Does anyone know how to protect electronics from a massive solar flare?

[Ron Mauer Sr]

Here is an inexpensive and readily available Faraday cage.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoQZY1FtI3c

[UFOphotos]

Some information that maybe is helpful: http://www.futurescience.com/emp/emp-protection.html

[GoodETxSG]

Yes sir I do, that was one of my Jobs... First of all you have to decide how large of an area you are going to shield. There is a company that sells a honeycomb/mesh like material that creates a Faraday Cage affect that you can use to build into infrastructure as well as EMP proof paint that works very well.

Also, go to an electronics repair store and get as many ESD (Electric Static Discharge) bags (Like your motherboard or network card come wrapped in.) You can also use those to put your small electronics in or cut them up and create a wall paper for the inside of a computer housing etc. Remember you have to have heat ventilation for electronics.

It all is situational and depends on what you need to protect. You match the materials to the scale of the sq footage, size and type of the assets you want to protect. We built and tested several solutions and they work quite nicely. The materials that state they are designed to protect against EMP's will work with Solar flares/charged particles... You must need to double down with the material and use mixtures.

I hope this helps. If you want the name of some of the companies you can Google them or email me offline and I will see where I have their info stored.

[RMorgan]

Hey david,

You know when a car gets struck by a lightning and the people inside don´t get fried? In this case, the car worked as a Faraday cage.

Basically, make a conductive metallic box and make sure the inside content get´s well isolated, like on top of a non conductive material, like rubber.

However, in case of a huge CME, it doesn´t matter if you save your electronics, since the whole electric grid would be destroyed and would take years to rebuild.

Anyway, this link might be useful to you:

http://www.jeddaniels.com/2007/faraday-cage-part-1/

In case of an emergency and for small items like a notebook, you can wrap them with several layers of PVC plastic film (that one used in kitchen) and then wrap it again with some layers of tin foil.

Cheers,

Raf.

[GoodETxSG]

We lab tested new and old Microwaves... they provided VERY little protection. Microwaves are smaller than 1cm that bounce around in the device and a mesh screen and thin combo of material keeps them from bouncing out... it’s still a good idea not to stand in front of the microwave and watch your food cook. Your eyes do not regulate pressure very well.

[GoodETxSG]

Posted by RMorgan (here)
Hey david,

You know when a car gets struck by a lightning and the people inside don´t get fried? In this case, the car worked as a Faraday cage.

Basically, make a conductive metallic box and make sure the inside content get´s well isolated, like on top of a non conductive material, like rubber.

However, in case of a huge CME, it doesn´t matter if you save your electronics, since the whole electric grid would be destroyed and would take years to rebuild.

Anyway, this link might be useful to you:

http://www.jeddaniels.com/2007/faraday-cage-part-1/

In case of an emergency and for small items like a notebook, you can wrap them with several layers of PVC plastic film (that one used in kitchen) and then wrap it again with some layers of tin foil.

Cheers,

Raf.

EXTREMELY GOOD POINT! That is something we had contingencies for as well. The continuity of government and military secret infrastructure is prepped... civilians are on their own... unless they have added power generators and solar panel systems to their underground and EMP shielded cache of electronics. If you have these two things ready to dig up and hook up to your personal infrastructure you are good to go... but then you need to think of security measures and ways to hide that you have electricity...

[xbusymom]

print out everything into book form...
(that way you won't need to protect electronics)

[GoodETxSG]

Posted by xbusymom (here)
print out everything into book form...
(that way you won't need to protect electronics)

Well, thats if all you are worried about is your EBooks... Wont help you protect your PC, HAM Radio, survival electornics and other things like creature comfort items

[RMorgan]

Posted by GoodeTXSG (here)

Posted by RMorgan (here)
Hey david,

You know when a car gets struck by a lightning and the people inside don´t get fried? In this case, the car worked as a Faraday cage.

Basically, make a conductive metallic box and make sure the inside content get´s well isolated, like on top of a non conductive material, like rubber.

However, in case of a huge CME, it doesn´t matter if you save your electronics, since the whole electric grid would be destroyed and would take years to rebuild.

Anyway, this link might be useful to you:

http://www.jeddaniels.com/2007/faraday-cage-part-1/

In case of an emergency and for small items like a notebook, you can wrap them with several layers of PVC plastic film (that one used in kitchen) and then wrap it again with some layers of tin foil.

Cheers,

Raf.

EXTREMELY GOOD POINT! That is something we had contingencies for as well. The continuity of government and military secret infrastructure is prepped... civilians are on their own... unless they have added power generators and solar panel systems to their underground and EMP shielded cache of electronics. If you have these two things ready to dig up and hook up to your personal infrastructure you are good to go... but then you need to think of security measures and ways to hide that you have electricity...

Hey mate,

Even with power generators at home, how would you fuel them?

You would need gas, or diesel, or ethanol. Things would be chaotic and I´m sure you wouldn´t be able to just buy fuel at gas stations.

Even if you have stocked fuel, how about the noise? The lights? It would attract too much attention and you don´t want it.

Of course, you could have a solar panels on your roof, just to supply enough energy for the essencial things, like fridge, heating, some lamps, etc...

However, in this case, even your neighborhood wouldn´t be safe anymore.

Looters would be everywhere and you´ll basically be on your own. Solar panels are big and you can´t hide them. People would kill you to take them from you.

Anyway, we´ve lived without electricity for thousands of years. It wouldn´t hurt to go back to the roots if needed. When I say roots, I mean real roots, warrior roots.

In case of a huge CME, energy would be the smallest of our problems.

Just look at your neighbors. How many of them are so stupid and rude? In chaos, such kind of people become monsters. How many take prescription medications? How would they behave without their pills?

Are you from the US? How many guns do you guys have around? Imagine the dimension of the shootings...Everybody shooting each other for small things or even food...100 times worse than wild west movies.

This is one of the worst scenarios you can imagine. If the world runs out of electricity, we´ll go straight back to the cave times.

Cheers,

Raf.

[xbusymom]

Posted by GoodeTXSG (here)

Posted by xbusymom (here)
print out everything into book form...
(that way you won't need to protect electronics)

Well, thats if all you are worried about is your EBooks... Wont help you protect your PC, HAM Radio, survival electornics and other things like creature comfort items

No, I meant if they can't get the eletronics back working for awhile... ya know, just in case you need the info and your mother board is fried...

I have a lot of ebooks and pdf's on gardening, survival rebuilding, homeopathy and first aid remedies, instructions on soapmaking from scratch, etc.

[GoodETxSG]

Posted by RMorgan (here)

Posted by GoodeTXSG (here)

Posted by RMorgan (here)
Hey david,

You know when a car gets struck by a lightning and the people inside don´t get fried? In this case, the car worked as a Faraday cage.

Basically, make a conductive metallic box and make sure the inside content get´s well isolated, like on top of a non conductive material, like rubber.

However, in case of a huge CME, it doesn´t matter if you save your electronics, since the whole electric grid would be destroyed and would take years to rebuild.

Anyway, this link might be useful to you:

http://www.jeddaniels.com/2007/faraday-cage-part-1/

In case of an emergency and for small items like a notebook, you can wrap them with several layers of PVC plastic film (that one used in kitchen) and then wrap it again with some layers of tin foil.

Cheers,

Raf.

EXTREMELY GOOD POINT! That is something we had contingencies for as well. The continuity of government and military secret infrastructure is prepped... civilians are on their own... unless they have added power generators and solar panel systems to their underground and EMP shielded cache of electronics. If you have these two things ready to dig up and hook up to your personal infrastructure you are good to go... but then you need to think of security measures and ways to hide that you have electricity...

Hey mate,

Even with power generators at home, how would you fuel them?

You would need gas, or diesel, or ethanol. Things would be chaotic and I´m sure you wouldn´t be able to just buy fuel at gas stations.

Anyway, we´ve lived without electricity for thousands of years. It wouldn´t hurt to go back to the roots if needed.

Cheers,

Raf.

True that, solar power is the best way to go... but ONLY GET Diesel Generators... There are all kinds of recopies to make your own diesel... and they work well. Regular Petro/Gasoline can be substituted as well but they will not run as well... if at all on your home gas brew. Long term storage of fuel is problematic even if you use the products that keep them from separating/breaking down. Besides, at some point you are going to run out. It all depends on how big the event is and how long you have to hold out for infrastructure repairs. Anyone that has a few transformers stored in a safe place will become instantly wealthy. But, the solar panel and diesel generator way is the best plan… store as much fuel as you can and learn to make more. It is not a fun thing to brew… but it works in a pinch.

[RMorgan]

Hey mate,

Accordingly to the scientists, if a really disastrous CME happens, it would take years, if not decades to repair.

It´s not the case of "Oh, we have no electricity, let´s fix it!".

How do you repair stuff if no one has electricity? How do you extract oil? How do you convert oil to fuel?

With no electricity, we have no oil or any kind of combustive fuel. With no fuel, we have no machines. With no machines, the world as we know it will end, probably gone forever.

Even solar power! How would we build solar panels with no energy? We could build them in small scale, using small fixed electricity plants, but how long would it take to supply a whole country with them?

You can try to sum up all variables involved here for ten years, and you still wouldn´t be able the calculate to dimensions of this problem.

Cheers,

Raf.

[GoodETxSG]

True, it would all depend on the SCALE of the CME… the unprepared masses will be quite screwed... those w/a homestead and the resources can last a generation in somewhat comfort. The CME of that magnitude would damage people’s chromosomes and organs so badly that having a powered up lap top would be the last thing on their minds. The studies of the different classes of solar flares that would take down a whole continent or the whole planet would kill millions with the charged particles shooting through their bodies and then the rest would die of disease from bad drinking water and lack of medications and food. Like I said it all depends on the scale of the event. If you have no preparation you have no chance. Kind of a Boy Scout motto... The event you are describing would dramatically reduce the worlds populating and place humanity back in the dark ages... accept for a breakaway society like the government/military types as well as civilians that were prepared... makes you wonder if that has happened before and that is what some of the old stories are about.

[RMorgan]

Posted by GoodeTXSG (here)
True, it would all depend on the SCALE of the CME… the unprepared masses will be quite screwed... those w/a homestead and the resources can last a generation in somewhat comfort. The CME of that magnitude would damage people’s chromosomes and organs so badly that having a powered up lap top would be the last thing on their minds. The studies of the different classes of solar flares that would take down a whole continent or the whole planet would kill millions with the charged particles shooting through their bodies and then the rest would die of disease from bad drinking water and lack of medications and food. Like I said it all depends on the scale of the event. If you have no preparation you have no chance. Kind of a Boy Scout motto... The event you are describing would dramatically reduce the worlds populating and place humanity back in the dark ages... accept for a breakaway society like the government/military types as well as civilians that were prepared... makes you wonder if that has happened before and that is what some of the old stories are about.

I agree my friend. There are several levels of CME.

However, the sun is becoming quite agitated lately and I believe that if one relatively big CME happens, others will follow.

So, maybe, if we´re lucky, it wont be a huge global life devastating CME, but several small ones, which could affect the whole world or just a part of it.

It´s just a matter of when. It could be tomorrow or it could be 100, 200 years from now.

Cheers,

Raf.

[GoodETxSG]

VERY Sharp and well thought out points RMorgan... very good questions.

NOTE: These are all things I had to go through in many of my Military Associated jobs and training... Some examples are the Military Emergency Management Systems training and NIMS FEMA Training. Training covered everything from Hurricanes, Mass Casualties, Epidemics, Meteor Strikes and other threats from space... geese and all other kinds of freaky scenarios. It was creepy stuff but nice to know someone is thinking of how to respond to it all. There were some DARK topics but mostly survival of civilization...

[DouglasDanger]

Posted by RMorgan (here)
Hey mate,

Accordingly to the scientists, if a really disastrous CME happens, it would take years, if not decades to repair.

It´s not the case of "Oh, we have no electricity, let´s fix it!".

How do you repair stuff if no one has electricity? How do you extract oil? How do you convert oil to fuel?

With no electricity, we have no oil or any kind of combustive fuel. With no fuel, we have no machines. With no machines, the world as we know it will end, probably gone forever.

Even solar power! How would we build solar panels with no energy? We could build them in small scale, using small fixed electricity plants, but how long would it take to supply a whole country with them?

You can try to sum up all variables involved here for ten years, and you still wouldn´t be able the calculate to dimensions of this problem.

Cheers,

Raf.

We existed before electricity, this current version of electricity could be made again it is just a little over a hundred years old, ( a coil of copper wire with a magnet passed through or over it maybe magnets rotated in the copper coil, think electric generator but primativly) it would have to be an it is broke lets fix it attitude or convert back to an Amish life style choice. All this technology we have right now wasn't handed to us by some magical spagetti monster it was built on earth and could be built on earth again with time and patience.

[RMorgan]

Posted by DouglasDanger (here)

Posted by RMorgan (here)
Hey mate,

Accordingly to the scientists, if a really disastrous CME happens, it would take years, if not decades to repair.

It´s not the case of "Oh, we have no electricity, let´s fix it!".

How do you repair stuff if no one has electricity? How do you extract oil? How do you convert oil to fuel?

With no electricity, we have no oil or any kind of combustive fuel. With no fuel, we have no machines. With no machines, the world as we know it will end, probably gone forever.

Even solar power! How would we build solar panels with no energy? We could build them in small scale, using small fixed electricity plants, but how long would it take to supply a whole country with them?

You can try to sum up all variables involved here for ten years, and you still wouldn´t be able the calculate to dimensions of this problem.

Cheers,

Raf.

We existed before electricity, this current version of electricity could be made again it is just a little over a hundred years old, ( a coil of copper wire with a magnet passed through or over it maybe magnets rotated in the copper coil, think electric generator but primativly) it would have to be an it is broke lets fix it attitude or convert back to an Amish life style choice. All this technology we have right now wasn't handed to us by some magical spagetti monster it was built on earth and could be built on earth again with time and patience.

If chaos allows us to rebuild it...Things aren´t that simple.

As I´ve said before, in such a serious situation, you can´t expect people to behave politely, without food or water to supply the big urban centers.

Things get pretty messy.

Cheers,

Raf.

[mountain_jim]

I live pretty remotely, and have a gravity-fed spring for water, which I love. I realize if a nuke plant goes or whatever that may not stay good.

I have a mountain stream that has enough flow and drop to power a micro-hydropower system, but my house/land is not defensible (too many ways to hide and approach and such) and I would not be able to hide the fact I had power, so I have not invested in that.

edit: I also have not researched whether you can protect such a system's electronics from a major EMP pulse.

I have prepared to live awhile without electriciity, though I have not yet acquired a solar oven. I have a book on all the edible wild plants in my area, to supplement stores.

I tend to rely on the fact (edit - belief ) that I was led to be where I am, and if it's time for my container to go, I believe I have enough faith and understanding in what comes next to accept that.

I had believed a microwave with cord cut would work for CME small-electronics protection, after reading this thread I see that's not a sure thing.

[music]

Posted by truthseekerdan (here)
You might also try an old microwave oven for small electronics. Doesn't mean that it's going to work 100%, it depends on the severity of the CME. We might all fry...

JMHO

With the power cord removed

[Ammit]

I have a metal shed, I have laid metal on the floor and covered it for my comfort. The doors have an over lapping beading between them to ensure the gap is conductive, the shed is grounded with a copper earthing pole close by and all connected with big gauge copper wire.

I have rubber blocks that I can put my items onto.

Nothing must touch the metal of the protective enclosure..