With a history of one direct hit and one nearby strike, I'm kind of keen to do what I can to protect as much of my new solar system as possible from surges, esp my LFP bank. The direct hit was to my work truck on a hillside in NV that vaporized my CB antenna, fried my truck, exited at a wheel rim and tunneled 10 feet to a nearby camper through a jackstand, which essentially became welded to the camper and ground underneath. The nearby strike was to a sailboat in a marina that was docked next to mine. All of his electrics were toast (despite having a diffuser on his mast head). Mine (without one), surprisingly, escaped damage. Fortunately, neither occurred when anyone was around.
So, I did some research into what I could add to my system and came up with these three things:
QUESTIONS:
Am I understanding correctly how these things work and the protection they provide?
So, I did some research into what I could add to my system and came up with these three things:
- COAX from GPS antenna on truck camper roof will have inline Gas Tube Coax Arrestor.
- Ditto for both COAX wires coming down from dual Yagis mounted on a 25 foot extendable fiberglass mast mounted to the back of my truck camper.
- DC circuit protection via Midnite Solar MNSPD115 surge protector(s) (AC system won't need one).
- Option 1: One SPD between at each PV input just before my DSSRs and one directly at the DC power jack for my LTE Router (TOTAL=4), or
- Option 2: A single SPD at my 24V bus bar.
QUESTIONS:
Am I understanding correctly how these things work and the protection they provide?
- Would Option #1 provide better protection for my LFP bank?
- Any better options or specific recommendations on where best to locate these devices in my rig?
- Plan to ground all these devices to truck and thinking, too, of grounding truck to earth via a copper spike I can drive into the ground when I'm stationary/camping. Make sense or totally unnecessary?
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