Lightning Protection Products

Lightning strikes are expected to increase by 12% by the turn of the century!

This finding simply suggest that an increased activity can be expected in many regions – including areas that have historically seen less activity due to overly humid and wet conditions. And this trend is expected worldwide.Understanding the threat and preparing people, property and places for the increased risk is critical.

Below are some very basic lightning safety tips that every business should know.

• Seek safe shelter – a house and other substantial building offers the best protection from lightning

• Avoid unsafe shelter – unless specifically designed to be lightning safe, small structures like small open shelters do little to protect occupants from lightning.

• If you are outdoors – postpone activities promptly, stay away from trees, avoid leaning against vehicles, get out of water and avoid metal

• If you are indoors – avoid contact with corded phones, electrical equipment and plumbing. Also, bring your pet indoors before the storm.

Additional lightning safety tips:

• Insurance benefits for lightning safety standard-complaint lightning protection systems

• Increased education and promotion of safety standard-complaint lightning protection systems

• In the building development process, risk assessment measures to gauge the lightning hazards should be expanded

Despite the wealth of accurate information on lightning and lightning safety, there are still many misunderstandings that persists. Let’s share some facts.

• Rubber tires and rubber soles do not provide protection from lightning.

• Metals conduct lightning electricity but doesn’t attract it.

• Lightning often strikes the same place repeatedly

• Lightning protection system are installed more today and is definitely not a thing of the past

• Surge protection is just one element of a complete lightning protection system

• Industrial lightning protection system design and installation is complex and not a do-it-yourself project

• Just because the surrounding taller buildings have LPS installed, your smaller structure still requires protection

• The human body does not store electricity. It’s perfectly fine to touch a lightning victim to give them first aid

• When thunder roars, go indoors! Is the truism that actually holds up.

Lightning is deadly but often an avoidable hazard. If lightning safety tips are properly followed the threat can be greatly reduced.

We are among the fastest growing and most innovative companies in the lightning protection and earthing sector. We innovate, build and offer one of the most efficient and reliable systems for protection against lightning, surge protection earthing solutions. Contact our lightning eliminator consultant today!

Continue Reading....

The simplest way to think of a lightning strike would be as a short circuit between the cloud and the earth. The earth and an active thundercloud have either a positive or negative polarity with respect to each other, just like battery connections that can arc, if they are not separated by a long enough air gap.

Every year, there are approximately 15-20 million lightning strikes that affect 30% of U.S. businesses. These lightning strikes cause billions in damage and an average facility is hit with 20,000 amps of electricity.

Thus schools, hospitals, airports, factories, chemical plants, power generating plants and office buildings are just some of the facilities choosing to play it safe against the destructive forces of lightning by properly preparing a lightning protection design and installing it.

We offer holistic services that include product specifications, product manufacturing, technical support, installation, site testing, and system design. LEC’s lightning protection design and engineering team can produce complete lightning protection and grounding layout for any type of structure using the latest CAD software. Our estimates are detailed to list out all inclusion and exclusions and each estimate adheres to all required specifications.

Even before the estimates are submitted we understand the electrical specification and relevant architectural drawings of your facility. Then with the backing of our experienced lightning protection design team, we send drawings, bill of materials required, installation, testing and commissioning estimates.

Once the estimation is approved, a detailed and scientific evaluation of the site’s exposure and an option for protection is provided and we start implementing the customized solution in the most timely, accurate and cost-effective manner.

Alongside we also provide on-site and off-site risk management training and financial risk mitigation.

All of our systems are designed and engineered to perform safely; however, commission and routine testing are undertaken to validate and ensure that the lightning protection design and the system perform safely.

Protection against direct lightning strike and surge is not an easy one. A proper lightning protection design depends on a number of contributing factors. Some of our patented products include;

- Dissipation Array System

- Spline ball Ionizer

- Spline Ball Terminal

- Streamer Delaying Air Terminal

- And a whole range of surge protection systems

Holding tightly to professional ethics and moral values, we leave no stone unturned to assure complete client satisfaction when providing lightning protection design and engineering solutions.

Continue reading....

Did you know that lightning is the single biggest cause of damage to and destruction of electrical and electronic equipment in industrial facilities and commercial buildings?  Also, that thunderstorms occur virtually everywhere and that puts any building at risk.

Due to the ever-changing climate and rise in temperature lightning strikes are becoming more and more frequent.

Some statistics

-          In Salzburg, Austria, a gondola system was shut down due to lightning strike, leaving about 150 people stranded while visiting the Eisriesenwelt ice caves.

-          A SandRidge Energy tank battery burned after it was struck by lightning just west of Enid, Okla in March’18

-          A voltage spike that resulted from a severe weather condition including a lightning strike brought down the data center cooling system in San Antonio.

-          As of July’2018, the total number of fatalities from lightning was 11, with 5 being struck and killed in Florida

Types of lightning damage may include blown fuses, flashover of insulation inside motors or transformers, vaporized transistors and integrated circuits, vaporized traces on printed circuit broads, and other damage that places the business on hold for an indeterminate amount of time.

How can you prevent lightning damage?

-          Inspect the grounding electrode system at the main service entrance and look for anything that may contribute to lightning damage

-        Make sure the bonding between the electrodes is effective. Or else a lightning surge will create an enormous voltage between them damaging the input/output printed circuit board within electronic equipment.

-          There have been instances where separately driven electrodes existing at equipment locations are damaged due to lightning

-          Lightning damage at input/output boards is an indication that transferred earth potential has developed between buildings

-          Lightning damage can occur at the AC input to electronic equipment

The protection of industrial sites from lightning damage has now become a common requirement.

Lightning damages equipment and affects production in two ways, either through direct strikes to the equipment or through the electrical surge that is produced within the power lines and ground that is  delivered to the equipment. Lightning Eliminators and Consultant Inc. is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and patent holders of lightning and surge protection systems. 

In our fast-paced environment, we depend on wireless and satellite communications for everything – cell phones, internet, radio, television, and data and more; reliability has become imperative. These towers are constructed of steel and designed to be the highest structure in the surrounding area in order to supply communications without any interruptions.

Sadly, telecommunication towers are particularly at risk of lightning damage and an ensured electrical surge; due to its tall stature and complex electrical makeup. A single direct lightning strike can cause physical damage and catastrophic failure resulting in substantial revenue losses.

When lightning strikes a tower the current flows downwards to the ground and can damage electronic equipment like antennae, dishes, cameras, etc. On its way down, these currents can leak and jump into nearby structures resulting in permanent damage to sensitive electronic devices and equipment.

The good news is there is a way to protect telecommunication towers and facilities from the devastating and lasting effects of lightning damage.

The lightning protection system from Lightning Eliminators & Consultant Inc. – The Tower Kit

It’s a hybrid package that offers a robust and cost-effective solution for communication tower to protect them from lightning damage. The protection package includes direct strike protection, surge protection, and grounding.

And we protect the towers from lightning damage by enhancing lightning rods with lightning dissipators!

Spline Ball Ionizer – this is our patented and advanced air terminal that functions as a streamer retarding air terminal. It utilizes the phenomena ‘charge transfer’ – it provides a low resistance route for the static ground charge to reach the atmosphere, preventing the build-up of ground charge to the value necessary to trigger a strike on the protected structure. In short, it exchanges ions between the air and earth keeping the local electrical field below lightning potential.

Chem Rods – another patented marvel from us; it creates the optimal earth connection with a large conductive surface, electrolytic salts, and specially formulated backfills.

Transient limiter TLX100 – this versatile type 1 SPD is primarily used for light load service entrance and subpanels.  It can be installed upstream or downstream of the main disconnect.

LEC offers lightning protection products and services to many industries including broadcasting, wireless communications, data centers, 911 call centers, and many more.

This simple, reliable and inexpensive (compared to the cost of repair) method can protect most wireline communications from lightning damage.