Earth Rods

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FionaZuppa

FionaZuppa

Senior Member
Location
AZ
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Part Time Electrician (semi retired, old) - EE retired.
this video is a must watch (TY to MH for doing this video)
it shows why earth rods are good to use.

i give two warnings with the methods shown
1) stacking the rods, i might suggest to properly solder the ends
2) these thin rods past 10ft can easily bend and traverse the earth in not vertical fashion. so you may think you are 30ft down, but could be 15ft down and 15ft lateral.

 
FionaZuppa said:
this video is a must watch (TY to MH for doing this video)
it shows why earth rods are good to use.

i give two warnings with the methods shown
1) stacking the rods, i might suggest to properly solder the ends
Click to expand...
I have never seen sectional ground rods that were designed for a solder connection. They are either a threaded connection or wedge connection.
2) these thin rods past 10ft can easily bend and traverse the earth in not vertical fashion. so you may think you are 30ft down, but could be 15ft down and 15ft lateral.
Click to expand...
Very true, but I think that the amount of area in contact with the earth is more important than the depth after you are down a few feet.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
I have never seen sectional ground rods that were designed for a solder connection. They are either a threaded connection or wedge connection.

Very true, but I think that the amount of area in contact with the earth is more important than the depth after you are down a few feet.
Click to expand...
i not sure because joe does mention that the deeper you go the lower the R we expect. 10ft down and 20ft laterally, is that better than 30ft straight down where at 28ft is very wet soil? the best i think i can say is, it depends.

the more rods used the closer you'll get to a single bushing transformer N-to-earth voltage. if adding more gnd rods (bonded to each other) reduces overall to-earth ohms, thats better for you.

as for soldering, well, NEC requires lubricating threaded conduit fittings to protect against corrosion (in ground) to help preserve electrical continuance. threading two ground rods together will cause ohms to rise there as the threads oxidize over time. a quick brush, a little flux, some solder, threaded or otherwise, you have just now extended the time before corrosion cause R to rise there. i guess at bare min, some form of anti-corrosion paste i would use, a nickel based anti-seize, etc.
 
FionaZuppa said:
i not sure because joe does mention that the deeper you go the lower the R we expect. 10ft down and 20ft laterally, is that better than 30ft straight down where at 28ft is very wet soil? the best i think i can say is, it depends.

the more rods used the closer you'll get to a single bushing transformer N-to-earth voltage. if adding more gnd rods (bonded to each other) reduces overall to-earth ohms, thats better for you.

as for soldering, well, NEC requires lubricating threaded conduit fittings to protect against corrosion (in ground) to help preserve electrical continuance. threading two ground rods together will cause ohms to rise there as the threads oxidize over time. a quick brush, a little flux, some solder, threaded or otherwise, you have just now extended the time before corrosion cause R to rise there. i guess at bare min, some form of anti-corrosion paste i would use, a nickel based anti-seize, etc.
Click to expand...

Have you actually successfully soldered 1/2" - 5/8" threaded metal rod together?
 
K8MHZ said:
Have you actually successfully soldered 1/2" - 5/8" threaded metal rod together?
Click to expand...
the copper plated ones solder fine. the female threads are a tad harder to clean though. a std copper pipe brush works well. some std flux, std solder. just a little solder is used, heat pulls the solder up into the threads, etc.

i solder my copper bonding wire to earth rods (and use the nec required bond clamp). solders just fine.
 
"it shows why earth rods are good to use"
Well not really. Out here in Washington we will typically have 3,000 ohms resistance. And I have had contractors tell me of installing a ground rod in hard soil to have it do a u turn and come out of the ground.
What is good to use is a ufer.
 
FionaZuppa said:
the copper plated ones solder fine. the female threads are a tad harder to clean though. a std copper pipe brush works well. some std flux, std solder. just a little solder is used, heat pulls the solder up into the threads, etc.

i solder my copper bonding wire to earth rods (and use the nec required bond clamp). solders just fine.
Click to expand...

Call me doubtful
 
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