legal ground rod

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220wire

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I have a job that the engineer is calling to bend a 3/4 stainless ground rod. Is this a violation? I don't think using my hand bender to do this is right. Any thoughts?
 
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220wire

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redundant and kind of a waste at over $150 a piece. If I need to bend em Ill use a 555 but that's not my question. I am wondering if it is ok to bend a ground rod. These will be installed on a floating dock for power pedestals with the MDP on land. Maybe if it's redundant like this is it's ok. I dont know. Never ran into this before.
 
e57

e57

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I don't see any reason why it could not be bent - as it is not a clad rod... There is really nothing to damage. But I would avoid a conduit bender of any kind - well apart from a hicky... But you could also get a welder to make you a hicky just for it if you had a bunch of them - like a super beefy 1/2" RMC hicky... Or better yet - a rebar bender... Some time under a tourch wouldn't hurt either - wouldn't take much - just enough to ease bending by hand. Or use a hydraulic rebar bender.
 
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220wire

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I'll check with the manufacturer Mondayand see what they say. I was wondering if anyone has had a job fail as a result of bending these. these are not even going to be submerged from what I can see, plus i gotta come up with a means of support. I did see a seawater electrode on another job for some ferry terminal improvements nut it wasn't bent.
 
e57

e57

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Location
San Francisco, CA
Well I'm pretty darned sure bending it will not be a hit for the inspector - nothing says it needs to be straight - or even listed in that size. And who knows what happens to rods I stuff into bed-rock here - I've had them come back up....


However - I wondered if even a hand rebar bender would bend 3/4" - they seem to top out at 5/8" steel.

I made a gate a while back with 1/2" SS and made a hicky just for it - and to get a good bend it took some heat... Too much heat could cause 'Passivation' of the rod - Otherwise it would be in need of annealing to stay "stainless".... Just a very little heat, and high pressure with a hicky - but definatly not RED - or worse orange... (Yes I was just looking at my welding books....) Otherwise you might be showing up with a rusty rod - boy would that suck...

Or IMO it might be a good idea to get friendly with the rod busters and have them slip it into a hydraulic bender for you... Or hit a rental place and rent one for a few minutes....
 
e57

e57

Senior Member
Location
San Francisco, CA
Ahhh, looking at the books again - passivation IS the annealing process, creating an oxide layer on the outside - De-passivation is screwing it up.... ;) And it'll rust like mild steel - Both high heat or tooling - like bending - can take off that layer - microns thin...

Anyway heres an article on it...

And on second thought - you may want to bring this up with the engineer. As I was looking at the drawing you posted again and - appear these are just hanging on brackets 'walers' exposed in the water????? Why not a CEC in the body of it?
 
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220wire

Member
CEC? I was thinking that a metal plate would work better. Someone told him that you cant Cadweld a stainless rod too. Never done it but the burndy book says it can be
 
e57

e57

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220wire said:
CEC? I was thinking that a metal plate would work better. Someone told him that you cant Cadweld a stainless rod too. Never done it but the burndy book says it can be
Click to expand...
Yeah - I can't tell - but it looks like a concrete hull as a float right? Doing it like a ufer might be better? But then again - what do I know??? It might have a membrane around it though...


Hmmmm - I'm sure you could cadweld to the rod - but it may no longer be stainless steel after that. Cadwelding would be quite a lot of heat - it is welding... But it does not have any sheilding gas... (even though most shielding gas has CO2 - but it is the other chemistry that is imortant) The actual connection would be fine, but just below that - it would need to be shielded from oxygen/air contamination - then introduced to oxygen/air as it annealed... Considering the purpose, and environment it will be exposed to - maybe not such a great idea, depending on what type of lifespan this guy might be expecting to get from it. I would be making phone calls on that too. Maybe do one - leave it in the surf for 2 weeks and present it as a submittal... :roll: I think it will rust right under the connection, but only time and testing could prove that.
 
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