http://www.the7gs.ca/gear/a-massive-electromag%e2%80%8bnetic-pulse-could-collapse-the-economy-in-a-single-moment/

Do those big steel shops protect from EMP? I was thinking about buying one.

Hey Gunner,

The big steel shop with no windows, continuity from man and shop doors to the building with entrances facing north not to mention the structure being grounded ought to do it for a CME. It would be really hard to protect against a full blow EMP although if you had the same building layout north of ALL major cities the chances of protection would probably go up considerably. It's a bit like keeping a weasel out of a chicken coop. The bigger the coop gets, the better the chances of missing a small hole.

Might I suggest some reading to help everyone understand this topic a bit better? http://www.futurescience.com/emp.html

Hope this helps,
BTR

Edited to add a preppers view primer for safe electronics storage. This ought to clear up a lot of questions. http://www.futurescience.com/emp/emp-protection.html

You would need to have a metal floor, perfect conductivity on all six sides with no holes and no hyro or water services as these would act as an antenna.

Thanks for the info guys. Great topic.

I notice that most people believe that using a metal container would make a good faraday cage but I would suggest they do some electrical research. An EMP pulse or wave like a radio wave will not be stopped by a metal box. If you can put a radio in the metal container and still have it receive a station, how would you expect a wave 1000 times stronger be stopped.You must "absorb" both the electrical and the magnetic components of the EMP. The best way to do that is to have several layered cages of pure iron or nickle rod layered perpendicular to each other and then grounded.If I am misinformed about this please let me know. I am preparing and I just want to do it right. Thanks

My knowledge of faraday cages comes from my electrical background as well as first hand information from my dad. He was a radar technician for the Air Force back in the 60's and travelled to many installations including the DEW(distant early warning) stations in northern canada.He explained to me how they are protected from EMPS due to nuclear blasts.Like I said in my previous post do research! It would be a shame if the worst did happen and you end up with a metal box of fried radios.

While nested cages would be a method of preferred insurance a fully connectively sealed metal box will protect equipment in most cases. Some metals are better than others but Faraday cages do not have to be grounded.

would a metal filing cabinet work as a faraday cage as long as i use 3m conductive tape around the opening?

To some extent it would depend on the construction of filing cabinet. If all holes, gaps and open joints were thoroughly sanded down to bare metal and then sealed with 3M conductive tape it should be ok. However I can’t stress enough that the entire enclosure must be one continuous conductive entity.

I think if you really took a good look at a filing cabinet, you would see just how full of holes and gaps it is.
Ya, if you did a really bang up job at sealing it, I guess it could work, but I wouldn't be taking that kind of time and effort.
As an example, just look at the bottom...one big square hole to seal up!
I would imagine that buying a galvanized trash can and some conductive tape would be less expensive and less time consuming that trying to make a filing cabinet work.

So we might have a chance of test our theories today, Because there has been a solar flare ejected our way with a 40% chance of a CME giving us a glancing blow. Such as what happened to Quebec in 89. 😈

Huh, funny...I have 3 websites set to email me warnings and haven't gotten anything about it yet...just lots of little flares over the past week or so.

SpaceWeather.com

Lots of great idea's in this thread.

Question: Solar powered equipment and EMP's. Would electronics such as solar powered radio's, Solar powered lights be effected by EMP's?

I imagine the electronics would get fried regardless, but as solar panels don't really involve much electronics would they be destroyed as well?

I'd love to build a Faraday cage, if for nothing else, just emergency radio's and solar powered lighting systems, but I have to admits the whole thing is a little overwhelming and I'm not even sure where to start. I've done a little online reserach and most of the "Effective" faraday cage designs are out of reach of the average working class smuck. If metal garbage cans lined with cardboard/plastic and old microwaves to do work as mentioned in this thread could they simply be placed in a basement and still be effective or would they have to be grounded?