What do you do in a severe lightning storm?

[DGBPokes]

Being from Oklahoma, you watch,the TV radar as long as possible. By the time the power goes out, the hail and wind are to strong to go outside and store the cable.

[Smitty77]

Also take the time after disconnecting, to put the shore power cable away too. A gent at the Elk's at Wall Lake, Minnesota had disconnected his power, but left it on the ground. A nearby strike sent a charge powerful enough into his not EMS protected trailer, to cause a few thousand dollars of damage...

[CharlesinGA]

These folks got hit, took out stuff in the RV and the electronics in his new truck parked next to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-guCpM59yE

Sadly Sean, the fellow in the vid was killed in a scooter accident a couple of weeks after this vid was posted.

Charles

[ThePowells]

Ask Kelly to get her insurance policy out and take the flag down.

[CountryFit]

if i were in that situation, i would
- make the coach ready-to-move (i.e. everything is in)
- turn the tail toward the wind coming

[cimplexsound]

Originally Posted by paddykern

Why turn off your TV?

Cause I've had the tv antenna hit by lightening before when the TV was on. Wasn't a very pleasant experience. 😱 fortunately for me there was no damage. But there's always a first time for everything.

[astrnmrtom]

Originally Posted by Easyrider

Lightning can travel across miles of open air space, I don't think a piece of plastic or wood will insulate you from a strike.

BINGO!

It's a myth that it's your tires insulating you from the ground that protects you in a lightning strike. That kind of energy doesn't even know your tires are there. As quoted above, that charge just jumped hundreds or thousands of feet to the ground and air is a pretty good insulator. What protects you is your vehicle acts as a Faraday cage, giving the lightning a much easier path to the ground than going through you.

For now, I disconnect from the pedestal and unplug my computers. Be aware that most common surge protectors won't protect your stuff from a direct hit.

[pasdad1]

Originally Posted by astrnmrtom

BINGO!



It's a myth that it's your tires insulating you from the ground that protects you in a lightning strike. That kind of energy doesn't even know your tires are there. As quoted above, that charge just jumped hundreds or thousands of feet to the ground and air is a pretty good insulator. What protects you is your vehicle acts as a Faraday cage, giving the lightning a much easier path to the ground than going through you.



For now, I disconnect from the pedestal and unplug my computers. Be aware that most common surge protectors won't protect your stuff from a direct hit.

There are direct strikes which are kinda rare.....and then there are lots of instances where the strike happened nearby, and the ground was electrified. Many times strikes in a pasture kill many cows due to the charge traveling along the ground. It is this secondary charge which you can protect yourself from -- with insulators on your jacks, and other things -- such as disconnecting the power cord from the pedestal, and the water hose.

[astrnmrtom]

Interesting point. There certainly could be quite a voltage differential between a pair of jacks in the case of the current traveling through the ground. Lifting the jack would remove the least resistance path through the coach's chassis. Certainly worth going feet-up until the lightning passes.

This last summer we experienced a lightning storm while camping and I debated which was worse - going outside in the rain and unplugging the power from the post and risking getting killed doing so, or staying in the coach and hoping the park's electrical system doesn't get energized by a strike and fry stuff in the coach. Of course the idea of my wallet getting fried by having to replace "stuff" won out over personal safety and I quickly ran out and unplugged. It was a very "man" thing to do.

Considering the possibility strike creating current through the ground, it might be wise to not only unplug, but to stow the cord instead of leaving lay, stretched out on the ground. Uhhh, that now make me wonder about the danger of taking the time to wind up the cord. Hummm....

In reality, what is most likely to happen is a power surge through the post caused by a strike somewhere on the grid line in the area - the kind that makes the lights flicker. Direct and indirect hits which energize the coach or the ground are pretty rare, so I'm thinking in the future I'll continue to unplug, and just for simple good measure raise my jacks. I usually have them on 1 inch plywood pads with 3/4 rubber stall matting on the bottom but why take a chance. Just gotta mind the refrigerator if I'm too far off level.

Never is a perfect answer is there? Good discussion though. Having a plan is always good.

[astrnmrtom]

On an additional note - I've read that people swear by having one of these installed and one is on my to-do list: Progressive Industries, Inc. | Rv Surge Protection

[Locksmith]

Our Class C requires 30 Amp service and we have the appropriate Surge Protector. For 15 years we have not had a problem, but on 2 occasions the RV's next to us got fried.