Pond Fountain Lights (zapped twice)

[jgp12000]

In May I installed a pond fountain with 115VAC LED color changing lights, all was working well until last month they got hit by lightning.The transformer/timer and lights both have electronics in them. Scott Aerator graciously covered it under warranty. I installed the new set all was well, and believe it or not the next night the new set got struck again.I contacted Scott Aerator again (great company), and they sent me another set. I purchased an inline surge protector while waiting on the new set. Before I install the 3rd light kit ,I was wondering if a grounding rod near the power outlet pole would help? In the future I will unplug everything next time I get news of any lightning .The fountain is 230VAC, and hasn't been affected at the same power pole.Has anyone else had  anything get struck so often?
 

[foakes]

Good Morning, James —-

Hopefully, Mike (PacRat) on our site will check in on this.

Mike is  a lightning Protection professional.  He and his company travel throughout the US to provide lightning protection and solutions for large firms to protect their ground operations.  Some of the largest and most well-known corporations use their services.

I would imagine that you just need 2 or 3 taller lightning towers that are well grounded around the pond.  But mine is an amateur's opinion —- Mike will have advice and solutions that will work.

You just can't rely on removing the lightning attractors when weather threatens — or unplugging them.  They will still attract lightning on your pond — and may not fry the electronics — but will damage the hardware.

It should be safe and solidly grounded all of the time with no work on your part. 

When addressing electrical and lightning issues that could cause at the very least some serious damage, and at the worst injury or death — I personally would only trust a pro like Mike — not a bunch of internet "expert" opinions.

I am sure you can get a lot of information on the internet —- but Mike is a good friend like you are —- and I am confident he can either advise, help, or point you in the right direction.

He is a solid guy.

Best, Fred

[Alan Matsuno]

Have you thought about a Faraday Cage?

[jgp12000]

Yep Fred, Mike is a straight shooter! Alan,I will look into that.I remember Faraday cages from ESD training at work.

[Wompus Cat]

Is the lightning hitting the Fountain or the Control Box sticking up on the bank ?

Fountains are Great Lightning Rods . Almost a s good as Fishing Rods out on the Lake in a Boat when there is a Thunder Storm .

[jgp12000]

Not sure Henry but a buddie of mine also thinks it may be striking the spout then the lights then onto the transformer.
Both times it took out everything was fried according to Scott Aerator,I am thankful the pump is fine that would be a chore to ship back.

[Shellbelly]

We had to install suppression modules on our system cabling when running cable between buildings.  Most strongly recommend direct earth grounding within a short distance of the suppression device...like 3 feet.

There's no way to eliminate all risk when you're talking millions of amps/second, but suppression devices will at least open the circuit within a few milliseconds of overcurrent and divert it to ground.

Put a game camera out there to get a picture of it when it happens again. 

[PacRat]

I can't respond in detail right now. Send me some details like voltages and transformer type. Lightning does not need to strike your equipment directly to destroy it. Proper surge prevention and grounding should solve your problem. Stand by for more details.

-Mike

[Wompus Cat]

Once you determine which direction  the Zap is going you could put a 1 Ton Diode inline I guess .

So much for the Lightning Never Strikes Twice in the Same Place saying huh ?

[Midway Tommy]

So much for the Lightning Never Strikes Twice in the Same Place saying huh ?

How close is "the same place"? I had lightning strike a tree 20' in front of the house and a couple of years later strike a tree 10' behind the house (same house). I'm thinkin' within 50'-60' is basically the same place.    Had lightning strike my house, too, a different house, though. I saw it happen from 4 blocks away. That was crazy weird! By the time I got to the house the fire department was already there tearing off wood shakes. Never did find out who called them.   

[jgp12000]

Mike,
The lights are controlled by a 115VAC step down transformer/timer, the light fixtures(2-EA)require 12VAC(9W) each.

[PacRat]

Lightning loves to strike twice. A lightning event is a competition with lots of variables but mainly topography and conductivity are main influencers.

When I first started in the industry, our main clientele were telecoms and tower sites. These towers get hammered repeatedly. I once worked with a tower crew in Florida who stacked a 1400' television tower. Some of the crew lived in 5th wheel trailers at the tower base. One day they all went to town and when they returned to the tower they counted 11 direct lightning strikes before making the decision to go back to town and get hotel rooms for the night. Many of my customers will tell me that they've had outages in almost every storm and that we are their last hope. I once returned to that 1400' tower (WBBH Fort Myers). This was many years after the installation of our system so I was just paying a social call. The engineer told me they only had one shutdown and that they knew it came in on an unprotected phone line.

-Mike

[PacRat]

James,
I just went back and took a closer look at your photo. I don't believe you are taking direct strikes. More likely, you are suffering from secondary effects from close proximity strikes.

Most of us relate to lightning by what we see in the sky but a very similar phenomena is occurring in the earth (but mostly near the surface). This is where grounding and surge suppression are critical. I want to go back and see your original posts from when you first installed this.

Where are your damaged components located (land or pond)?
Is the pump out there in the pond? How is it anchored in place?

-Mike

[PacRat]

https://alantani.com/index.php?action=dlattach;attach=112127;image

I was looking at your posts from May. Is this your current configuration? I'm assuming that beige box on the right front of the post is where the damage is occurring.

[jgp12000]

Yes Mike, that beige box is the transformer/timer, then it goes through a 200ft cable(115VAC) to the fountain float where the RGB LED lights are mounted.The 2 light fixtures also have electronics in them,Scott Aerator stated in both instances everything was fried when tested.The 230VAC fountain pump has remained unscathed. The pump is anchored with 2 concrete blocks.