Solar flares

[Highlander]

Can we talk about solar flares for a bit please,... its one of the top threats on my list, but I am not sure about what would survive and what would not

Cars,... ok so I dont have a car older than 1976 so I have problems,... lots of circuits and computer chips to fry,.. but I have also read that [ depending on the strength of the emi ] that some cars would survive quiet well.

All the electrical bits are already inside a metal cage,..I know that the circuits are touching that cage,... but what if everytime we parked up in our garage or carport we were to earth our cars well,.... would the EMI pulse take the easiest route to earth and possibly do less damage that way?

Pull cord generators,... no computer bits in these, if the plug was removed and the generator earth [ as it should be anyway] would they survive?

..... and any other bits of usefull info on such an event would be very welcome

[Skean Dhude]

It isn't as simple as that sadly. You could put your car in a faraday cage. A container for example.

Another alternative is to have spare parts in a faraday cage and swap them when you need them.

Of course there is much more than the car but you can keep any other bits of kit in your faraday cage. Myself I have a big metal box.

[Highlander]

Can you give a bit more information?, not being much of a machanic, I wouldnt know where to start.... What about generators?

[NorthernRaider]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse

[Highlander]

Thanks for the link, I have read that,..and quiet a few others, but I have found over and over that people,..[ real people ] always seem to have such inventive ways, and different ideas, that I thought might be worth trying to tap into

[Tarrel]

As I understand it, earthing is not the answer. Vulnerable items need to be put inside a Faraday cage, which can be just a metal box. Faraday cage from Faraday's law; "Net charge inside a charged body is zero". One approach is to keep spares of vulnerable equipment in such a place. For our vehicle, it's easy. We have a 1981 Series Landrover, with traditional "points, coil and distributor" ignition, so I keep a spare coil, contact-set, voltage regulator and alternator voltage regulator in a box. It even has a starting handle if the starter motor blows! A portable multi-band amateur transceiver lives in a metal cabinet, and that's it really. As part of general preps we are trying to wean ourselves off dependence on electricity. For me this was one of the main reasons behind the Rayburn purchase. We can cook, heat water and provide space-heating to a core part of the house without any electrical connection. It's only the pump for the rads that needs electricity. We have a three-way camping fridge that runs off 240V, 12V or propane, so no elec. required there either. Low voltage emergency lighting can be powered by a 12V battery bank, that can be re-charged from the Landrover, although we haven't set this up yet.

The thing that concerns me is solar panels. I posted a question about this on here a few days ago, and the general view was that they would be fried in an EMP. I also wonder about LED lighting. Would this get fried? Anyone know?

[NorthernRaider]

(20 November 2012, 00:59)Tarrel Wrote: The thing that concerns me is solar panels. I posted a question about this on here a few days ago, and the general view was that they would be fried in an EMP. I also wonder about LED lighting. Would this get fried? Anyone know?

I may be out of date but as a soldier we were taught that anything with a circuit or element would be toasted, So a circuit board would be ruined, A video they showed us was a light bulb on its own lighting up and getting brighter and brighter till it burnt out. problem is it was over 30 years ago and I'm not sure if that actually related to an EMP. Mind you they also said radios, ignition circuits etc would be friend and we would need to keep a spare set of points, condensor, coil etc in a faraday cage to get the engine working again.

I think thats why some folks keep PV panels cached not set up, they wrap em in multiple layers of bubble wrap and wrap the outer layer in multiple layers of bacofoil and store em in metal containers.

I suspect LEDs if assembled into a light with voltage regulator circuit board attached s found in most flashlights they would be toasted as its a circuit!!! Thats why I keep flashlights and radios in a bubble wrap lined biccy tin

[Highlander]

There is also some discussion over batteries,.. some say they would be ok, some say that they wouldnt survive,.. that is a bit worrying,.. hence my question about generators.

I am hoping that batteries will be ok, because I am currently looking for a hand crank capable of recharging hand held radios

[NorthernRaider]

I'm told that batteries stored unactivated with the acid kept seperate wont be affected but the power surge will toast and batteries that are filed, charged and connected. Again some EMP fearful preppers keep unassembled unactivated leisure batteries in metal containers for AFTER TSHTF

[Highlander]

(20 November 2012, 09:58)NorthernRaider Wrote: I'm told that batteries stored unactivated with the acid kept seperate wont be affected but the power surge will toast and batteries that are filed, charged and connected. Again some EMP fearful preppers keep unassembled unactivated leisure batteries in metal containers for AFTER TSHTF

Now thats interesting,.. not heard that before