[ale] Should I ground a ethernet switch?

[Alex Carver]

Easier solution for protecting the coax:

http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/ppr-is-75bb-6

Indeed DO use the ground rod as Jim suggests (make it as long as 
possible) but don't use simple wire for lightning protection.  You 
should instead use copper strap 
(http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-cs2-25 plus the ground rod clamp 
for copper strap http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-58r-112s) 
because the inductance is lower.  Standard round wire works for human 
safety and static bleed applications but direct strikes require strap. 
Commercial antenna towers use strap for their bonding to ground rods.

In the case of just one PolyPhaser, mount it directly to the strap (or 
mount it directly to the ground rod with weatherproof box, see more 
accessories like that on the DX Engineering page).  For 
multi-antenna/cable protection all the Polyphasers should be bolted to a 
large copper plate that has a strap bolted to it.

On 8/10/2013 19:37, Jim Kinney wrote:
> My condolences. Don't trust the ground installed by Comcast. A poorly
> tightened ground clamp onto a miscellaneous piece of pipe is not a ground.
> Get a 5' ground rod, drive it in 3-4' from your house until only 3-4 inches
> are above ground. Run  10 gauge ground from that to the cable line ground.
> Use no-corrode paste on the connections and tighten to no more turns.
> That will NOT stop a direct lighting strike. To do that, replace a section
> of the cable with a 1/2A fuse on both the center and shield lines. That
> replaced section needs to be as short as possible and each fuse should be
> separated by a 1/16" thin nylon sheet or a 1" air gap and encased in a
> metal box grounded as above.
> Keep a supply of fuses on hand.
> On Aug 10, 2013 3:55 PM, "Michael Potter" <michael at potter.name> wrote:
>
>> Just bought this switch from Fry's because my old switch was zapped by a
>> lightning strike.
>> http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-ProSafe-5-Port-Ethernet-Desktop/dp/B00002EQCW
>>
>> It has a grounding tab.
>>
>> I cannot find any recommendations on the Internet on the benefit of
>> grounding the switch.  One reviewer on Amazon said it was for electrical
>> noise isolation.  I don't care about noise isolation, however, I do care
>> about avoiding more damaged equipment.
>>
>> So, my questions are:
>> 1) Is there a benefit to grounding the switch in regards to avoid "getting
>> zapped" again.
>> 2) What is the easiest way to ground it?  Can I just salvage a three prong
>> plug and use the ground wire while safely terminating the live wires?
>>
>> The strike also took out my router, cable modem, receiver, and ethernet
>> port on my printer.  I am also having comcast out to replace their
>> lightning arrestor.
>>
>> I am also putting a surge suppressor (
>> http://www.amazon.com/Monster-MP-AV-800-PowerCenter/dp/B00003CWDH/) on
>> the coax connection to the cable tv box, and
>>   a surge suppressor (
>> http://www.amazon.com/APC-PNET1GB-ProtectNet-Standalone-Protector/dp/B000BKUSS8/)
>> on ethernet cable between the cable modem and the router.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Michael Potter
>>    Tapp Solutions, LLC
>>    Replatform Technologies, LLC
>> +1 770 815 6142  ** Atlanta ** michael at potter.name  **
>> www.linkedin.com/in/michaelpotter
>>
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