Ok , I have most of my ground system planned out , my plan is to use copper pipe (type "L") and silver solder flashing to them from the tower etc... my issue is how in the world do you guys drive cop
Dan, Check with your local rental store. I rented a hammer drill to pound in 35 of my 5/8" ground rods. In this south Georgia clay, it took a 25lb hammer to get them all the way into the ground! They
This works. http://www.eham.net/articles/23198 I soldered male adapters onto my pipe, and used a hose bib adapter. 73! -Adam _______________________________________________ __________________________
You can try hooking the pipe up to a water hose. The flowing water will soften and move the soil away as you push the pipe down into the ground.. I have read of this being done. Mark N1UK ___________
Any particular reason why you're using pipe rather than rods? The rods are copper plated steel and usually much cheaper, as well as being easier to drive. As far as flashing goes, why not use copper
Unless the ground is very soft, the copper pipe will mushroom and not drive in, so a regular ground rod is the way to go as Jim mentioned. For SDS and spline hammer/chipper drills (e.g. Bosch), you c
Another way to deal with the driving a rod thing, if you want the sledgehammer approach. Get a short piece of iron pipe that fits over the rod (a 4-6" nipple will work) and a matching pipe cap. Put t
copper pipe (type "L") and silver solder flashing to them from the tower etc... It all sounds okay except the soldering - don't do it. Any transient will melt the solder and then you don't have a gro
Hi Steve, I think that he said that he is using silver solder....which is mainly copper, some silver and some self fluxing material. This is what I used but don't apply any heat to the tower leg. Cla
I pounded on one end of the copper pipe so that the edges went together into sort of a flat point. That worked pretty well. The ground was loam for about 18 in., then sand below that. It went in easi
For SDS+ you can also buy a 0.5in sq socket adapter (eg www.screwfix.com/p/sds-plus-nut-driver/16662). The flat end makes a good hammer for driving rods, and you can add a socket of just the right si
"exothermic welding" is what's required. I think suitable "hard solder" or "braze" is probably ok. What you really don't want is soft solder. There's a NASA Unified Facilities Guide Specification (UF
and it's not like you need a particularly low conductivity or solid conductor (skin effect and all that). The copper clad steel is a good solution: mechanically rugged, cheap, etc Watch out for those
One method I have used for years is to use water to drill the hole just ahead of the pipe. I smash the end of a piece of 3/4 inch copper at an angle towards the center so it forms a flattened sort of
Depends on the type of ground. Cemented hard pan will not soften even if you let it soak for a month. Rick N6RK _______________________________________________ _______________________________________