[TowerTalk] Making a better Ground

[jimlux]

Bill Aycock wrote:
> Mike-
> Don't be confused by references to "Fullers Earth"; Bentonite and Fullers 
> Earth behave VERY differently. Chemical similarity does not make them work 
> the same way. Bentonite's value is in the behavior with water.  Like all 
> clays, it swells when wet; Bentonite, however, swells a LOT. This is why it 
> is used to seal ponds and below-grade walls.  In water, it forms a 
> Thixotropic gell.
> Bill-W4BSG
> 

Bill raises a good point.  I think that for ground conductivity 
enhancement it's the water holding capability and the fine particulates 
that's important, more than the mechanical properties. So all those 
clays should work.

And, it's not that alternates won't work for ground rods, if it doesn't 
happen to match up with some recommendations and common practices in 
industry.  Those might be driven as much by cost or ready availability 
of the materials.  If you're already bringing in sacks of bentonite for 
sealing, then using a few extra sacks for grounding makes good sense to 
a contractor.