[TowerTalk] Grounding HDX-555

[Patrick Greenlee]

I was at Lowes today to pick up some clamps to use to connect wires to 5/8 
ground rods. The cartons containing these clamps say they are U.L. approved 
for direct burial.

I believe strongly that code is the minimum acceptable practice in most 
cases.

I have no required inspection in my area.  I architected my current home and 
retained a contractor and subs to help build it.  We were required to 
register our successful septic perk test performed by a civil engineer (who 
registered it with the Dept of Environmental Quality.) The septic installer 
was "self inspecting."

I have NEVER had an inspector on my property for any reason hence my 
interest in what works rather than what is code or makes an inspector happy. 
If I can weld or solder and it works good, I'm happy. I have made and played 
with thermite, great fun, way more expensive than some alternatives in this 
particular application.  (I should have said thermite-like as the rust (iron 
oxide is most likely replaced with copper oxide. Exothermic is just a neat 
word than means it gives off heat. Exothermic welding is welding with a 
process that gives off heat, typically by a chemical reaction as described 
for the interested folks in Wikipedia under thermite) I weld with heat too 
furnished by electricity, or combustion.

House has 2 each 200AMP pannels, 3 heat pumps one of which is ground sourced 
driving hydronic heating sysem. and has attached metal working shop and wood 
working/electronics shops not included in the 5000+ sq ft of living space of 
the three floors including a walkout basement.

Not a single permit, not a single visit by an inspector. Everything to code 
or better, preferably better. Well, truth be told, there was one inspector, 
ME.

Patrick AF5CK



-----Original Message----- 
From: Jim Lux
Sent: Sunday, May 05, 2013 8:04 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Grounding HDX-555

On 5/5/13 4:27 PM, Bryan Swadener wrote:
> I was advised by an electrician that 4 AWG was
> required in my area (Snohomish County, WA) to
> bond ground systems together.

Interesting..

I googled the local codes out of curiosity.. you have a local code that
requires a CEGR (Ufer) and inspection prior to pouring the concrete.  I
couldn't find the AWG4 requirement, but I didn't look very hard. There
were some rules that seem to say "ground bonding conductor must be equal
to service conductor in size".. maybe that's where it comes from, but
AWG 4 seems small for a service conductor, but who knows.. maybe it's
local practice..

>
> The building inspector didn't say anything about it.
> I think he was amazed that a ham would try to
> install a tower by the book.

I'll bet he was.

>
> When I pulled the permit, they couldn't recall
> the last time a ham asked for one (there are
> some 2K hams in my county).
>
> vy 73,
> Bryan WA7PRC
>
>> Date: Sun, 05 May 2013 14:12:01 -0700
>> From: Jim Lux
>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Grounding HDX-555
>>
>> NEC doesn't require 4 AWG, in general, but
>> your local electrician might have gone for
>> 4, based on local knowledge.  Bear in mind
>> that the local "Authority Having Jurisdiction"
>> (AHJ) is the final arbiter, which is why
>> it's worth having local input.  You NEVER
>> want to get into a "but the code says X"
>> discussion with the local inspector. You
>> *will* lose.
>
>> On 5/5/13 12:35 PM, Bryan WA7PRC wrote:
>>> Hi Brad,
>>>
>>> Refer to the instructions from the PE you hired, and do
>>> that. For my TX472, my PE (Hank KR7X) specified one
>>> ground rod/electrode per tower leg, connected using
>>> 2/0 wire or equivalent, with all rods/electrodes
>>> interconnected using 2/0 wire.  I did exactly
>>> that: http://www.tinyurl.com/wa7prc-tower
>>> A UFER ground was suggested but I didn't do that
>>> because it wasn't in the plans from the PE.
>>>
>>> Per NEC & NFPA, all grounds are tied into the
>>> electrical service ground using 4 AWG, according
>>> to instructions from a licensed electrician.
>>>
>>> vy 73,
>>> Bryan WA7PRC
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