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INSTALLING GROUND RODS INSIDE BASEMENTS

Common Misbeliefs about Lightning
"Old Wive's Tales'

1. Lightning will never strike twice in the same place.

2. Lightning always strikes down, not up.

3. A lightning protection system attracts lightning.

4. My home is protected by incoming power service.

5. Lightning will always strike the highest point.

6. My home is safe since it has never previously been struck.

7. Lightning protection is old and outdated and no longer being used.

8. My home is insured and will be replaced without cost to me.

9. My neighbor has lightning protection and it will hit his home before it will hit mine.

10. It will never happen to me.
 
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WOW ! SCARY MOMENTS , BOTTOM LINE , DONT MESS WITH MOTHER NATURE . I DID AND STILL DO THE SAME , TAKING THE COAX OFF THE RADIO. I GUESS NO MATTER HOW LONG THE WIRE HAS TO BE , ITS BETTER THAN NOTHING ! I FIGURE I WOULD HAVE TO RUN AT LEAST ABOUT 10 FEET OF WIRE TO REACH TO A GROUND ROD. ILL TELL U LISTENING TO U GUYS STORIES MAKES OR BREAKS THINGS. THANKS FOR THE STORIES , HOPE TO HEAR OTHER PEOPLES EXPERIENCES WITH LIGHTENING , IT TRUELY GIVES A BETTER PERSPECTIVE AND BROADEN VEIWS! THANKS
 
Robb said:
Common Misbeliefs about Lightning
"Old Wive's Tales'

1. Lightning will never strike twice in the same place.

2. Lightning always strikes down, not up.

3. A lightning protection system attracts lightning.

4. My home is protected by incoming power service.

5. Lightning will always strike the highest point.

6. My home is safe since it has never previously been struck.

7. Lightning protection is old and outdated and no longer being used.

8. My home is insured and will be replaced without cost to me.

9. My neighbor has lightning protection and it will hit his home before it will hit mine.

10. It will never happen to me.
Click to expand...

#8,9,10 funny

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If you run your antenna from a ground mounted mast, push-up pole, or tower; then three ground rods and a #4 stranded cable clamped to the mast/push-up pole/tower should provide a low resistance path. Not sure on that; but IIRC that is what is specified for Ham towers. Not that lightning can or will tell the difference between a Ham or non-Ham station (lol); but that system should fill the bill . . .

Base.jpg

WF0GM


Here are a few steps you can take to protect your station:

*Measure the current on your equipment grounding conductor. Anything over 0.25A should be investigated.
*Measure the earth ground resistance, and do all you can to get it as low as possible.
*Verify there are no multiple neutral-ground bonds or earth ground connections.

http://broadcastengineering.com/infrastructure/grounding-practices/index1.html
 
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if nobody has tried it yet
go to the local hardware store purchase a T-post driver
this thing does miracles on ground rods
no more pouding or standing on top of ladder to get a rod started
good ol T-post driver
 
Before going and spending that hard earned money on something you may use once, I'll re-post the method I used to sink my ground rod through clay soil by hand in three minutes!
Dig a gallon sized hole where you want your rod, fill that hole with water, start working the rod up and down in this hole, keeping the hole full of water is key! Every three or four strokes pull the rod up far enough to allow the hole it's making to fill with water!
A full sized ground rod can be installed in just a few minutes with out climbing a ladder, damaging the top of it by beating it with a hammer or T-post driver.
Don't believe me, but try it!!!
I live in Oklahoma were the soil is clay and shale, and this method works here.
(y)
 
555 said:
if nobody has tried it yet
go to the local hardware store purchase a T-post driver
this thing does miracles on ground rods
no more pouding or standing on top of ladder to get a rod started
good ol T-post driver
Click to expand...

I can swing a 10 pound sledge with more force than using a T-post driver. I had one made years ago and gave it away.

IRock817 said:
Before going and spending that hard earned money on something you may use once, I'll re-post the method I used to sink my ground rod through clay soil by hand in three minutes!
Dig a gallon sized hole where you want your rod, fill that hole with water, start working the rod up and down in this hole, keeping the hole full of water is key! Every three or four strokes pull the rod up far enough to allow the hole it's making to fill with water!
A full sized ground rod can be installed in just a few minutes with out climbing a ladder, damaging the top of it by beating it with a hammer or T-post driver.
Don't believe me, but try it!!!
I live in Oklahoma were the soil is clay and shale, and this method works here.
(y)
Click to expand...


You are lucky if it worked in shale. The only problem is that ground rods should be driven into undisturbed soil for maximum effectiveness. Using the water method leaves the rod fitting loose and even after a couple years the soil is still not compacted as tight against the rod deeper down as it would have been if driven in. Even worse is the garden hose method of using water under pressure to drive copper pipe as ground rods. It washes most of the soil away from the ground rod and leaves a hole larger than the rod. Over the years I have tried both water methods and all I can say is that those people who swear that it works are lucky and must not have any rocks bigger than a golf ball in their ground. You just cannot move or break a rock by using either of the water methods. Hammering it in will usually at least break the rock or divert the rod enough to bypass it. Been there, done that more times than I care to remember installing antennas and grounds for friends and I always had to resort to the sledge hammer method or T-post driver. The post driver was good to start off with and then finish with the sledge. Well, the best method was the time we used the backhoe bucket to push them in but that was cheating. ;)
 
When we built the pad for our sand Plant we installed a grounding grid in it! For this we use a large hammer drill with a ground rod bit. We sank twenty eight foot rods in just a couple hours. If we used a sledge or post drive we would still be installing them! Lol I tried removing my ground rod from our old house that I installed with the water and ended up bending the rod before getting it out. I'm pretty sure it had silted in and I know it was grounded because we did a resistance test when we installed it!
Some of us are too old and wore out, and maybe wise to be swinging a sledge around!
 
start working the rod up and down in this hole
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Thats what she said
 
LMAO!! Thatta boy!!! Now those must be younger women because I been married for 17 1/2 years and after the age of 35 most women get so cold that when and if their knees would remotely happen to come apart the windows frost up!!!;)
 
TonyV225 said:
after the age of 35 most women get so cold that when and if their knees would remotely happen to come apart the windows frost up!!!;)
Click to expand...

Shoot I haven't even made it to 3o yet and I am just learning that now.........dammit.

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