Recent content by westom

I am not sure what that conduit is doing at the water pipe. Conduits would be part of the safety ground system. All safety ground connections must meet at a single point - that bus bar in the main breaker box. Any connection to any earth ground must be to a separate wire from the electrode to...

Or what most often happens. Lightning struck AC electrical wires (maybe even blocks away). Incoming on AC mains. Inside and hunting for earth ground. Found a best and destructive path to earth via gas lines. Damage because a human mistake all but invited that destructive current inside. So...

Lightning strikes are rare. Especially when best connections to earth are in utility wires that act like lightning rods and make a best connection to earth. Furthermore, many have no idea that lightning has struck. For example US Forestry Service research indicates (if I remember the number)...

Homes routinely have 100 electronic and motorized devices. Meanwhile that Eaton unit routinely sells for about $100. Less than that 10 years ago when it sold for $50 and $60. Why do electricians charge more? You pay for his time buying it and driving around with a massive load of parts in...

That is an emotion. Science make decisions from facts and numbers. IEEE provides numbers that only the most easily scammed consumers ignore. IEEE defines the 'whole house' solution as only 99.5% to 99.9% effective. So it is not perfect. Then the IEEE puts forth more facts with numbers that...

Over 100 years of well proven science says lightning damage is so routinely averted that damage is considered a mistake made by a human. Best protection for appliances costs about $1 per appliance. Why would anyone fear to use solutions proven over 100 years ago? Only fear explains that...

So replaced was the furnace, stove, all clock radios, all LED & CFL bulbs, all GFCIs, all circuit breakers, the central air, all smoke detectors, refrigerator, doorbell, all dimmer switches, all digital clocks, microwave oven, dishwasher, dryer, and what else? Some or all of those were...

If you do not have a properly earthed 'whole house' solution, then surge damage may have been made easier. IEEE puts numbers to all this. (But again). A properly earthed 'whole house' solution is doing 99.5% to 99.9% of the protection. Then we use plug-in protectors to maybe add another 0.2%...

Does not matter if incoming wires are overhead or underground. A professional [Tech Note](https://www.erico.com/catalog/literature/TNCR002.pdf) demonstrated this concept. Lightning is incoming even on that underground wire. Neighborhood history, over decades, is another relevant...

What was the electrical current path from that cloud to distant earthborne charges? Apparently that electric current path used the chimney to make a connection to earth and electrical charges maybe four miles away. So that current did not go through anything inside the house. Also why...

Safety ground does not connect to earth ground - for appliance protection. Again, perspective. Every pipe is leaking water in your house. Why do we say they are not leaking? Because the leaking number is so tiny. Same applies to safety ground. It is more than 10 feet from earth ground...

Unfortunately I could not read that post to state which items should not be removed. I hoped I could edit it when it finally appeared. I couldn't. So the best I could do (later) was apologize. Appreciate that no emotions exist. It happened because that is how the system works. Created by my...

And yet is was routine even over 100 years ago so that lightning did not connect into the heads (via headsets) of operators. Your telco's CO suffers about 100 surges with each storm. Using protectors on each incoming wire that cost maybe $1 (much less back then). Similar devices were installed...

I appreciate that. But once I realized my mistake, I could not correct it. Just so others are not confused, "never mind".

Orange County suffered repeated damage until (obviously) they hired professionals. Those professionals then said: Obviously fixed was the reason for damage at so many county locations. Fixed was what does all protection - earth ground. Static electricity is not a destructive current...