[TowerTalk] Power ground

[Gene Smar]

Collin:

     Just something to think about - Go out tomorrow and tighten each of the
acorn bolts on your ground rods.  You'll probably find that you can snug
each of them at least a bit (i.e., noticeably.)  These things come loose
with temperature cycling over time.

     When we (I and my colleagues at the local power company) designed
ground systems for our power substations, we ALWAYS spec'd thermowelded
connections to the grounding electrodes (NEC-speak for ground rods.)  We
wanted an extremely reliable connection at this critical point in the
grounding system.

     If you wish to change out the acorns for a thermowelded connection, I'd
recommend One-Shots by Cadweld.  They're pretty cheap (about $7 each around
the D.C. area) and you never have to reinspect them or maintain them if
they're installed properly.

73 de
Gene Smar  AD3F

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <N4TUA at aol.com>
To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 4:15 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Power ground


> Hello Group,
> Here in my local area our power company recommends a ground electrode
system as (3) 8' ground rods in a triangle pattern 18 feet on each side with
bare copper wire of suitable size connecting them all together and to the
service neutral connection point. That is all. I put in #2 bare copper wire
with no joints and compression type acorn clamps at each rod.
>
> May be over kill but it worked for my inspector.
>
> Collin, N4TUA
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