it because I have some questions to ask people who know a heck of a lot more than I do about this subject. This is going to be a little weird, I know, but please bear with me.
I am a historical recreationist, and within this strange little subculture, I am a fortuneteller. I frequently live in a gypsy wagon parked outside. I am often camped in an area where we see a lot of pretty intense storms. What I live in fear of is my wagon getting hit by lightning and frying me in my bed.
Let me tell you a little about my wagon. The base of it is made of steel, and it has rubber tires and a steel tongue. I use truck jacks to stabilize it when I’m living in it. The rest of the wagon is made of wood, except for the hinges and wing nuts that hold it together. It has wooden hoops covered with canvas that makes up the body. These hoops have metal hinges in them so they can fold up when the wagon is being towed. Basically, it looks like a conestoga wagon that has dreams of being a showgirl. Picture a very flamboyant covered wagon and you have my “house.”
Am I in danger of becoming a gypsy flambé in this thing? If so, what can I do, if anything, to avoid being the local lightning rod? This thing usually gets set up in a low lying forest near a creek, so it’s not the tallest thing. But it IS metal. If I did have it set up in an open field, I doubt I’d want to stay in it during bad weather, because in my mind, that is just SO asking for it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
posted by:
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South Carolina
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Re: Advice on NOT frying a gypsy wagon?
Thu, March 2, 2006 - 7:00 AMI just realized there's some pics of this thing in my photo album, if that helps.
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Re: Advice on NOT frying a gypsy wagon?
Fri, March 3, 2006 - 10:34 AMNo more likely than anything else that sits above the ground.
Don't be the tallest thing in an area and your chances of being the first thing struck are lessened.
Get in a steel car with a steel roof and you will be as safe as you can be when out of doors.
No the tires won't make any difference. Lightening will have traveled the speed of light for half a mile or more to reach it's strike point a few inches of rubber aren't going to turn it back
If you are worried about being struck::
Build a Faraday cage: Hide some chain link fencing under your tarp use enough to cover the whole thing. Arc Weld some steel cable to the chain link fence in a couple places and weld the end of the cable to some gounding rods preferably copper rods or copper plated - at least 4 feet long .
When you pitch tent drive the copper rods into the earth all the way. Pour some salt water around them.
you use the salt water to lower the impedance and resistance to the earth. Lightning has an impulse that is both high and low in frequency. The high freq' is found in the fast rising peak that tops out in about 10 microseconds after the strike initiates.
The lower freq' is the long, high energy current in the impulse that runs on for a bit after the peak.
I would recommend against trying to use a lighting rod (often called an air terminal). It's a ery old very efective technology that simply bleeds off the static charge - - OR - - does it send an electric streamer into the sky and attract the lightening - - OR - - do they simply privide a low resistance path to gound ???? ?? Hmmmm Ben Franklin thought it bled static off but they are connected to down-conductors ( the cable) becasuse that's what they do. Do they attract lightening? There is a debate on that.
No one in their right mind will listen to any one who says they can eliminate a risk of a strike. Lessen yes, eliminate Ha Ha Ha.
Same game with the welded ground rod and cable but instead of the fenc use one lousy metal rod long and pointy sticking straight into the air. The british would make it a sphere on the tip not a point.
I Such a device might very well experience a strike that it can't handle and any excess would play havoc with the trailer and occupants.
Google "Faraday Cage" and "Lightening Rod"
Go forth and violate the ancient experience of exposing oneself to the elements.
