[TowerTalk] Cadwelding and grounding nightmare

[Gene Smar]

Peter:

     Jerry speaks the truth.  A rented trencher, like a Ditchwitch, would 
make short work of your trenching project.  I dug trenches for my grounding 
wires and for my conduit system in one day with a rental.

     Jerry is also correct in suggesting that the molten shot is running out 
of the holes in the (I assume) One-shot Cadweld molds.  I had the same 
problem with the first one I tried.  After I cut off the half-welded top of 
the ground rod and fixed a second ceramic mold on top of it, I sealed the 
holes for the side wires and around the rod itself, underneath the mold, 
with electrician's putty (available at Home Despot, Lowe's, etc.)  I did 
twelve welds successfully thereafter.

     Good luck with the project.


73 de
Gene Smar  AD3F


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "K4SAV" <RadioIR at charter.net>
To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2007 5:35 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Cadwelding and grounding nightmare


> Sounds like the molten metal is running out the holes around the wires
> or around the ground rod if it doesn't fit tightly.  You can pack it
> with sand to prevent this.  The trenching can be difficult if the
> digging is done manually.  Renting a trencher can make it much simpler.
> Putting in the ground rods is the most difficult part.  You said you
> have already done this?  That does make the trenching a little harder,
> avoiding the ground rods then manually digging out around them.
>
> Jerry
>
> Peter Dougherty wrote:
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>This is a desperate plea for help from Northern NJ. I need to get a
>>major cadweld-grounding project completed, and as events of this
>>weekend have proven, this is not a task neither I nor my xyl are
>>physically capable of performing. It almost ended up with me in the
>>hospital and my wife ready to take off permanently. I am NOT joking
>>about this, either. Yes, the fight was THAT bad. It's just the two of
>>us here. I'm in bad condition physically and can't be outside in heat
>>for more than an hour or so, and she can only do so much to help.
>>
>>I have the ground rods down and mapped out but trenching out where
>>the wires are supposed to run and properly firing off the cadweld
>>shots turned out to be a massive and expensive waste of time, effort
>>and money. The last straw was the shot I fired off. Made a nice 3"
>>flame and a couple of minutes of glowing orange, but when the smoke
>>cleared and things cooled down out popped one of the wires from the
>>mold as if it was never even effected.
>>
>>If there's anybody who is expert at this process and willing to come
>>to northern NJ please contact me at your earliest convenience. Guys,
>>I'm in waaaaaaaay over my head on this one. I bit off way more than I
>>can chew and I need a pro and some folks with experience to get this
>>done right.
>>
>>
>>
>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>>Peter,
>>W2IRT
>>
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>>
>>
>>
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>
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