I made a spark protector?

Question

Once there was a big lightning strike near our house and our ceiling fan got fryed even though it was turned off from the switch. I'm suspecting the surge jumpped the gap inside the switch (the gap bitween the contacts). So in order to prevent it I made a small device where I placed the live and neutral wires really close the ground wire (only 0.15cm's away). The device is inside a plastic case and is installed at the service entrance. So my device should provide protection from these jumping lightning surges right? I have surge protectors but as I heard a strong enough lightning surge can jump even through the blown fuses. My Device should prevent this right? After all the ground wire is more attractive than the neutral that is grounded at the tranceformer right? A lightning surge can jump right? or is the site I read telling false information? And yes I have very good dual ground wire

Actually there is a breaker. So it should only take one spark. So if you are saying the lightning can cause fire doesn't that mean my surge protectors would do the same? they also ground the surge... this is just installed to prevent a second surge from jumping the blown fuse in the surge protector which is damaged in the first strike.

Also, as I said there was one big surge whitch fried the fan. But it didn't damage the house wiring or set it off on fire. It didn't even damage the normal thin AC wire.

Answer 1

At the levels of voltage in a lightning bolt, the relativity to ground is irrelevant. Lightning goes for the prominent figure in the skyline. Lightning arrestor rods on the roof with the proper size wiring to ground rods are the only sure method of controlling the direction a bolt will take. Lightning strikes trees, cars(which have rubber tires to insulate), and what ever else stands out. Messing with the wiring of your house could cause a fire. If the lightning does take the path you set out for it, it could start you wiring on fire.
household wiring is only rated, at best, to 600 volts. The amperage, depending on what you use, 15 to 20 amps. that's only 12000 watts. that's about 100000 times to small. In the event it does start a fire, and the insurance investigation finds you little experiment, they might not pay.
AGAIN, the most attractive thing to lightning is the most prominent thing in the skyline, probably your chimney. That's a good place to start with a real lightning arresting system.

Answer 2

What you have attempted to build is a crude surge arrestor.
It should be connected direct to the service ground,
(all services have them), not a local ground.
You can buy yourself all kinds of grief by doing that.
The incident you cite may have been caused by inductance. Your device will have little effect on such events.
If your home-made device is indoors, it is probably more of a hazzard then a lightning strike.

Answer 3

You may have blown the fuse in the surge protector. Test your electronics individually by plugging directly into a live socket. If they work, the problem is with your surge protector, go buy a new one. If they don't work and the surge protector failed to protect your electronics, you need to find out when you bought it and what kind of coverage they guarantee from the manufacturer, as their product caused the damage.

Answer 4

right, right, right, right, right, right, right, dude u over use that word right? it bugs people right?