As we approach the summer months, we can say goodbye to the risk of snowstorms and hello to the risk of thunderstorms. While thunderstorms are an awesome reminder of the power of nature, they can do some serious damage to our equipment, especially equipment that is large, metal and located out in the elements.
We often get the question of whether lighting strikes can affect truck scales or not; the short answer is yes. This article will answer how lightning affects your truck scale and what you can do to help protect it.
What Can Happen When Lightning Strikes Your Truck Scale
Power Surges
Power surges are potentially the most damaging occurrence to your truck scale should it get struck by lightning, or struck near it.
A power surge occurs when lightning strikes something in contact with or close to power lines, which then boosts the electrical charge of those power lines. This can happen when lightning strikes the ground near a power cord or can run along poles.
This sudden increase in power can completely fry the circuit in your weigh scale which can render it useless.
Voltage Sag
A voltage sag is the opposite of a power surge. It might not seem logical to think that less electricity would still have an effect, but having too little electricity for a long period of time can put a serious strain on the components.
Transient
Transients are shorter in duration than surges and sags, however, instead of an overage or underage of electricity, it can carry different voltage potentials. This is surprisingly the most common cause of issues with electronic equipment.
Faulty Wiring
Some malfunctions of your truck scale can disguise themselves as damage from a thunderstorm but are actually just a case of worn or faulty wiring.
How Does This Affect Your Scale?
Calibration
As you know, the calibration of your weigh scale is critically important. It’s the function most likely to be impacted by a lightning strike. It can also be the most costly due to the fact that if the calibration is off, your readings could be inaccurate.
Critical Components
A lightning strike can also physically damage components of your scale such as the load cells, junction boxes or cables. This will leave you with repairs that could take time to fix, costing you some serious downtime of your scale.
What Can You Do To Protect Your Truck Scale from a Lightning Strike?
- Check your warranty
Some truck scale manufacturers will actually offer repairs or replacement in the case of lightning strike damage to your scale. This could help you manage some of the inconveniences in arranging for your scale to be repaired, even if it won’t completely compensate for the downtime.
- Invest in a grounding system
Ensure when you are installing your vehicle scale that you invest in a grounding system. Grounding for truck scales is crucial and a good system will include accurate shield testing and cable routing to prevent any issues that could arise from a lightning strike.
- Confirm if some components are already protected
Most modern truck scales with both hydrostatic and hydraulic load cells already incorporate features that would prevent them from lightning damage. Check if your scale already accommodates this and if not, contact your scale supplier to see what can be done after the fact.
Additional Features That Prevent Damage From Lightning:
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- Single point grounding for truck scales
- Uninterrupted power supply
- Power surge protection
- Home cables run with DC transient protections
- Copy transient cables for load cells
- Junction boxes fitted with DC transient protection boards
Many of these features come standard with newer scales since lightning can be a major risk. However, if your scale is a bit older and does not include them, you can still have some of these features installed after the fact.
Don’t put your truck scale at risk as summer approaches. Contact Active Scale today and we can assess your scale and help lightning-proof your electrical components.
