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grounding rod question
- Thread starter John L.
- Start date
Drive it in on a 45 degree angle to get more contact with the earth. Use several spaced apart and bond them all together. I have the same problem here. The deepest I could drive one of mine was somewhere between 6 and 7 feet but I had to use a 5/8 inch galvanized steel rod which I ground to a good point and used a 10 pound sledge hammer to drive it in. I hit slate less than 3 feet deep. It was soft on top so I kept driving the rod. You could feel the ground vibrate when I hit the rod which meant I had gone as far as it was ever going to go. I used one rod for each tower leg and several more along the trench where the feedlines run as well as the main ground cable to the house ground. Those were between 3 and5 feet deep. The more the merrier when depth is not an option.
Installing at a limit of 45 degrees is typical when encountering rock.
But with only 3.5 feet to work with, you still ain’t gonna get it all in the ground.
Next alternative is a 30” deep trench with the entire rod buried at that depth.
But with only 3.5 feet to work with, you still ain’t gonna get it all in the ground.
Next alternative is a 30” deep trench with the entire rod buried at that depth.
BJ radionut
Supporting Member and 6m addict
I’ll never use a sledge hammer for this type of job again. Tired of the glancing blows or missing the head? Buy a post pounder. Best invention since….bla bla
S&W357
$upporting Member KO4RJD....WDX-556
I’ve got a post pounder works great but have to finish off with sledge hammer. Much better than hammering Straight Down from an elevated position.
Just pull it and move it a bit. If you have a basement you are driving the road in to backfill material. There should be nothing huge in there.
Funny this thread would be made and I see it first right after I bought a 6' galvanized steel ground rod and plan to pound it down.
One method I read about is to push the rod down as far as you can, pull it back up and add water to the hole, repeat, up until the point where you can no longer press down by hand, then do the same with a hammer.
Supposedly you can work the entire rod in easily that way and I sure hope so because I don't even have a sledge hammer right now, just your average hammer.
Worst case I end up hitting rock, or can only get it so far down and have to wait on borrowing a sledge hammer later on.
One method I read about is to push the rod down as far as you can, pull it back up and add water to the hole, repeat, up until the point where you can no longer press down by hand, then do the same with a hammer.
Supposedly you can work the entire rod in easily that way and I sure hope so because I don't even have a sledge hammer right now, just your average hammer.
Worst case I end up hitting rock, or can only get it so far down and have to wait on borrowing a sledge hammer later on.
S&W357
$upporting Member KO4RJD....WDX-556
I’ve read about the water hose method but never tried it. One possible negative mentioned (not by me) is that the soil needed to be firm around the GR. I dunno.
I have a pneumatic hammer that I drive mine into the ground with. I had an electrician watch me do this and he went out and bought an air compressor and the same air hammer as mine.
I sank the 8' rod full length in less than a minute.
I sank the 8' rod full length in less than a minute.
Hummm shhh dont say this too loud but dig around the rod then drop a coffee can full o copper sulphate in hole wetten it up put dirt back over it n shhh dont tell anybody,i didnt tell you that either