Posted on 04/10/2013 6:45:54 AM PDT by Mr. K
Someone asked about Faraday Cages and EMP - This is probably very useful information for preppers and freepers.
It won't do you any good to have a generator to run your electronic equipment after the SHTF if it is all fried.
Even so, most comm will be down.
The internet will be toast.
The only thing you’ll be able to do with your farraday-protected computers is play video games. By yourself.
Nevertheless, I’d rather have what I don’t need than to need what I don’t have.
This would require non-aluminum metal conduit, correct?
OK so you make your Faraday cage and put your cell phone, radio, and electrical appliances in it. Then along comes the EMP and fries all the cell towers, radio transmitters, and electrical generating stations. So...whaddya got?
While the EMP threat is real, methinks that field strength is Volts/meter...not volts/square centimeter.
And 100k volts per centimeter would be a pretty good field...one which is more than enough to have lightning bolts flash out of the blue. One wouldn’t have to worry about EMP, since we’d all be electrocuted anyway.
Just thinkin’.
If you toss a blanket like this over your appliances the grounding wire can be inserted into the grounding prong in a 3-prong electrical outlet- not as good as a nice copper rod driven into the ground outside but way better than nothing.
GROUNDING is very important - if your house is not 100% 3-prong electrical outlets WITH EXCELLENT GROUNDING then it is as good as having nothing.
Your water pipes are usually really good grounds too.
I am not an electrician, I dont even play one on TV, so if there are any here PLEASE correct me if I have gotten anything wrong.
Put your cell phone in the microwave oven.
Or your butt.
Both, if they’ll fit!
I dont think so- I think Aluminum is a good conductor
(PLEASE CORRECT ME ANYONE IF I AM WRONG)
Please don’t misunderstand this reply. I think considering how to prep for an EMP or Solar event is very wise. What I don’t understand is the logic of trying to protect a generator that will require fuel which will quickly become unavailable following any event that takes out major power distribution facilities, transformers, etc.
Why try to protect a TV? I do think it makes sense to have rechargeable batteries, a solar system to provide some basic recharge system, a solar water pump, etc.
Interesting question. I have also read that grounding is not advised as the ground is the source of the surge.
We've bought a lot of non-electric stuff from Leihmans nonelectric store. It's saved us a number of times when the electric goes out because of a northeaster, or an appliance breaks. The nonelectric back up comes in handy.
A single atmospheric nuclear detonation releases enough electromagnetic pulse (EMP) to equal 100,000 volts per square centimeter...
I don’t think this guy knows what he is talking about. The bomb releases a magnetic pulse that is NOT electrical. The moving magnetic wave creates electricity in conductive metals. Antennas are perfect for generating an electrical pulse that can destroy things. The voltage would be dependent on the strength of the magnetic pulse.
I’ve heard the trash can thing works pretty well. For some reason it’s said to line the can inside with cardboard.
But it is not magnetic. It may keep an electric field from passing but not a magnetic.
His laptop?
Really?
He goes through all of that packing and unpacking before and after every use?
These measures only make sense for infrequently used or Emergency Use Only type items.
Water pipe grounding assumes a metal pipe going into the ground from your house. I know for a fact my source lines are plastic. No joy.
For smaller electronics, the easiest Faraday cage is a metal trash can that has no holes in the outside. Ground the trashcan with a metal rod and a connecting wire. Put a non conductive rubber mat in the bottom and around the sides so that nothing can touch the metal. Put your sensitive electronics inside.
“This would require non-aluminum metal conduit, correct?”
First of all, conduit is not made out of aluminum, It’s made out of galvanized thin wall iron pipe. Aluminum is actually a better conductor but it is too expensive and corrodes too easily.
Secondly, a grounded sheet stops an electrostatic field, but it is not in itself a “Faraday cage”. A Faraday cage actually doesn’t have to be grounded to be effective so long as the item to be protected including the power cords etc., are within the cage.
The Faraday cage works on the principal (discovered by Faraday), that an electric field inside of a conductor will always be zero because the electrons inside the metal always move in such a way as to always cancel the external field.
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