just heard a commercial on an internet radio about weels and lightning

[jeanw]

It is a NEW Hampshire station.. they said can bond and ground a well pump to help from lightning.
How can lightning hurt a well pump unless it goes or comes thru the main electric line ?
anyone know abou this??? submersible pump they mentioned
uh just noticed.... I hit the keyboard e instead of l in well pump

 

[peakbagger]

A direct lightning strike can do anything it darn well pleases. Most grounding schemes assume that the strike happened elsewhere and the wiring is trying to deal with a sudden surge. The surge usually goes to the best ground it can find which may or may not be the household ground. A well casing frequently is a better ground than the household ground so if the house gets a strike, the current will try to head to the well casing via the pump wiring. The standard recommendation is to bond the well casing to the household ground via an separate #8 cable so that the casing and the household ground is at the same ground potential. If this is in place the surge should travel along the #8 cable rather then the household wiring.

If the house is in a lightning prone location like an exposed ridge with no large trees nearby then a separate lightning arrestor system is installed along with a beefed up ground field. Talk to any ham or commercial radio technician who has to deal with antennas and they usually disconnect the expensive stuff if at all possible with lightning is nearby as no matter what protections they install, lighting will still find a way to sneak in and zap gear.

It is a NEW Hampshire station.. they said can bond and ground a well pump to help from lightning.
How can lightning hurt a well pump unless it goes or comes thru the main electric line ?
anyone know abou this??? submersible pump they mentioned
uh just noticed.... I hit the keyboard e instead of l in well pump