[TowerTalk] Ground wire between tower and ground stakes

[jimlux]

On 11/15/17 11:13 AM, Patrick Greenlee wrote:
> In many cases the insulation on wires does not last too long exposed to 
> UV and other destructive forces.  Yes, you could sleeve it with 
> UV/weather resistant sleeve material but why bother?  What is the 
> attraction of stranded vs more robust solid, if repetitive 
> bending/flexing is not a factor?
> 
> Interconnecting wires running from ground rod to ground rod should not 
> pose a repetitive flexing/bending problem.
> 
> An argument in favor of stranded wire where corrosion is not an issue 
> would be something like, "I have the wire already", or "I found some at 
> a bargain price", or...
> 


or I don't have biceps like Popeye, and stranded is a lot easier to bend 
than solid.

As Jim K9YC pointed out - a lot of this is tradition, or copying the 
spec sheet/RFP you've been using for the last 50 years.  If you've got a 
team of professionals with all the tools and experience, the time 
difference between installing solid or stranded is negligible.  Those 
guys and gals have bent more wire than I've had hot dinners.

I, on the other hand, wind up doing something with AWG 2 wire about 
every 15-20 years.  It's like installing conduit - I have a conduit 
bender (for 3/4" only) and I always buy extra sticks of tubing because 
I'm going to make a bunch of mistakes that are off by "just a little bit".
(actually, the last couple times I needed conduit, I used flex conduit - 
maybe I should give my conduit bender away)