earth rod help

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orbital

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Have to put my first earth rod in and I am a bit worried about it, and I have some really basic questions

This clamp, the cable is squeezed between the clamp and rod ? i.e. no lug crimped on.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLEC58.html

When banging in the rod, do I screw a coupler onto the rod, then a bolt into the coupler and hammer in

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLER58.html

coupler

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLER58CUP.html.

Difficult question to answer, but how long should a rod take to go into the ground. If I am still hammering away after half hour, is it time to give it up.

I have bought two rod types a thick on with screw thead 5/8

or a thinner one, which one goes into the ground better?

Any advice on banging this rod in will be great.

I plan to dig down to look for service pipes cable, whats the deepest they would realistically be buried

Many thanks

 
I put my first one in a few months ago and went through what your going through now lol. The thinner rod will go in easier and may get better reading than the fatter one. You can use an sds drill on hammer only (rotostop) which may help. I'm sure others alot more knowledgable will be along soon with the answers your looking for. Hth

 
The cable does go through the clamp without a lug and is squeezed against the rod. Give it a nice tug once it's done to make sure you have a good tight connection. I didn't use a lug just done it like I said and passed the assessment but I'm sure others do it differently.

 
I have done 3 rods this year and had no problems with driving them in the ground. I think it's more luck than anything on what's beneath. Just hope that there is no hardcore or obstacles in the way.

 
Crimp a lug on an do a neater job ;)

Million times easier to terminate.

The SDS is the easiest method but the proper adaptors are dear - someone may know a cheaper source but I only have a minute now

http://www.tooled-up.com/SearchBasic.asp?Keywords=sds+earth&SearchType=2

The thinner rod will go in easier and may get better reading than the fatter one.
How so? It will have a much lower surface area and therefore less contact with the ground. That makes not a word of sense to me?

The coupler is for joining multiple earth rods together to make a longer one.

 
Crimp a lug on an do a neater job ;) Million times easier to terminate.

The SDS is the easiest method but the proper adaptors are dear - someone may know a cheaper source but I only have a minute now

http://www.tooled-up.com/SearchBasic.asp?Keywords=sds+earth&SearchType=2

How so? It will have a much lower surface area and therefore less contact with the ground. That makes not a word of sense to me?

The coupler is for joining multiple earth rods together to make a longer one.
I assume you are referring to the resistance comment rather than the ease of driving comment?

 
Crimp a lug on an do a neater job ;) Million times easier to terminate.

The SDS is the easiest method but the proper adaptors are dear - someone may know a cheaper source but I only have a minute now

http://www.tooled-up.com/SearchBasic.asp?Keywords=sds+earth&SearchType=2

How so? It will have a much lower surface area and therefore less contact with the ground. That makes not a word of sense to me?

The coupler is for joining multiple earth rods together to make a longer one.
+1 vetmeister ;)

Though you can`t use lugs on some of the clamps - they`re designed to compress the conductor cores directly.

KME

 
Have to put my first earth rod in and I am a bit worried about it, and I have some really basic questionsThis clamp, the cable is squeezed between the clamp and rod ? i.e. no lug crimped on.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLEC58.html

When banging in the rod, do I screw a coupler onto the rod, then a bolt into the coupler and hammer in

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLER58.html

coupler

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLER58CUP.html.

Difficult question to answer, but how long should a rod take to go into the ground. If I am still hammering away after half hour, is it time to give it up.

I have bought two rod types a thick on with screw thead 5/8

or a thinner one, which one goes into the ground better?

Any advice on banging this rod in will be great.

I plan to dig down to look for service pipes cable, whats the deepest they would realistically be buried

Many thanks
a standard 1mtr rod will be adequate in most situations

just make sure you know location of any services before hammering rod into ground

ive been going to make an SDS adapter for a while now. plan is to use a snapped chasing bit, just ive never snapped one for a long time

and iirc, water pipes should be buried at 900mm (to prevent freezing), so a hole to check what isnt there would be as deep as the rod...

 
Ive always taken it that the services 'should' 'usually' run in a straight line to the road from the point of entry roughly.

You could always CAT scan if u really wanted, are daily hire rates reasonable?

 
Crimp a lug on an do a neater job ;) Million times easier to terminate.

The SDS is the easiest method but the proper adaptors are dear - someone may know a cheaper source but I only have a minute now

http://www.tooled-up.com/SearchBasic.asp?Keywords=sds+earth&SearchType=2

How so? It will have a much lower surface area and therefore less contact with the ground. That makes not a word of sense to me?

The coupler is for joining multiple earth rods together to make a longer one.
I know what your saying patch with the surface area but i read on more than one forum that the thinner rod gave a better reading. I don't see why either. But just relaying what I read. Cheers

 
I know what your saying patch with the surface area but i read on more than one forum that the thinner rod gave a better reading. I don't see why either. But just relaying what I read. Cheers
I can't believe that if you double the diameter and therefore the surface area how on earth you can have a better contact with the earth with a thinner rod?

The only thing I can see is a thinner rod may drive deeper into moister soil?

Is this something any one has ever experienced or one of those 'friend of a friend' urban myths that the internet so excellently perpetuates? ;)

I've only every used a handful in my life but they sink nicely with a 10lb sledge hammer and lump of oak! Mainly for electric fence earthing and a generator.

 
digging a hole...??????

NO NO NO NO

how are you going to compress the ground sufficiently to get a good rod contact afterwards.?

that has surely got to rate among one of the more stupid suggestions,

along with the 5' filament lamp to replace the flourescent,

or the wind up car............

even the C5 had more warrant.

 
digging a hole...??????NO NO NO NO

how are you going to compress the ground sufficiently to get a good rod contact afterwards.?

that has surely got to rate among one of the more stupid suggestions,

along with the 5' filament lamp to replace the flourescent,

or the wind up car............

even the C5 had more warrant.
could be dig a hole, and then start hammering from the bottom of that....

 
big bang and a black face- you have hit a cable
Or a minstrel whilst driving to the wholesalers............

blackface.jpg


 
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