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Copper clad ground rod is that considered non-ferrous?

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zappy

zappy

Senior Member
Location
CA.
I'm looking at the code. It says non-ferrous can be half-inch diameter. Iron and or steel has to be 5/8 in diameter. Is a copper clad ground rod considered non-Ferrous? Thank you for your help.
 
infinity

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
Where does it say that?

250.52(A)(5) Rod and Pipe Electrodes.
Rod and pipe electrodes shall not be less than 2.44 m (8 ft) in length and shall consist of the following materials.
(a)Grounding electrodes of pipe or conduit shall not be smaller than metric designator 21 (trade size 3∕ 4) and, where of steel, shall have the outer surface galvanized or otherwise metal-coated for corrosion protection.
(b)Rod-type grounding electrodes of stainless steel and copper or zinc coated steel shall be at least 15.87 mm (5∕ 8 in.) in diameter, unless listed.
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infinity

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
According to the NEC you have two choices for rods, 5/8" listed or unlisted and smaller than 3/4 and listed. I'm not sure why the California code mentions non-ferrous.
 
R

ramsy

Roger Ruhle dba NoFixNoPay
Location
LA basin, CA
Occupation
Service Electrician 2020 NEC
Joe.B

Joe.B

Senior Member
Location
Myrtletown Ca
Occupation
Building Inspector
ramsy said:
California adopts the NEC without amendments
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That's not exactly true. CA doesn't delete anything from the NEC in it's adoption process, but it adds plenty. Most of what CA adds is OSHPD related, and there is California, Article 89.
 
J

jaggedben

Senior Member
Location
Northern California
Occupation
Solar and Energy Storage Installer
Joe.B said:
That's not exactly true. CA doesn't delete anything from the NEC in it's adoption process, but it adds plenty. Most of what CA adds is OSHPD related, and there is California, Article 89.
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I wouldn't say 'plenty', aside from article 89. There are a total of 2 modifications in all of chapter 3, for example. There are none to such key articles as 225, 230, 240 and 250.

Anyone who wants to compare can set up a free NFPA login and view here. Before each chapter there is a 'adoption matrix' where changes are noted.

link.nfpa.org

NFPA LiNK®

The leading information and knowledge resource on fire, electrical and related hazards.
link.nfpa.org link.nfpa.org
 
Joe.B

Joe.B

Senior Member
Location
Myrtletown Ca
Occupation
Building Inspector
jaggedben said:
I wouldn't say 'plenty', aside from article 89.
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Sure, "plenty" is a subjective term, and (aside from article 89) most of the CA additions are relatively obscure. Those additions mostly show up in the later articles. Collectively there are about 100 additional pages in the 2022 CA Electrical Code compared to the 2020 NEC that it was based on. That's why I used that qualifier in response to "California adopts the NEC without amendments".
 
J

jaggedben

Senior Member
Location
Northern California
Occupation
Solar and Energy Storage Installer
Joe.B said:
Sure, "plenty" is a subjective term, and (aside from article 89) most of the CA additions are relatively obscure. Those additions mostly show up in the later articles. Collectively there are about 100 additional pages in the 2022 CA Electrical Code compared to the 2020 NEC that it was based on. ...
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Well you got me curious how that could really be because I would bet a sandwich there are less than 2 pages worth of substantive changes to actual requirements for electrical installations. And my conclusion is that it's mostly font size or some other formatting difference. Article 89 is 27 pages, the matrix adoption tables are 3-5 pages per chapter. That doesn't account for the difference but the start page of each article in the CEC somehow keeps creeping higher than the NEC in Articles that have no ammendments.
 
Joe.B

Joe.B

Senior Member
Location
Myrtletown Ca
Occupation
Building Inspector
jaggedben said:
Well you got me curious how that could really be because I would bet a sandwich there are less than 2 pages worth of substantive changes to actual requirements for electrical installations. And my conclusion is that it's mostly font size or some other formatting difference. Article 89 is 27 pages, the matrix adoption tables are 3-5 pages per chapter. That doesn't account for the difference but the start page of each article in the CEC somehow keeps creeping higher than the NEC in Articles that have no ammendments.
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I'll take that sandwich. ;) It's all OSHPD stuff, I recently permitted a big OSHPD 3 and there are a lot of unique requirements that are sprinklered throughout all of the code books. Chapter 12 in the building code is a great example. The model code is 5-6 pages, then there's 20 some additional pages of OSHPD requirements. I bet I can win that sandwich on Article 517 alone. Check it out, I'm about to.
 
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