[TowerTalk] Fw: w7ekb & ground rods

[Brian Carling]

I have not heard of this concrete ground before. Is it made with conductive concrete?

Best regards - Brian Carling
AF4K Crystals Co.
117 Sterling Pine St.
Sanford, FL 32773

Tel: +USA 321-262-5471




> On Jan 19, 2015, at 10:19 AM, Jim Lux <jimlux at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
>> On 1/18/15 9:53 PM, Kelly Taylor wrote:
>> It seems to me a valid question to ask on this thread: Do you gain anything
>> by, for example, drilling a hole to get a ground rod deeper?
>> 
>> If you think about it, the answer might not be so simple.
>> 
>> The point of a ground rod is to maximize electrical contact with the ground.
>> If you have to drill 48 inches of an eight-foot rod and don't employ some
>> kind of conductive filler (concrete, bentonite, etc.) to bond the rod to the
>> rock, how much better off are you than just putting in a 48-inch rod? Even
>> if you do use bentonite, is rock a good connection?
>> 
>> If that's the case, what would be wrong with cutting the eight-foot rod into
>> two 48-inch rods and driving them 96 inches apart?
>> 
>> The point of eight- or ten-foot ground rods is to get eight or ten feet of
>> contact area, not necessarily to get eight or ten feet deep, yes?
> 
> 
> Yes, and two short rods would work as well, if not better, than 1 big rod.
> 
> However, there is a potential depth related issue: soil moisture varies a lot in the first few feet, and in a lot of places, the chemical composition of the soil changes (top soil vs subsoil).  That's not really addressed in the building code, though.
> 
> For what it's worth, the reason the code expresses a preference for Ufer grounds(concrete encased grounding electrodes) is just this sort of problem.  A big block of concrete 20 feet long and a foot square is going to have a lot of contact area with the surrounding soil, in a lot of places, so local anomalies of dry or loosely compacted soil aren't going to be as big a problem.
> 
> 
> 
>> Just curious on all this.
>> 
>> 73, kelly
>> ve4xt
>> 
>> 
>>> On 1/18/15 10:04 PM, "Bill Aycock" <billaycock at mediacombb.net> wrote:
>>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Bill Aycock
>> Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2015
>>> 7:23 PM
>> To: Ken
>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] w7ekb & ground rods
>> 
>> Ken--
>> I was once
>>> told (Unofficially) by a power line guy that the length was more
>> important
>>> than depth, and a rod driven at an angle was often the only option
>> when rock
>>> was a problem.
>> However, Mr. Murphy ruled against me and I only knew I had a
>>> rock problem
>> when I had only about 8" left to go.
>> Bill--W4BSG
>> 
>> -----Original
>>> Message-----
>> From: Ken
>> Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2015 7:00 PM
>> To:
>>> maflynn at theflynn.org
>> Cc: towertalk at contesting.com
>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk]
>>> w7ekb & ground rods
>> 
>> If I may ask, what¹s the ³appropriate tool² when you have
>>> a rock layer 40²
>> down?  i tried a hammer drill, waste of time.  I rented an
>>> SDS-MAX hammer
>> and I got one in all the way, four others only made it most of
>>> the way.   So
>> what is the recommendation?
>> 
>> Ken WA8JXM
>> 
>>> On Jan 18, 2015, at
>>> 7:46 PM, Martin A Flynn <maflynn at theflynn.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Ran this past one of
>>> the code enforcement guys in the county. Surprising
>>> response:
>>> 
>>> "We make
>>> you buy a UL listed panel board and breakers -  what makes you
>>> think you
>>> can build a grounding system that is equal to UL *and*  be able
>>> to prove it
>>> in court if there is a problem? Buy the listed rod(s) and
>>> drive them with
>>> the appropriate
>>> tool"
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ____________________
>>> ___________________________
>> TowerTalk mailing
>>> list
>> TowerTalk at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tow
>>> ertalk
>> 
>> 
>> ---
>> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus
>>> software.
>> http://www.avast.com
>> 
>> ______________________________________________
>>> _
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> TowerTalk mailing
>>> list
>> TowerTalk at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tow
>>> ertalk
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> TowerTalk mailing list
>> TowerTalk at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk