Lightning and Prius and looking for journal

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(scruopec @ Jul 22 2006, 05:47 PM) [snapback]290692[/snapback]</div>

A the rubber tires will insulate you. Cars are OK in a lightning storm. If you get hit I would say that all the computers are fried, but I will let a electrical engineer leap in here. There are a couple of Excel Spread Sheets free and available here. Do a search. There are also free programs for PDAs. Go to Version Tracker

 

The Prius isn't any more or less a "lightening rod" than any other car.

As said above, if you're in the car the tires will insulate you. But as with any car with computers, my money is the electronics will be fried.

I'm not going to worry about getting hit by lightening.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 22 2006, 08:57 PM) [snapback]290696[/snapback]</div>

Actually the tires don't play a roll in the safety factor of being inside a car. It's the metal shell that the lightning flows around and then down into the ground. There has never been a documented death from lightning inside a hard top car with the windows rolled up. There have been confirmed deaths in convertibles and hardtop with the windows down.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(scruopec @ Jul 22 2006, 05:47 PM) [snapback]290692[/snapback]</div>

An IPOD, huh, so if I were a TRULY responsible parent, I'd tell my kid about this one, hmmm??? (Or maybe the "rubbers" in his wallet'll protect him...from SOMETHING )

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rufaro @ Jul 22 2006, 09:23 PM) [snapback]290728[/snapback]</div>

Suggest he wear them over his ears before listening to his iPod.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 22 2006, 07:28 PM) [snapback]290732[/snapback]</div>

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jburns @ Jul 22 2006, 08:47 PM) [snapback]290720[/snapback]</div>

Isn't this what radio people call a "Faraday box"? Or should a Faraday box be earthed (grounded)?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Jul 23 2006, 06:26 AM) [snapback]290893[/snapback]</div>

Geek mode on.
Moe commonly referred to as a "cage" than a "box, but same basic assumption: an electrical field applied to the outside of the cage/box will not affect the components (that'd be PEOPLE in a Prius) inside it. It's typically used to shield electrical components from electromagnetic fields. Certain building structures lend themselves to the Faraday effect, which is why you will get poor wireless/cordles network reception inside certain structures.
Geek mode now turned off.

 

airplanes get hit all the time and most have computers and people inside and survive with maybe a pinhole in the skin.

 

Cool video and probably much more current then would be sustained in a single lightning strike. When I was a teen in Vermont I was driving in a bad storm and was struck. The cabin of the car was lit up and we were so stunned. I did not touch anything for a minute or two. The guy behind us was even more excited about it. Guess he might have thought he was going to need to do something heroic....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hdrygas @ Jul 22 2006, 08:53 PM) [snapback]290695[/snapback]</div>

Rubber breaks down at about 600 Volts/inch. so, no, this is not true.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Jul 23 2006, 01:19 PM) [snapback]291000[/snapback]</div>

That was cool!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(scruopec @ Jul 23 2006, 06:13 PM) [snapback]291187[/snapback]</div>

Yup. No lightning bolts through his iPod, and his money won't get fried either! :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ZenCruiser @ Jul 23 2006, 06:17 AM) [snapback]290901[/snapback]</div>

OK I learned something new. Still I don't know about everything working. I just remember the time a telephone pole transformer was hit by lightening and exploded as I drove by. I turned into a bomb. Bits everywhere. It was metal on the out side, it did have a conductor leading to the middle but lets not muddy a good story with facts.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(scruopec @ Jul 22 2006, 07:47 PM) [snapback]290692[/snapback]</div>

Moving on to your second question ... to maintain a record of your car's gas consumption, you could create an account at www.greenhybrid.com and maintain an online log of every tank you fill. I just tend to hang on to my receipts till i enter the MPG/miles in my online record.
Hope this helps.

 

Personally, i just went to Staples and bought a small notebook (only a couple of inches wide)... then just draw in the table myself. i can get about 15 fillups worth of data per page, which is more than enough.