# Manny Edwards - Emp proofing 101!



## jro1 (Mar 3, 2014)

Protect Your Electronics From an EMP
By SnoMan on 6 May 2014 in Survival Tips

Electromagnetic pulses occur at various frequencies depending on how they’re caused, and you need various strategies to protect your electronics.
EMP Bullet Points

You don’t need a Faraday cage to protect small electronics from EMPs caused by lightning or solar flares. These EMPs cause damage by driving voltage spikes into things that are plugged into your electrical outlets.
A Faraday cage is necessary to protect electronics from a nuclear EMP, which occurs at short wavelengths that can couple energy into integrated circuits and “fry” them.
The components to be protected must be completely enclosed in the Faraday cage.
The components inside the cage must be electrically isolated from the conductive material of the cage; wrap them in a towel or a rubber material, or set them on an old mouse pad.
You must not have any gaps larger than about 1 millimeter.
You may use a wire mesh to build your cage, as long as the mesh is smaller than 1 millimeter.
You do not need to ground the cage.


EMP In-Depth Explanation

Faraday cages are not necessary to protect small electronics from solar coronal mass ejections (solar flares) or lightning, because they occur at low frequencies (long wavelengths) which can’t couple energy into small circuits, unless long wires are entering the system. The best protection is simply to unplug them, or use high voltage surge protectors.

Lightning strikes and solar flares create EMPs at frequencies ranging from 3 Hz to 30 KHz, which is far too low a frequency to couple directly with your small electronics. The wavelengths involved range from several miles to 100,000 miles in length, so they can’t couple with the short wiring circuits in a cell phone, a thumb drive, or a radio. However, they do couple with long power lines and create huge voltage surges which are transmitted through power cables connected to the electrical grid, so if you have something plugged into the power outlet in your wall, it can be damaged. The best protection is to unplug your electronics, but use a surge protector in case you’re not there to unplug everything.

A nuclear EMP, on the other hand, can damage electronic devices by coupling energy with their integrated circuits. These occur at frequencies of around 1 GHz, which corresponds to a wavelength of .3 meters, or about 1 foot. Cell phones, computers, thumb drives, and even some modern flashlights are vulnerable. LED bulbs are vulnerable. To protect them, you need a Faraday cage. In this context, a Faraday cage is a container made of conductive material that completely surrounds your electronics.

Because of the so-called skin effect, the conductive material can be very thin. You can make your own Faraday cage by placing your electronics in a cardboard box and wrapping the box with heavy-duty aluminum foil, which is about 24 microns thick. It is important to completely wrap the box. Very small gaps are OK, but to offer protection, they must be significantly smaller than the wavelength of the EMP; in the case of a nuclear EMP, the greatest gap you want is about 1 millimeter.

A microwave oven will offer excellent protection. Modern ovens operate at a frequency of 2.45 GHz, and their built-in shielding will exclude all frequencies below that, including nuclear EMPs.

Faraday cages do not need to be grounded.
Small Electronics Vulnerable to a Nuclear EMP

Thumb drive with critical information
Cell phone
Laptop
Emergency radio
Flashlight. One thing I neglected to mention in the video is that LED bulbs are highly susceptible to EMP damage. Add to the the fact that many modern flashlights have electronic circuits that control the output, and your flashlight is definitely an item you want to protect.
Car “brains.” Unless you intend to build a Faraday cage in your garage, your only option is to have a vehicle that is entirely mechanical, like the old 12-valve Cummins Dodges. Even they had some electronic components, but none of them are required to start and run the engine. The fuel shutdown solenoid can easily be replaced with a choke cable.

Make Your Own Faraday Cage

In the video, I demonstrate a DIY Faraday cage made from a cardboard box and heavy duty aluminum foil. It must be heavy duty foil, which is 24 microns thick, and I use two layers just to be sure.

Choose a cardboard box large enough to hold the items you want to protect.
Place the items inside and isolate them from the container with a towel or rubberized material.
Include a pack of desiccant to absorb moisture.
Wrap with two layers of heavy duty (24-micron) aluminum foil.
Tape shut to hold the foil tight, avoiding gaps.

Other suitable Faraday cages:

Metal trash can.
Ammo box. Close the gaps around the lid with metal tape or aluminum foil.
Altoids can for thumb drives and SD cards.
Old microwave oven.
Anti static bags offer some protection, and those certified to MIL-PRF-8170 or MIL-PRF-131 offer the most. Avoid Mylar like that used in metalized food storage bags. The aluminum is only 6 microns thick — too thin.

Resources:

The EMP Threat: Fact, Fiction, and Response – a technical paper discussing EMP threat from nuclear devices and solar flares

Skin Depth Calulator — to determine how thick your conductive material must be in your Faraday cage

~SnoMan


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## jro1 (Mar 3, 2014)

Sorry, you will have to visit his website for the video!


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## MrsInor (Apr 15, 2013)

I hope there isn't going to be an exam on this. My remembery isn't too good lately.


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## jro1 (Mar 3, 2014)

here is the link to his site!
Survival News Online |


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Before my brother (electrical engineer designing X-ray equipment) died I asked him about EMPs. He told me to get an old time tube operated radio and stash it away. Then he told me to search for Jerry Emanuelson B.S.E.E. Here is the site I found. He goes into good detail and also covers Solar Storms.
Electromagnetic Pulse Protection - EMP - Futurescience.com


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

Thank you, paraquack. That was an excellent article. I can see gaping holes in my own preps after reading it. My Faraday cans are fine, I believe for the radios, batteries, and flashlights. I've tested them with the AM and FM radio stations. But..... the solar panels for my solar generator, and the generator itself, are another story. The article covered most all the bases, but did not address a solar generator. I assume it will be vulernable. But.... it also needs to be plugged in to maintain full charge and battery, which means a Faraday cage will not protect it. I am open to ideas. Any one else have a solar generator and how are you protecting it?

PS: Our AZ governor just signed a law requiring the State Dept to prepare materials to educate the public on what supplies (food, water, medical) each AZ family needs to stockpile in order to prepare for an EMP event. Hmmmmmm. It's coming, folks. http://legiscan.com/AZ/text/SB1476/2014


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

The following is a quote from one of Jerry Emanuelson B.S.E.E. articles. "If you have solar panels that are now in use, you can obtain some EMP protection by proper shielding and transient protection on the wires going to the panels, and by surrounding the panels with aluminum wire cloth (also known as hardware cloth). Aluminum wire cloth is somewhat difficult to find, but it is available. Aluminum wire cloth with openings of 0.4 to 0.5 inches will not only supply a certain amount of EMP protection, but can provide some protection against larger hailstones that can cause damage in severe weather. The wire cloth will block some of the sunlight, but the right size of wire cloth will block less than 15 to 25 percent of the sunlight. If you are making a new solar panel system, some consideration should be given to putting the solar panels inside of a cage made of aluminum wire cloth. This is much easier to do during the original installation. The cage of aluminum wire cloth should completely surround the panels. If your solar panels are mounted just above the ground (as opposed to a rooftop system), don't make the mistake of assuming that the soil below is a mystical perfect ground into which EMP magically vanishes. In a ground-mounted solar panel system, the wire cloth enclosure needs to go underneath the system, preferably underground.

Remember that in a complete solar photovoltaic system, the inverters and battery chargers, as well as the solar panels, need to have proper shielding and transient protection.

The best solution for shielding a solar panel is 20 mesh, high-transparency, aluminum or stainless steel wire mesh. Since this is a product that currently has to be made to order, the best alternative for most people may be the 8 mesh galvanized steel hardware cloth with 27 gauge wires. This is available from some of the Internet suppliers of wire mesh. An 8 mesh hardware cloth will let through some of the higher frequency components of nuclear EMP, but unless you receive a maximally effective EMP strike, this material should protect a solar panel. Unless you can afford to have some of the 20 mesh, high-transparency, wire mesh custom-made, the EMP protection of your installed solar panels will be a matter of compromise using less than optimal solutions, but solutions that are likely to work in most cases.

The wire mesh used for shielding should be either welded mesh or galvanized mesh.



The high-transparency stainless steel mesh, pictured above in front of a computer screen, is a 3-inch x 3-inch piece of 50 mesh stainless steel wire cloth. It is what is between the two strips of brown tape.
If you plan to use solar cells or battery power, you will probably want to keep a small inverter under shielding. Inverters that can step up ordinary 12 volt DC power to a few hundred watts of household AC are not terribly expensive. For people who own protected photovoltaic solar cells, a number of DC-powered appliances have recently become available. There are also a number of DC appliances that are designed for recreational vehicles, but that can be used elsewhere. Transient protection (capable of reacting to the fast E1 pulse) must be supplied on the electronic components of any solar cell system, such as the inputs and outputs of charge controllers and inverters. Any wire runs of any length should be shielded.

If you're trying to protect an existing solar panel system, protecting the wiring (even if it is shielded) from transients will require the services of someone knowledgeable in EMP transient protection. In most cases, the most economical solution is to keep spare components, especially inverters and charge controllers, stored under electromagnetic shielding.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

Yup, I read it - about solar panels. I am talking about a portable solar generator. It is not attached to solar panels at this point. It is simply plugged into the wall outlet to keep it charged. I guess the part about transient protection would apply, but I have no idea what that entails.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Let me just remind everyone that in the event of a nuclear EMP (HEMP) that any electronics not in a multi-layer protective container will be toast.
That lap top on the table - the new clothes and dish washer, the dryer, fridge and oven will all be toast - they have electronics in them and whether or not they are plugged in the HEMP will destroy the electronics.

The solar EMP will only affect the power grid and those appliances that are connected to it IF the power company does not disconnect from the larger grid.

Your laptop will be fine and if you have the presence of mind to kill the power in your home then all your appliances will be fine.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

al foil, really???..... its a good conductor but its got 0 magnetic properties... 

a steal trash can is the best home made alternative I have ever herd of and any noob can earth it..... 

as from memory what your trying to prevent is the electromagnetic serge that's used to generate electricity... and the Faraday cage captures the magnetic field and the cage takes the electric charge and therefore protecting your device...

correct me if I'm wrong??


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

An EMP is ELECTRO MAGNETIC pulse. It is the E waves (induced electric currents) that do the damage to Integrated Circuits and do the damages. The M waves don't seem to be talked about very much, so I assume they aren't much of a problem. From my readings, the skin effect of any metal covering (complete cover of the protected item with no gaps) insulated from the item will do the trick. I have read that multiple skins of metal with insulation in between the layers of metal is best. Since most metals conduct electricity, steel garbage cans will work provided there are no gaps. The best recommendation I saw was copper foil.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

from my understanding is the theory behind protecting against a emp is the same as using a transformer to steep up or steep down electricity, as a emp (nuke) is so powerful that the a single strand of wire is enough to transfer that energy into electricity that's strong enough to fry all the ics transistors etc, so a Faraday cage takes the magnetic field, transfers it to the damaging electricity and therefore protecting your electronic goods that's one of the reasons why earthing your Faraday cage is important, to discharge the build up of electricity

the biggest issue that I have is misinformation, there is so much of it on this topic that bugger all makes any sense.... but from what I gather a emp is a magnetic waveform, that is the exact same waveform we use to generate modern mains electricity from nuclear to coal


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

EMP = *Electro* Magnetic pulse. Everything I have read deals with the induced currents (and their voltages) produced that are strong enough to damage ICs, etc., rather than the magnetic properties of an EMP. Literally speaking these currents flow across the metal foil and don't flow through the IC's if shielded. Radio waves are EM waves not just a fast pulse. Radio wave as well as EMPs have a magnetic component and an electrical component. It is the electrical component, the voltage that although some what small is still way over what an IC can deal with and survive. Imagine taking a flashlight bulb designed for 1 battery and connecting it to a car battery. In a blinding flash the metal of the filament is vaporized. Basically the micro circuits of an IC are vaporized the same way. The microwave oven is essentially a Faraday cage in reverse. It is designed to keep the harmful electromagnet wave inside the oven and prevent injury to the people near it. That is why radios cease to receive radio signals on the inside. Try it yourself, put your cell phone inside a microwave oven and then try calling it. It will will not ring. How can that be, I can see thru the door. The tiny holes are less than 1 mm diameter, are designed to prevent UHF frequencies around 2.5 GHZ to 3 GHZ from passing thru, way too small for the slightly larger radio waves (1.9 GHZ to 2.5 GHZ) from the cell tower to pass thru. Since the pulse of an EMP will probably have frequencies that could be higher and smaller than the operating frequencies of microwave ovens. So, a microwave oven could act as an emergency Faraday cage. It is also why the metal foil wrap should not have any gaps that might let the smaller frequencies of an EMP into the electronic device you are trying to protect. And just in case, the pundits recommend multiple layers of foil wrap with and insulating barrier between the layers of metal foil.

I am *no expert*! I have read many articles on the subject over the years. I am simply trying to paraphrase what I have read. Try this link http://www.futurescience.com/emp/emp-protection.html. It seems to put everything into understandable terms. 
If you want some light reading, try these. I am not finished with the first one yet. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1656/1
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1553/1
http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/pes/pubs/ferc_Meta-R-320.pdf
http://www.futurescience.com/emp/ferc_Meta-R-321.pdf


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

is that a copy and paste paraquack?? didn't clear much up
outside microwave ovens that do leak (go grab a tester and test yours or look up acceptable standards by your communications authority) 

and yes is acceptable for that theory as the same you don't microwave metal (well you can, but it builds a electrical charge and boom) but hey, there is more a electrical theory to emp damage than the magnetic field.... I love to be corrected on this... as no other side of a emp makes any sense at all unless it generates a electrical charge in a device causing the overload, and vacuum tubes are less sensitive to massive changes in voltage, yet digital technologies have very little tolerance and easy to fry......

and seeing aluminum as the primary "shielding" for a cage has my alarm bells ringing... but my understanding of physics and level of education must be too far out when a material with non magnetic properties, a grate conductor (never seen it used in transformers tho, I believe copper is still the main material used) 

I understand this is about emp proofing... and without asking questions or trying to clear up misconceptions there is no point me being here

edit: aluminum is used in cheap high voltage transformers (I had to re check that point)


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

I will have a good read paraquack, thanks for that, I have started on the top link and it reads like a "fear" story... 

I still don't see how aluminum delivers the required shielding but will need to look into it more...


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

First - that steel trash can doesn't seal well enough to be EMP (E-1 pulse) proof - not even close!
you still have to insulate the interior.

Next - HD Aluminum foil is heavy enough to conduct most of the pulse around the things inside as long as you use an insulation material around the components inside and between the three layers of foil. Double fold the seams to make a tight seal.

You go ahead and use that trash can - it will hold your gear just fine after you are hit with an E-1 pulse - a fitting place for what you will have left.

PS: The trash can will work fine in the event of a solar EMP - there is nothing there to protect your electronics from.


Electrical conductivity of different metals: annealed copper is rated at 100 - the higher the number the better the cunduction

silver - 106
copper - 100
gold - 65
aluminum - 59
zinc - 28
steel - 3 to 15 depending on alloy

Silver would be the best but it is real expensive for the application
Copper is a close second but still rather expensive
Gold is out of most price ranges and silver would be better and cheaper
aluminum is adequate and inexpensive - the best choice by far
Zinc is not a very good conductor and would take more than twice the surface area as aluminum
Steel is a lousy conductor in any alloy and would cost many times more than silver to make adequate protection

The E-1 pulse from an HEMP (the ONLY source known) is an electromagnetic pulse - like light, radio waves, x-rays and all forms of radiation. When it comes in contact with a conductive surface it generates extremely high voltages - on the order of 1,000,000 to 50,000,000 volts per meter. The voltage is higher at ground level and slightly below ground level than it is at higher altitudes because more electrons are available to be misplaced (excited) at denser atmospheres. 

The conversion from magnetic to electrical energy is virtually the same as an rf transformer only at an extreme velocity.(higher frequency)


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