<< I've heard of guys soldering a hose fitting to the end of the
copper pipe, and hooking up the garden hose to it, and just
working it into the ground by shoving and wiggling it around.
I've never tried it, but it should work. 73
Tom W7WHY>>
This is how I did it for a lightning protection ground system. I
chose 10 foot sections of 3/4" type L (heavy wall) common copper
water pipe (about 80 cents/foot) for both radials and ground rods.
This pipe provides lots of smooth copper surface area for low
impedance, yet enough total copper cross section for current-carrying
capacity. I have 6 rods connected with 3 radials from the tower base.
Sink the ground rod pipes by making them into water drills. Flatten
one end to form a nozzle with about a 1/8" elongated opening. Solder
a garden hose adaptor assembly on the other end. I used 2 90 degree
street els, a pipe thread adaptor, a 1/4" lever valve, and a garden
hose adaptor in my assembly. Using the 30-40 psi water from my well
pump, and twisting the pipe like a drill bit, back-and-forth, while
pushing down, I was able to sink each 10 foot pipe in less that 5
minutes.
Don't sway the pipe side-to-side, or you will make the hole too
wide. Use the minimum valve opening to make it work, so you don't
wash out too much dirt and compromise the contact between the pipe
and ground.
Then, cut off the water, cut off the pipe with a tubing cutter just
below the adaptor assembly, and carefully desolder the stub so you
can reuse the assembly on the next rod.
--...MARK_N1LO...--
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