Lightning Protection Products

Since the dawn of civilization, lightning has inflicted a great deal of damage on structures built by mankind. Over 100 years ago, an effective method of protection became available when Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod.

A lightning rod is a metal rod that sticks up from a roof that will carry the current from a lightning strike safely to ground. It is typically copper or aluminium today, although Benjamin Franklin experimented with other metals in his original lightning protection systems. Some are hollow, while others are solid.

Also known as air terminals, these are connected to a network of horizontal and vertical conductors that are terminated to earthing terminals. The network of rods, conductors and earth terminals covers the protected structure in a Faraday Cage.

Though lightning rod are the oldest form of lightning protection and still used today, in the past few decades advancement in technology has provided more options. One of them is our manufactured and patented Charge Transfer System (CTS), which takes a completely opposite approach to a conventional lightning rod protection – while lightning rod attract lightning, CTS prevents it from terminating in the area of protection. This is the only system in which lightning strikes are actively discouraged, rather than encouraged. CTS technology is based on existing physics and mathematical principles.

In order to prevent lightning from striking within a specified zone, a CTS collects the induced charge from thunderstorm clouds within this area and transfers it through an ionizer into the surrounding air, thus reducing the electric field strength in the protected zone. The resulting reduced electrical potential difference between the site and the cloud suppresses the formation of an upward streamer. With no leader-streamer connection, the strike is prevented.

This fundamental difference is the key for effective lightning rod protection in industries such as power plants. These facilities often have many flammables and other sensitive materials where using an attractor carries the risk of ignition or damage to electronic systems.

In the modern age, all industrial applications must employ the most technologically advanced lightning rod protection systems and solutions available in order to maximize the life spans and efficiency of their equipment and systems.

By utilizing prevention rather than attraction, CTS is the best option for facilities where a single spark could be catastrophic. LEC’s Dissipation Array System (DAS) is the best commercially available solution for creating this zone of protection that guard against a lightning strike.

Contact us to know more.

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Electricity has provided countless benefits to people, but it still remains one of the most deadly elements readily available in our daily lives, thus it’s important to ground electrical currents to:

- Protect against electrical overboard

- Help electrical currents to safely and efficiently travel throughout your electrical system.

- Stabilize voltage levels

- Provide an earth conductor, thus giving excess electricity a place to go

- Minimize the overload of power that can bring destruction beyond repair.

How does it work?

A ground is usually idealised as an infinite source, which can absorb an unlimited amount of current without changing its potential.

The wiring system is permanently grounded to a metal ‘grounding’ rod driven into the ground. A copper conductor connects this grounding rod to a set of terminals for ground connections in a service panel.

You can usually tell whether your electrical system is grounded by checking your power outlets. If they accept plugs with three pongs, your system should have three wires, one of which is a grounding wire.

What is a grounding rod?

It’s a rod that is driven into the ground to provide electrical connection, so it can carry any electrical surge safely away from the circuit.

A typical grounding system consists of multiple grounding rod connected with mesh or grid networks, ground plates and ground loops. This network dramatically increases the amount of contact with the surrounding earth and lowers ground resistance.

Leveraging on our vast industry experience and knowledge, we have emerged as a notable manufacturer and supplier of Chemical copper bonded grounding rods (Chem-Rod).

Our Chem-Rod (2.625” in diameter) provides a permanent soil treatment solution for a low impedance ground. It comprises of a hollow copper rod into which an electrolytic salt mixture (GAF) is filled. Our grounding rod should be refilled periodically to provide long term soil treatment.

Features:

- Last longer, drive easier and will not crack

- Copper purity is 99.95%

- It is fully covered with copper cladding without any cracks, hole or cavity

- Good tensile strength

- Resists corrosion better than galvanized grounding rods

- Provides the lowest resistance to ground

- It’s suitable treated to prevent oxidation of copper bonding

- Requires less real estate

- Fewer electrodes can meet specified resistance

- Each grounding rod creates an optimal electrical connection to earth with large conductive surface

From the award winning ‘Retractable Grounding Assembly 750’ to the patented Chem-Rod, Lightning Eliminators offer the best of products with a full line of standard ground testing services and more.

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Grounding plays a very important role in the protection of buildings and equipment against direct lightning strikes as well as surges from indirect strikes. In the case of direct strikes, currents of large magnitudes are conducted by the lightning protection system thus a low impedance path from the lightning protection conductor to the ground is essential to keep the inevitable voltage-rise within safe limits.

Grounding rod or earthing rod is a rod that is driven into the ground to provide electrical connection to the ground. They efficiently and safely carry current away from a circuit in the event of an electrical surge. A properly grounded rod performs well in high-lightning regions, while poorly grounded rods result in unnecessary losses and down time.

As original patent holder for ChemRod grounding rod, LEC is a trailblazer in grounding solutions. Our product has become a protection standard. Explore our full range of grounding solutions.

1. Smart grounding testing service

It’s designed to provide an advanced ground audit system including random continuity tests, and resistance to earth for each local earth electrode. They produce highly accurate results.

2. Grounding rod

Known for their high tensile strength, our rod is well designed by using excellent quality materials. They are manufactured under the guidance of our experienced engineers using latest tools & machines. While the raw materials & components used in manufacturing of these ground rods are obtained from trusted vendors of the industry. Our grounding rod is UL listed, self-moisturising and maintenance-free, providing low resistance in diverse climates around the world, without harmful effects on the environment.

3. LECWELD

It’s a permanent-connection process that is engineered to be an easy and efficient field welding system. No outside power, bulky gas tanks or other equipment associated with welding are required for lightning safety installations.

4. Ground augmentation fill

Every grounding rod requires GAF to create a low resistance earth interface making it easier and less expensive to prevent lightning damage.

Along with the above products, we provide the services below as well:

- Smart Ground Testing

- Lightning Protection Planning

- Installation Services

- And many more

For any queries feel free to contact us and read more about us.

We all know that lightning arrestors and surge protection devices are designed to protect a facility and the assets within from lightning strike by absorbing or dissipating electrical currents and surges. However these devices are not a suitable substitute for good grounding.

Grounding is the most fundamental technique for protection against lightning damage. You can’t stop a lightning surge, but you can give it a direct path to safely discharge into the earth.

Grounding rod

The weakest aspect of many installations is the connection to the earth itself. After all, you can’t just bolt a wire to the planet! Instead, you must bury or hammer a rod of conductive, noncorrosive metal (generally copper) into the ground, and make sure most of its surface area contacts conductive (that means moist) soil. This way, when static electricity or a surge comes down the line, the electrons can drain into the ground with minimal resistance.

LEC’s Chem-Rod provides a low impedance ground in location of high soil resistivity. Together with GAF (Ground Augmentation Fill) the system dissipates lightning energy and other dangerous electrical fault currents, even in sandy and rocky soil conditions.

It’s a permanent soil treatment solution for a low impedance ground, comprising of a 2” or larger hollow copper rod. This electrode is filled with an electrolytic salt mixture (GAF). The rod derives moisture from the soil and atmosphere and utilizes the moisture to slowly dissolve the electrolyte in the rod creating a conductive rooting effect, providing an ever increasing lower resistant ground in any type of soil. The rod should be refilled periodically to provide long-term soil treatment.

The grounding rods filled with electrolytic salt come with an exothermically welded tail. The LECWELD requires no outside power source or equipment for lightning safety installation. The process forms a solid copper molecular bond that does not loosen or corrode throughout the life of the host structure. (Compare to compression connectors, split bolts, crimp connectors, brazing, etc.)

Installation and maintenance of an effective grounding rod is essential due to the following:

- Efficiently dissipate heavy fault currents and electrical surges, both in magnitude and duration

- Provide a stable reference for electrical and RF circuits at the installation to minimize noise

- Protection of personnel who work within the area from dangerous electric shock

The Chem-Rod from LEC has been proven to be the best and most economical grounding solution. Contact LEC and transform your grounding system into a high-performance ground.

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All You Need To Know About Lightning And Lightning Rod

-     Today every building is equipped with many sensitive electronic system thus they need to be protected from any unforeseen damage such as a lightning strike. This is the reason more people are installing lightning rod than ever before. And as every structure is vulnerable to lightning damage, a lightning rod is installed on the roof of every building - schools, hospitals, health care facilities, airports, shopping centers, office buildings, manufacturing units, etc.

-      A lightning rod is erected on the roof of a building and it is connected to a conducting channel to take the huge discharge of electricity into the ground.

-      It is a very common misconception that a lightning rod attracts lightning. Let us understand it this way. The only aim of a lightning strike is to neutralize itself with the ground. And a lightning rod provides the most easy and adequate pathway thereby preventing the lightning strike from damaging any other asset within the area. So it does not attract lightning , but just provides the most convenient pathway.

-      Another very common misconception is that an electrician can take care of installing a lightning protection system. Only a professional company adhering to international standards and government norms should be hired for such installations. For Example, LEC has over 44 years of experience with many awards and patents under their belt.

-      When the lightning rod was first invented, it was believed that the rod could prevent a lightning strike. But it was not true then. Years later, LEC made this come true with its Charge transfer technology. This system prevents the clouds from forming an electronic field – a requirement for lightning to strike.

Lightning rod has been protecting places for 100 of years. This is a tried and tested method that has been used by most of the world’s tall buildings. Only the technology on which it is built has advanced as per the modern requirements.

Lightning eliminators and consultants have lightning protection systems based on state of the art engineering principles and physics. With patented products and over 44 years of experience, they have been protecting majority of global 1000 companies from disaster and loss. They also extend a full no strike warranty to every client.

Contact them and know more about their ground breaking technology. 

Lightning rod carries the harmful electrically charged cloud away from any facility or structure, safely to the ground. It has the ability to handle enormous electrical current associated with a lightning strike.

This tried and tested method has been protecting buildings and its occupants since centuries. However, it was never built to protect modern structure but rather barns and wooden structures. Presently, this age old method lets thousands of amps to flow next to sensitive equipments.

The Strike

As a storm intensifies, it gets electronically charged; a lightning strike occurs when this cloud neutralizes itself with the ground. Any structure that sits between the cloud and ground gets charged and is damaged in the process. Thus a lightning rod is installed on the roof of buildings for protection.

A lightning strike carries more than 6 billion amps of current; so even if the lightning rod sends 99.9% of the current directly to the ground there is still 0.1% amps that flows through the building; which is a lot. This minimum amount of amps has the capacity to cause personal injury and destroy assets through fire, explosion, and electrical damage.

Given this destructive nature of lightning strike, LEC has patented a revolutionary technology that can prevent the electrical charge from forming in the first place.

Lightning rods are now built with DAS (Dissipated Array System) technology. This technology has:

• 99.7% reliability

• Been cutting storm-induced voltage by 7000%

• Reduced lighting risk significantly

• The ability to prevent accidents from stray currents as well

It works on the principles of charge transfer and has proved to neutralize the electronically charged cloud thus preventing the strike from occurring.

These lightning rods or Chem rods are efficient in terms that one rod can easily replace 10 conventional rods. They are least resistant to changing temperatures and require very low maintenance along with being economical and reliable.

It is all because of this ability to prevent rather than redirect lightning, DAS technology built lightning rod is now the best solution to lightning strike problems, pioneered by Lightning Eliminators and Consultants, Inc. (LEC) based in Colorado.