FARADAY CAGE QUESTIONS

[XWrench3]

Hi, since we have a geomagnetic storm coming tomorrow, (yes, I know this one is NOT strong enough to fry electronics) it is finally motivating me to build a Faraday cage for a few of my electronics. But, since I have no experience or training in doing this, I have a few questions. #1) my initial thought was a metal trash can with a lid. but, my main computer will not fit inside of one. so either i am going to have to make a cage out of sheet metal, or something else conductive. #2) does the cage need to be air tight? If i am understanding this correctly, there has to be a path for the electric current to flow around the electronic equipment, and the equipment can not be touching the cage itself. so if i used the original cardboard box and Styrofoam as the insulator, could i wrap that in aluminum foil and tape it up completely and call that good? #3) does the cage have to be connected to a ground source? #4) would there be a lot of current (amps) in this electromagnetic pulse? or would this be a small little pulse that very few would even notice? or is it going to induce enough of an electrical current to start peoples homes on fire? if that is the case, there is no point in trying to save anything except my phone.

 

[Joe C]

I am no pro at this stuff... But I think if you just wrap your electronics in a metal screen (Brass or Aluminum) that will act as a Faraday cage. Your can get this screen at your local hardware store (ACE). Do not know if grounding would help but it surely would not hurt. Your cable tv/internet/phone line or your gas meter/electric meter already have a copper ground stake outside that you should be able to tap a ground wire into.

 

[XWrench3]

Thanks Joe. I thought that I had seen something about using screen many years ago. but it has been so long, that I did not want to trust my memory on this. I think I will run a ground cable also. its not that hard, and why chance it.