# Batteries & Solar Flare



## shawn (Mar 18, 2012)

Do I need to put batteries and battery operated things in a faraday box for a Solar Flare or EMP?


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## PrepN4Good (Dec 23, 2011)

I have, but I don't consider myself an expert. I've had various people who _claim_ they are experts give me conflicting information, so I've gone with "better safe than sorry." FWIW. :scratch


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

Untill all the experts agree 100% on exactly what a emp or solar flare will do I keep everything electronic including the batteries or at least spares of everything in a faraday cage. Most will say the batteries should be ok but there is too much dissention among the ranks on what will happen what won't happen I figure to be safe rather than sorry


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Thanks to some gleaned advice on this forum, I took our old microwave into my man cave and use it to store all my batteries. Then I got a second one to store my electronic optics (for guns) and two way radios. Broken microwaves are pretty easy to find and are generally free. I tested mine by putting a cell phone inside of them and then trying to call it. No signal and no reception = passed the test. They say to make them more EMP proof you need to wrap them in metallic tape or something, but I am happy with them as is.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

From my own research into faraday cages and EMP and batteries and such ....


Rechargable batteries of the automotive variety seem to handle the EMP burst well enough - meaning that they continue to hold a charge properly and do not explode (unless they are already defective in some way).

Small rechargeable batteries of the household variety (for flashlights and such) seem to be just fine as long as they are sitting on a shelf doing nothing at all - not connected to anything.

Small rechargeable batteries in small electronics (like in cell-phones, MP3 players, GPS and such) might die, but, unsure if it is the whole circuits that are also killed.

Small motors (like a 12-volt fan motor in a car) seems to be able to run properly after a test/controlled EMP burst

Some testing has found some lower quality LEDs to burn out. Incandescent bulbs have rarely burned out, and, in testing, have not burned out when sitting on a shelf in a package.

Distance from an EMP-burst minimizes damage - meaning an EMP burst over San Francisco will not impact those living in the Dakotas. Low-altitude EMP has a smaller impact-zone than a high-altitude EMP.

A man-made EMP burst that could take out NorthAmerica would need between 40 and 60 detonations at the same time in all regions (north, south, east, west, central, etc). Solar-flare could do something similar, but, only to the "day-side" of the planet, in other words, if the flare centers on Australia, it would most likely miss England ...


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## musketjim (Dec 7, 2011)

Excellent post on the amount of EMP detonations required to really shut everything down, but I wonder about the interconnectivity of the power grid i.e. problems in Oklahoma cascading into a neighboring state. Here in Alaska we're the end of the chain so any problems in America will definitely affect us up here, shipping food, goods etc. As a state we need to be more self-sufficient which breaks down to individual preparedness since few states are prepped. EMP is just another item to prepare for and although there are good tips on here, microwave etc. it's just so diificult to prepare for every eventuality, so while it's on my list it's not very high.


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

Batteries work on a chemical reaction that would not be affected by an EMP. In general its circuit boards that are vulnerable to EMP.


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

NaeKid said:


> Distance from an EMP-burst minimizes damage - meaning an EMP burst over San Francisco will not impact those living in the Dakotas. Low-altitude EMP has a smaller impact-zone than a high-altitude EMP.
> 
> A man-made EMP burst that could take out NorthAmerica would need between 40 and 60 detonations at the same time in all regions (north, south, east, west, central, etc). Solar-flare could do something similar, but, only to the "day-side" of the planet, in other words, if the flare centers on Australia, it would most likely miss England ...


I don't believe either of these statements are true. EMP is caused by radiation which travels in a straight line until it hits an object it can not penetrate or a field which re-directs it. Like X-rays, the gamma rays essentially continue on forever. EMP weapon theory holds that the higher elevation the larger the effect (ergo distance up actually increases impact), this is because as you reach higher elevations the curve of the earth is less and less of a sheild, and because above 20KM you hit the magnetic field lines of the Earth as the diagram notes.


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

According to the reading I have done I"m with Padre here at least three different sources I found spoke to the ability to affect over 90% of America with a detonation at the ? ionosphere? above Kansas City it would also have effects well into canada and mexico. Think they were extrapolationg froma 200KT device if I remember right. But I did see lots of stuff questioning that as well. After over a week of solid reading All I know for SURE is NOBODY KNOWS FOR SURE.For every person that tries to throw up a fact there woud be another to call that fact into question. OH and as for only circuit boards being efected most agree that that is incorrect as The pulse being picked up in the "accidental antennae" of the power lines, shallow underground cabels etc would could and have caused burnout of generation motors, and other components plugged into the grid whether operating or not. The only instance this can be verified is in Hawaii after the late 60's or early 70's testing I forget exact date now but that test knocked out the much newer and simple grib for a portion of Hawaii. 

Since nobody seems to be certain of anything I choose to make the best nested faraday cages I can to keep every possible electronic device and spare parts in as well as any batteries chargers etc in hopes that the faraday cages work as several sources theorize and more of my gadgets will survive for longer. But I also think it prident to have low tech solutions for as many of those gadgets as possible as my "cages" may fail and even the items thought to be survivable will not. At any rate it sa sure thing they will all eventually wear out anyway so having back up andbackups for your backups is always a good idea anyway.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

True that radiation travels in a straight line, just like light travels in a straight line, but, light can be "bent" go around stuff (like using a mirror or a prism). From my understanding, a man-made EMP burst at a high altitude would be kind of like an balloon popping. It scatters the field in all directions, but, in all the directions it will be a straight line till it finds a way to be bent.

Automatically, over 1/2 of the EMP burst would be heading into outter-space and that will not affect any part of the planet which leaves us with just a little bit that could hit the planet. Mountain-tops (like the Rockies) could deflect the EMP-burst in such a way that those near the bottoms of the valleys may not have direct contact with the burst.

I did some quick math using my AutoCAD here at work. A burst at about 20 miles up, approx. 400kms or 250miles of land below the burst would be directly affected by the EMP with the strongest burst being about 230kms or 140miles in diameter below the burst. That is what I calculate the line-of-sight to be. From that "pin-point" affected zone, it can radiate via the copper lines outwards. Attached is a copy of my quick-n-dirty sketch ... 


That is the good part.

What is bad is, like some of you have said, we are tied together in a grid of power-lines. Those power-lines can direct the burst outside the direct hit of the EMP-burst, but, it will only affect those who are near the lines and those who are tied into the lines.

For our members who live on solar-power that live in the remote reaches of North America will only need to worry about a direct EMP-burst. So, for someone who is living in the middle of the Rockies, near the bottom of the valley, without any power lines within a couple of miles of home, who uses a sat-dish for internet access and cell-phones for communication will only need to worry about a burst that is "visually" overhead.

FiberOptics (used for long-distance data transmission) will not carry the EMP burst. It is only the above-ground CopperLines that are not sufficiently grounded that will easily carry the EMP signal and destroy anything attached to the grid. The bonus is that the power-grid that supplies power to Stockholm, CA is not directly tied to the power-grid that supplies power to NewYorkCity.

I am not saying that there is nothing to worry about, in fact, there is much to worry about, but, it would take a serious assault on NorthAmerica to create enough of an EMP-field to take everything out at the same time. By the time that happens, I am sure that whatever country that decides to send the burst over NorthAmerica would be turned into a parking-lot. We have our military placed all over the world - it wouldn't take very long to figure out who did it and respond in an appropriate way.

That my friends .. is still all just theory. I can't wait for the actual test :beercheer:


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

And of course the OP was asking about solar flare which as I understand it is somewhat similar to the man made burst. Also for the out of line of sight thing some theorize that the earths magnetic feild however many miles up will indeed help to bend the flare or a man made pulse around the planet to the dark side. It has been a couple months since I was doing my reading though and I think only part of the three part pulse will carry around that way. And parts are a direct line of site type thing. whichever part carries around with the Earths Magnetic feild is supposed to be protected against using a farday cage or more exactly a nested faraday cage. What gets me is what is good for a cage and what isn't at least a couple studies I was reading says a mesh with holes smaller than 3/8 of a inch is suficient Some say a more tight weave of about 1/4 inch I personally like aluminum sheet or in my case foil because it's cheap. I ran short of money for my aluminum large lidded trays so I"m figuring to move some para flares and stuff out of my two biggest ammo cans and use them instead line them with cardboard and put my current two or three layer faraday boxes in them as the foil is pretty delicate for on the shelf storage. I"m also figuring out a bed side farday cage I can keep my kindle in and open and close regularly so I can use my kindle and still have it protected when it's not being read or charged. and maybe my EDC light and the Laser on my NAA Mini Mag revolver I hate having some of that stuff boxed up out of reach yet hate the idea of doing without it in a aftermath too.


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