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 point. I leave an 1/8" hole in the end and
fold the smashed sides over the tube. At about 6" intervals I cross drill
the tube with a 1/16" drill bit, offsetting each hole by 90 degrees up the
length of the pipe. I cover the holes with a piece of duct tape wrapped
around the tube with the loose end folded to form a pull tab. The end of the
tube is soldered to a T connector in the middle to form a handle. Stubs of
tube with the ends flattened and soldered are used as the hand grips. One of
the end tubes has an adapter to a hose connection.
Attach this mess to a garden hose and turn on the water.
Push the pointy end into the ground until you are just able to pull it up
and expose the lowest piece of duct tape. Pull the tape off and push back
into the ground.
Continue until the tube is in the ground as far as you want.
If it only goes in a foot or so before the ground becomes too hard to go
much further (Heavy Clay/Caliche) then just turn the water pressure down a
bit and let it sit. The ground WILL soften and then you can continue.
I have been able to put a full 10' length of copper pipe in the ground up to
the handles in as few as 10 minutes. If the ground is tough (Caliche) it
took over night. Dripped it for 10 hours and then turned up the pressure and
drilled it down about half way. Repeat the process and left it in for 4
hours more and finished the job.
Beats the heck out of working your butt off pounding thru that stuff.
In fact, my last ground pipe I used for my vertical antenna mount was done
the same way with another aquatic drill.
Dripped over night, made the hole in 10 minutes..Done.
Mike Baker K7DD
K7dd@cox.net
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Grant Saviers
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 8:02 AM
To: Jim Lux; towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Copper Pipe Ground Rods - Driving them in - How ?
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 can get a ground
rod drive bit that fits over the end of the rod. If you have several rods
to drive they are a worthwhile tool to rent at your local rental yard. (or
find an electrician that will loan you his) I doubt that a lesser hammer
drill has enough power and mass to drive a rod through any challenging
soils. While you will be on a stepladder with a fairly heavy tool, it's a
lot better than swinging a sledge hammer from that height!
Grant KZ1W
http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-11240-16-Inch-SDS-Max-Combination/dp/B0000695HG/
ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1306335451&sr=8-13
On 5/25/2011 6:16 AM, Jim Lux wrote:
> On 5/25/11 5:28 AM, Dan Bookwalter wrote:
>> 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 copper
>> pipe into the ground , I have access to a 1/2" hammer drill , but ,
>> the pipe is too large for that , I am going to check into a ground
>> rod bit for it , but , I am still not so sure if that will work.
>>
> 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 wire? Inductance is
> roughly the same, and the increased AC resistance from skin effect is
> small compared to the inductive voltage drop. Then you can use
> standard clamps/exothermic welding, etc.
>
> Unless you happen to have flashing, then, by all means, use it.
>
>
> (Flashing is good for RF grounds where you want to minimize power
> losses, but in a lightning protection situation, the power dissipation
> in the conductor isn't a huge deal)
> _______________________________________________
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