Protecting your Energizer from Lightning
First off, nothing is lightning proof. It is a powerful force of nature that can and will go where it wants, however it is looking for a path to ground. Just ask your rural electric company. There are steps that we can take to try to get it to ground before it gets to your energizer.
Lightning can get into the energizer either from your fence line wire or from your power supply side. A simple solution from the power supply side is to install a surge protector in the outlet that you have your energizer pluged into. It is best that this outlet is seperated in the breaker box on a dedicated service line - rather than in a series of outlets and switches.
So you have a 20 joule energizer and you think thats big......it is, but lightning bolts have been recorded at well over 5000 joules. Something to think about.
Lightning protection should be installed at least 65 feet away from your energizer's earth system.
Fenceline protection is something that you can do something about. Some farms and ranches are more prone to lightning then others. I am told that it has something to do with minerals in the soil. Anyway, there are many gadgets out there that are supposed to protect you from lightning. Some work and some don't. I have seen many home made ones that seem to work very well. What you are trying to do is get the lightning into the ground before it gets to the energizer. Most protection involves a set of contacts, spark gap or such that come into play when lighting occurs, then a wire that leads to some ground rods - thus directing the lightning into the ground.
Porcelain arrestors: do work but will need to be replaced when they are hit, otherwise you will have a direct short until disabled or replaced. Our WMLA unit normally makes it thru a hit unless very severe.
Grounding for your lightning protection is important in that it must absorb the force of the lighting. In general, if you have 6 ground rods at the energizer, you should have 1 additonal rod at the lightning field. So you would need 7 rods there. This is where most protection fails.......its a lot of work putting in that many rods, so we tend to skimp here. None the less - it is our recommendation - one more rod than you have at the energizer.
If you are in a very lightning prone area you may consider installing a series of lightning protection units around your system.
As I said earlier, no lightning protection can provide 100% guaranteed protection.
If in a lightning prone area, you may consider unplugging your energizer during electrical and thunderstorms
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