Protection Against Damage from Lightning Strike

Any electronic circuitry can be damaged or destroyed by a lightning strike. This is because the voltages and currents involved are well beyond the limits of the circuitry.

Damage caused by a lightning strike is NOT covered by the ITL manufacturing warranty.

Enabler has limited tolerance for surges caused by nearby (not direct) lightning strike or other electrical disturbances. In general, Enabler is designed such that such that the FDM will absorb the surge up to a point. If the FDM is destroyed, then the Enabler card may also be damaged, but it will prevent damage to the rest of the PC because the Enabler internally isolates the communication wires.

The usual sign of a lightning- or surge-damaged Enabler card is that one or more of the green channel receive LEDs is permanently stuck on.

Note that the ITL "Passive" FDM (part number FDM082), used for RS485 and IFSF protocols, was updated to Rev 2.1 in 2007 to include some limited lightning protection. Prior to this revision, the passive FDM offers no protection and the Enabler card absorbs all the surge.

Areas Prone To Lightning

If the Enabler is to be installed in an area which is prone to frequent lightning strikes, then additional protection should be used to avoid damage from lightning strike. This is usually in the form of lightning arrestor equipment installed in the pump communications, telephone and power lines on the site. Such equipment requires good earthing on site to provide a direct path for the high current to flow directly to ground. It is important to note that this is NOT the same as the earthing and screening associated with signal cables which cannot cope with the high voltages and currents flows produced by a lightning strike.

Various lightning protection devices are available from specific suppliers internationally and these suppliers should be consulted for the most suitable protection scenarios and specification required for a particular site.

Some makers of lightning protection equipment who supply internationally include: