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I have heard many times that it is dangerous to use a landline during a thunderstorm, as lightening can strike a phone line and travel to the user. Well the other day there was a severe thunderstorm with bad thunder and lightening going on. I had to use the landline though to make a call--a short call. While I was on the phone with each thunder (or maybe lightening) strike the line crackeled with a lot of static for about 5 seconds. Could I have somehow been in danger from this--i.e. could lightening have been traveling the line during this crackeling? I'm kind of worried about this, and whether I could have had lightening channeled through the phone line and not known it. Does anyone know about this?
Yes, if you used a corded phone, you were in significant danger. By placing the phone to your ear and standing in a place where there was an easy path to ground for the electricity, if lightning had a nearby strike on the phone line, you literally could have blown your brains out.
Phone lines are protected from line spikes by gas discharge tubes. Most of the time they work, but sometimes they fail or are damaged. Since a phone line is separate from the power line, most of the surge protection devices are of questionable value. According to code, the phone line should be grounded to the same house ground that the incoming power uses. In reality, a lot of homes have phone and power entrances at different locations, and the grounds are either separate or there are issues like sharp corners that will form a resistance to a lightning strike and cause the strike to seek an easier path to ground.
If you want to be on the phone during a storm, buy a cordless phone and stay at least ten feet from the base of the phone.
Gosh, now I'm worried. Could I have been stuck by lightening through the phone and not realized it? I heard crackling on the line with each thunder boom/lightening strike (not sure which one did it) but I was only on the phone for 5 min. and it was a short but necessary call.
Nah, you weren't struck. You just heard the line noise.
Thanks for your responses; for some reason I'm really worked up about this (have a lot of stress in my life right now). Does hearing line noise mean a line was struck by lightening somewhere outside?
Gosh, now I'm worried. Could I have been stuck by lightening through the phone and not realized it? I heard crackling on the line with each thunder boom/lightening strike (not sure which one did it) but I was only on the phone for 5 min. and it was a short but necessary call.
You'd know if you were struck. A single lightning bolt has a tremendous amount of energy, and I imagine being struck by one would amount to feeling like you were hit by a freight train, and there would almost certainly be visible effects on your body (not to mention it would destroy the phone).
Still, the chances of lightning actually striking near you and then traveling up the phone line to you are extremely remote. If you're really concerned about the danger, get a cordless phone to use during electrical storms.
Still, the chances of lightning actually striking near you and then traveling up the phone line to you are extremely remote. If you're really concerned about the danger, get a cordless phone to use during electrical storms.
True, but still probably a better chance than winning the lottery.
Does hearing line noise mean a line was struck by lightening somewhere outside?
Could be possible, but most likely not. What you were hearing was probably RFI (radio frequency interference). When there's a bolt of lightning it produces tremendous voltages and currents and any nearby wiring can act as an antenna and pick up the noise.
First of all the phone line circuit is completely isolated from your head/body due to all the insulation it was assembled with... RF shielding, wire coatings, plastic casings... etc.
Second of all there is no way in hell that a phone line wire could come even close to handling the amount of current generated by the voltage of a lighting bolt, the wires in the line would instantly vaporize from the heat created by the current and break the circuit immediately... just like a fuse.
Unless your talking on a corded phone on top of a hill with no shelter around you, I don't see how anything could remotely go wrong... and as I explained above, the thought of worrying about the charge of the bolt traveling through phone lines to your head is totally ludicrous.
No phone of any kind is safe during a electrical storm. I have known of people being killed during a telephone conversation. Why don't you search this online. You may be interested that brain tumors are up 25% since all the cordless phones came on board. The only way I will ever use a cordless phone is for an extreme emergency. The best information about this would be on foreign websites. For some reason this news is not being reported in the United States. And no I will not furnish a website. I searched for myself years ago and made my decision then. No cell phones period and no land phones during an electrical storm. Have you ever seen an electrical hit on a building, I have. It goes from metal to metal. Nothing metal is safe. For instance, you don't want to be standing in the kitchen between the electrical dishwasher, stove, metal sink, and refridgerator during an electrical storm. The bathroom is another unsafe area. For those of you who don't agree and want to laugh at me, just remember that someone wins the lottery and if the chances are about the same, do you want to be the winner in this situation. I don't.
Last edited by NCN; 06-13-2009 at 01:36 PM..
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