[TowerTalk] Grounding

[Jim Heath]

>
>This is a little bit of a stretch for the tower group, but a lot of you
gave
>me great advice on proper grounding systems...so this IS related. Since
last
>night the lights have been flickering dramatically so I shut off all the
>gear and TV's etc. I plugged in a Radio Shack voltage meter (not looking
for
>super-accuracy) and watched the needle swinging from the normal 117 up to
>150volts (!!) and back again. Over and over. Power company was just here
and
>it turns out our house ground must have gone bad. He told us that the
ground
>at our pole (at the road) was bad, too. This as you know is catastrophic if
>lightning hit. He had a house last month where lightning went from
appliance
>to appliance. His recommendation was that we sink an additional two 8 foot
>rods where the power enters the house. And from being on this group, I know
>EXACTLY how the electrician should make and weather-proof the proper
>connection. Oy, it's always something.

As a former building inspector, I have seen many loose ground connections.
Check that first.  See if you can follow the grounding cable from the panel
to the grounding electrode.  You may have a Ufer ground; that is a rebar in
the foundation stem wall with a few inches stick out.  You may also find
that the cable is connected to the water supply piping which may, or may
not, provide a path to ground.

We were hit here a few years ago and lost a bunch of stuff despite a Ufer
ground, ground rod and bonding to the water piping to our well.

Good luck,

Jim Heath KB6SX
High Sierra Antennas

>
>Jim Mulvey - KS1A
>
>
>--
>FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
>Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
>Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
>Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com
>Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
>
>


--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm