08 Prius struck by Lightning!

[Sheepdog]

May be interesting but I bet it isnt to the poor owner. It is probably a terrible even that they wish could just go away!

[kohnen]

Originally Posted by Sheepdog

May be interesting but I bet it isnt to the poor owner. It is probably a terrible event that they wish could just go away!

Annoying, sure, but not to the point that they wish they were riding a bike instead.

[Sheepdog]

bike? whats that? You mean a Harley?

[Coplanddg]

I do believe that this is my car. On July 12th my wife, myself and our son were driving on I-95 in Palm Beach County when we were stuck by lightning. My wife was driving, and when the lightning struck the car I saw a ball of light in the middle of the windshield. Luckily everyone was moving pretty slow (40mph) around us due to the storm, and we were in the extreme right lane, so we just pulled of the road.

Except for the radio everything that is in a normal car worked (windshield wiper, ac blower, windows, and the smart key are things we checked), except that the car would not drive on either engine. The dash at the base of the windshield had all of the drive letters flashing, and the screenin the middle was missing the the top 1/3 and it read P/S. I looked in the manual and the only thing I could find for that symbol is Power Steering. I was thinking that the lightning exited from the steering rack. When we got out of the car I could see the antenna was gone, but other than that there was no damage that I could see.

Anyway, everyone is fine. My wife did say that she felt something in the steering wheel, but she could not explain it.

This is my first post, and only joined now because of this incident. I am surprised, and amazed that my car is being discussed. I hope this discussion continues.

[kohnen]

Oooh goody! I get to ask them:

Hey folks! Aren't you glad you weren't riding bikes instead?

(Seriously, glad you weren't hurt!)

[miscrms]

Originally Posted by Coplanddg

This is my first post, and only joined now because of this incident. I am surprised, and amazed that my car is being discussed. I hope this discussion continues.

Yeah, pretty much everything that happens to a Prius ends up on this list somehow

Welcome, and glad everyone is ok! Must have scared the heck out of you guys!

Rob

[Rokeby]

Coplanddg,

Welcome to PriusChat.

for miscrms, et al,

I can not add anything directly to the understanding of this event. However,
I do have a question that on the surface seems related, and so possibly
might generate answers that are educational, if not actually helpful.

Quite a ways back, lets say in the Eisenhower administration, -- I was just
a kid -- pickup trucks were work vehicles. No foolishness; get on with the
job; none of the fru-fru and bling-bling you see today. As I recall, a large
majority of them had what was called a "grounding strap" hanging from
somewhere up under the bed. It was black, I don't have the slightest idea
what it was made of. Anyway, the going theory amongst the puerile street
corner cognoscenti, was the strap would ground a lightning strike, thus
preventing damage to the vehicle and injury to the occupants.

On the face of it, a lot of drivers believed this as well, as you also saw them
on some cars, and trailer trucks (still see some here today) and virtually all
souped up cars -- hot rods.

Or could it have been to discharge static electricity? From what source?

Is there anything to this, or is it just an urban legend?

[abq sfr]

Originally Posted by Rokeby

Coplanddg,

Welcome to PriusChat.

for miscrms, et al,

I can not add anything directly to the understanding of this event. However,
I do have a question that on the surface seems related, and so possibly
might generate answers that are educational, if not actually helpful.

Quite a ways back, lets say in the Eisenhower administration, -- I was just
a kid -- pick up trucks were work vehicles. No foolishness; get on with the
job; none of the fru-fru and bling-bling you see today. As I recall, a large
majority of them had what was called a "grounding strap" hanging from
somewhere up under the bed. It was black, I don't have the slightest idea
what it was made of. Anyway, the going theory amongst the puerile street
corner cognoscenti, was the strap would ground a lightning strike, thus
preventing damage to the vehicle and injury to the occupants.

On the face of it, a lot of drivers believed this as well, as you also saw them
on some cars, and trailer trucks (still see some here today) and virtually all
souped up cars -- hot rods.

Or could it have been to discharge static electricity? From what source?

Is there anything to this, or is it just an urban legend?

I remember those too. I seriously doubt it has anything to do with lightning. However, it will dissipate that annoying static charge spark when you touch the car when the humidity is low. It might also make some radios work better. And, if you are hauling explosives, might be a good idea.

[donee]

Hi Rokeby and other interested parties,

When Roller wheel bearings are working properly, there is a thin film of lubircant between all the rolling surfaces. So, as you drive down the road, the 4 axles are electrically isolated from the wheel hubs on the other side of the rollers in the bearings. The lubricant is usually a good enough insulator that electrical charge picked up by air moving over the vehicle will increase the potential of the vehicle. Eventually, the lubricant in the bearings is discharged through. And this causes pits in the bearing surfaces, and damaged lubircant that can cause extra wear. The ground strap bleads off any charge before it can do damage to the bearings. In vehicles expected to have long mileage life, this is common.

I am no expert, or up-to-date on this issue and newer practices to avoid this. But that is why it used to be done, besides the obvious refueling problems a charged up vehicle poses, and AM radio static.

Depending on weather conditions, air blowing across an insulated metal structure will pick up charge. When I was younger, I climbed up towers for installations of antennas. Early in doing this, I was with a very inexperienced foreman. He had us use nylon rope to lift a 30 foot by 20 foot aluminum metal antenna structure. It was dry windy fall day, and guy ropes were used to hold the antenna away from the tower as it was hoisted. I was at the top of the tower awaiting the antenna. As the guy ropes were used to swing the antenna into the tower, so that we climbers could grab it, and prevent protruding pieces from snaking into the framework of the tower, a huge spark jumped across to tower. It was about 1 foot long, blue white, 45 caliber hand gun loud, and about 3/4's of an inch in diameter. And that charge had been picked up on the antenna in only the 20 minutes or so the antenna was lifted 150 feet. I was about 5 feet from the discharge, luckily. Anybody who would have tried to touch that charged-up antenna would have been killed surely.

[kohnen]

Originally Posted by Rokeby

Coplanddg,

Quite a ways back, lets say in the Eisenhower administration, -- I was just a kid -- pickup trucks were work vehicles. No foolishness; get on with the job; none of the fru-fru and bling-bling you see today. As I recall, a large majority of them had what was called a "grounding strap" hanging from somewhere up under the bed. It was black, I don't have the slightest idea what it was made of. Anyway, the going theory amongst the puerile street corner cognoscenti, was the strap would ground a lightning strike, thus preventing damage to the vehicle and injury to the occupants.

On the face of it, a lot of drivers believed this as well, as you also saw them on some cars, and trailer trucks (still see some here today) and virtually all souped up cars -- hot rods.

Or could it have been to discharge static electricity? From what source?

Is there anything to this, or is it just an urban legend?

Yes, it is to dissipate static charge. From the tires rubbing on the road. Back then, the tires were 100% electrically insulating. If you didn't have the grounding strap, some annoying things would happen:

1) When you touched the handle to get into the car, you could get one hell of a zap because the car built up an electrical charge from the wind blowing (yup - dry wind against a car body can build up charge).

2) When you got out of the car, you could get a zap on your feet because you were charged with respect to the ground because of tire friction.

3) There would be static as the car discharged relatively high voltages through damp tires or moisture in the air. This would interfere with the AM radio.

Nowadays, car tires are a wee bit electrically conductive and that takes care of the problem.

As for lightning? Trust me - if the lightning can shoot 1000s of feet to hit your car, it can easily jump the tires - a strap won't make a significant difference. The thing that keeps a person safe is the metal Faraday cage around him that shunts the lightning past him.