Lighting is an unexpected discharge of electrostatic charges and often occurs during a thunderstorm. Lighting is dangerous. It can destroy a building in a flash leading to loss of life and valuable property. That’s why it is important to protect buildings from the damaging effects of the lighting by arresting the lighting.

Lighting protection, arresting or grounding are terms that can be used interchangeably to mean electrostatic surge protection. It’s one of the fundamental focuses of Nassau electrical brand. It strives to provide viable lighting protection structures to offer reliable comprehensive protection by cutting down on lighting transients in commercial and residential properties. For example, air cannot safely arrest lighting and contain it without a channeling it to the ground, this is where the Nassau aluminum lightning protection cable comes in handy.

Lightning rod cable was developed to replace low-impedance cables which could not safely arrest and contain the charges. The low impedance cables created hazards to people and property because they had low equipotential bonding capabilities with the charges. Since the technology to transmit lighting from the air to the ground was limited, engineers came up with this cable to eliminate the dangers of induced surge transients safely.

The concept behind this cable is simple; it’s an electrically optimized material that can ensure coordinated holistic transfer of the charges which are suddenly introduced into the cable on one end. It promptly channels the charges neutralizing the potential difference between the clouds and the ground. I takes care of a wide range of strikes, from the usual direct lightning strikes to enormous strikes involving high voltages an the charge entry points.

Lighting discharge cannot be prevented. But since the aluminum lighting protection cable came into the market, prevention of the damaging effects of the charges such as fires, physical damages on commercial and residential properties has been significantly enhanced.

How the Aluminum Lightning Protection Cable works 
It’s made of a very flexible wire which effectively connects to the clouds/air terminals when the charges are received and transferred to the grounding electrodes. On reaching the ground, the charges are automatically dispersed into the ground. The dispersion completes the process of direct conduction of electric charges through an excellent path from a region of high concentration to a region of low concentration and thereby greatly reducing damages to structures. Generally, the cable makes industries, drill rigs, power transformers, hospitals, schools and masts a lot safer.

Construction
The cable is made of two classes of aluminum wires; class one and class two aluminum conductors. The two classes are blended to give an annealed aluminum which is stranded to ensure maximum flexibility. Initially, copper was extensively used but this strand gives a much better electrical conductivity because it has a larger surface area. The aluminum is also lighter and cheaper than copper wire.

I hope that this article has helped you understand why the aluminum lightening protection cable by Nassau is the ideal cable you need for arresting electrostatic charges generated by the clouds. For a quote or more information on lightning protection materials, please get in touch with us today.