[TowerTalk] Erico chemical ground electrode

[John E. Cleeve]

Hello David,

Thank you for your response. Looking for a source on "Bentonite" it
appears that there are several types of "clay deposit" materials covered
by the name Bentonite, or Fullers Earth as it can be known over here, and
it is used for a suprising number of purposes.

>From the Erico diagram, it is claimed that the conductivity is improved by
what appear to be "roots" of conductivity "growing" from the holes in the
base of the electrode, out via the Bentonite layer at the base of the
electrode, into the surrounding ground, and there is no mention of
replenishing the "electrolyte salt" after a specified period.

I would like to try the experiment, using a length of copper central
heating tube. I have a professional ground resistance measuring test set,
which I do know how to use, but its the chemistry that will defeat me.

>From what I have read, the Bentonite could be used a "seal" to prevent the
"GEM" material from going further. I assume that the choice of
"electrolytic salts" and the recipe for the "GEM" material would be a
closely guarded commercial secret. But could it be that they are common,
and relatively cheap materials, such as rock salt and copper sulphate, but
they have been given a "new" name for commercial reasons.



Sincerely, John. G3JVC/GM3JVC.








> 'GEM' could just mean Ground Enhancement Material... which could just be
> bentonite or some mix of other conductive material.  Usually chemical
> grounds like that require periodic replacement of the salts and would work
> best in damp areas or could use periodic watering.  The idea is to simply
> increase the conductivity in the area around the rod by adding some kind
> of
> salt ions to the soil.
>
> David Robbins K1TTT
> e-mail: mailto:k1ttt at arrl.net
> web: http://wiki.k1ttt.net
> AR-Cluster node: 145.69MHz or telnet://k1ttt.net
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John E. Cleeve [mailto:g3jvc at jcleeve.idps.co.uk]
> Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2013 22:18
> To: Towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Erico chemical ground electrode
>
> Gentlemen,
>
> Has anyone had experience of using the Erico chemical ground electrode?
> The Erico claim is that one chemical ground electrode can be as effective
> as
> multiple ordinary ground rods.
>
> I am not sure if the Erico product is available in the UK, but from the
> available Erico literature, it would appear to be a copper tube, which has
> been packed with "electrolyte salts", the base of the tube has a number of
> holes drilled around the base. The method is to drill a hole in the
> ground,
> larger in diameter than the electrode, put a layer of Bentonite/Fullers
> earth in the bottom of the hole, lower the electrode to the Bentonite, to
> a
> depth that covers the holes in the tube, and then pack the vacant space
> around the Erico electrode, up to the ground surface, with Erico "Gem"
> material, whatever that might be. The electrodes come with cables already
> welded for connection.
>
> I am not a chemist, but I am intrigued, perhaps if we have a chemist among
> the group, who could provide a simple explanation of how this chemical
> electrode system might work, it would be appreciated.
>
>
>
> Sincerely, John. G3JVC/GM3JVC.
>
>
>
>
>
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