Irreversible connectors

[kwired]

Just out of curiosity, did you open the link Dennis posted? It is specific to the topic at hand.

Roger

Yes I did, the items in that link are specific to this topic, but not all compression connectors are, and he stated "Most any compression type connector would be considered irreversible." I have many compression connectors that I frequently use, mostly H or parallel taps and insulated as well as no insulated butt splicers, but I don't think any of them are listed for grounding and bonding.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Actually there is no explosion here, just an extremely high temperature 'thermionic' reaction.

Never used one but I was told it was like a small Poof.... guess not. Anyway it works

 

[Flatpad]

Never used one but I was told it was like a small Poof.... guess not. Anyway it works

You've never cad welded before? Basically, the power heats up and melts into a molten glob that drips down into the mold and then cools and hardens around the splice or to the metal you are trying to splice to.

 

[Hv&Lv]

You've never cad welded before? Basically, the power heats up and melts into a molten glob that drips down into the mold and then cools and hardens around the splice or to the metal you are trying to splice to.

You would be amazed at the people that have never seen or done cad welding. It isn't something that many electricians do. I actually hate doing it. We cadweld 4/0 crosses to rods all the time.

It is too aggravating for the application the OP has. I wouldn't recommend it for an above ground connection. The copper butt splices and an XPJ tool are much cheaper and will look much neater.

 

[Flatpad]

You would be amazed at the people that have never seen or done cad welding. It isn't something that many electricians do. I actually hate doing it. We cadweld 4/0 crosses to rods all the time.

It is too aggravating for the application the OP has. I wouldn't recommend it for an above ground connection. The copper butt splices and an XPJ tool are much cheaper and will look much neater.

FWIW, I am the OP

I've done hundreds of cadwelds above ground, mostly at train stations where everything had to be bonded. Every piece of steel, every fence post, everything. I spent weeks crawling around underneath 800' long platforms cadwelding and breathing that smoke in all day :rant:

But now that I am out on my own, I don't have the equipment handy or the capital to just order whatever I need like I used to when working for large commercial contractors :lol:

 

[Hv&Lv]

FWIW, I am the OP

I've done hundreds of cadwelds above ground, mostly at train stations where everything had to be bonded. Every piece of steel, every fence post, everything. I spent weeks crawling around underneath 800' long platforms cadwelding and breathing that smoke in all day :rant:

But now that I am out on my own, I don't have the equipment handy or the capital to just order whatever I need like I used to when working for large commercial contractors :lol:

Sorry. I just looked up a nicopress XPJ, and a 5/8 (BG) tool. I see now what you are talking about. I have seen these tools thrown in the trash since the new battery operated tools have been around. Makes me glad I took them out of the dumpster and hauled them home...

 

[Flatpad]

I -think- I'll be able to finagle to UFER ground over to the new ATS without extending it. If I have to, I'll just cut the ground rod out. Code says I should do that instead of making a splice with a split bolt, right? This is where the code gets silly. It would be perfectly fine to have the acorn connecting the GEC to the rebar exposed and removable but I can't extend the GEC without an irreversible crimp. It's a piece of wire, if someone wanted to remove it they could just cut it!!! :lol:

 

[Hv&Lv]

I -think- I'll be able to finagle to UFER ground over to the new ATS without extending it. If I have to, I'll just cut the ground rod out. Code says I should do that instead of making a splice with a split bolt, right? This is where the code gets silly. It would be perfectly fine to have the acorn connecting the GEC to the rebar exposed and removable but I can't extend the GEC without an irreversible crimp. It's a piece of wire, if someone wanted to remove it they could just cut it!!! :lol:

I have to say I agree with you 100 percent here. I have never understood that requirement either. I see many that are rolled up after the clamp has come loose or lost because the HO doesn't understand its function.

 

[hillbilly1]

One shot Cad weld--.

Basically it is a one shot mold that you create a small explosion inside and it welds the wires together.

If you have an explosion, it's usually due to the mold being damp or wet, that's what scares a lot of electricians about doing cad welds (Exothermic). The extreme heat turns the moisture into steam creating what looks like an explosion.

 

[Flatpad]

If you have an explosion, it's usually due to the mold being damp or wet, that's what scares a lot of electricians about doing cad welds (Exothermic). The extreme heat turns the moisture into steam creating what looks like an explosion.

Yup, that's why a small torch should always be part of the Cadwelding tool kit. Heat up the inside of the mold to dry it out before your first shot of the day, and sometimes after lunch if it's humid out.

 

[weressl]

Never used one but I was told it was like a small Poof.... guess not. Anyway it works

The ignition is certainly appears violent, but it isn't an explosion. There IS technology that utilizes explosion to drive two metallic objects together with such force to cause structural, crystalline, fusion of the two object, so I just wanted to point out that thermionic welding, which uses a chemical reaction to create meting point heat, is different from explosion welding.