Quote:
Originally Posted by Meridian42e
That advise is nonsense. Tires themselves are not "insulating" you from ground, as tires have a high carbon content which is an excellent conductor for high voltage (used in spark plug wires). Stowing the shore power cord does remove the exposure to park surge, but also removes your earth ground - toss up. Jacks down or up, doesn't matter. Lowering antennas for the lowest profile is about all you can do.
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Where does my post say anything about 'insulating' you from ground?
The reason I put wood under the jacks and stow the shore lines in the event of a nearby lightening storm is to reduce the number of paths lightening might take as it finds it's path to ground in/around my RV (which is somewhat like a large metal cage). I'd much rather have it travel through/over the tires only. The only time I go to this extreme is if it's a doozy of a storm and it's path will take it right over the RV park I'm in. And it depends on how long it's likely to last. A 15 minute storm won't make me go to that extreme.
I'm trying to keep it from traveling through the metal front window frame, arc into the several electrical devices in the entertainment cabinets, through their grounds, through the A/C wiring, through the shore power cord to earth ground. That also goes for other electrical devices on board.
Having seen the electrical devices that are UNPLUGGED from AC have a far better chance of being undamaged then those items that are plugged in during a lightening strike, I prefer to do it this way. Home or RV. And to me an RV is just a giant electrical device plugged into power.
"Rubber tires aren't why you're safe in a car during a lightning storm. In strong electric fields, rubber tires actually become more conductive than insulating. You're safe in a car because the
lightning will travel around the surface of the vehicle and then go to ground."
"According to the Department of Homeland Security, you should unplug all of your appliances. This is because lightning striking near a local electric pole can cause a surge of electricity..."
Unplugging the entire RV seems to me to be nearly the same thing as unplugging all the appliances.