Electrical gurus out there?
- Thread starter tmays
- Start date
Are you talking about attaching the ground to a water pipe, such as a copper pipe?
I have seen that in older houses. Ask a local, licensed electrician. My guess is that it is no longer legal.
Couple years ago the city replaced the black steel water main in front of the house with some type of plastic. The plumber replaced the galvanized water line into the house with pex.
I have seen that in older houses. Ask a local, licensed electrician. My guess is that it is no longer legal.
Couple years ago the city replaced the black steel water main in front of the house with some type of plastic. The plumber replaced the galvanized water line into the house with pex.
Should've explained more, I apologize. I'm talking the 8' copper plated ground rods. Two are required at least 6' apart and must be all the way in the ground. I used to install them with just a bottle of water. Jam the rod into the ground, pull it out, pour water into the hole, then put rod back in hole and jig it up and down. Every once in awhile, drizzle some water down the rod and thus into hole. Only rarely would I have to pull out the hammer. I'm told this is not to code, that it "shall be driven"
If the requirement is that the ground rod has to be driven in, last 2 or 3 inches, tap with hammer.
When I installed a new electrical panel and service, we, the licensed electrician and I, drove in one new ground rod and used the old ground rod. The house sits on hard pan and the bed rock is about 12 to 18 inches below the walk out basement floor. We hit the bed rock, electrician said that was good, would meet code.
When I installed a new electrical panel and service, we, the licensed electrician and I, drove in one new ground rod and used the old ground rod. The house sits on hard pan and the bed rock is about 12 to 18 inches below the walk out basement floor. We hit the bed rock, electrician said that was good, would meet code.
Don McCombs
501 Club
I don't know the definitive answer for your area, but these are just some thoughts. I would think that the "water method" has the potential to leave voids where the rod should be making full contact. There would be no such thing as the water method around here. We have these things in the ground called rocks. About a month ago, I installed two 8 foot ground rods for an electric fence around our garden. Seems the deer have finally discovered it. Anyway, I used an electric, heavy duty hammer drill with a special ground rod driving "bit". Drove fairly well, but I could feel when it encountered a rock. Got complete refusal at 7 feet on both rods. That tells me that's where our bedrock is. I rented the drill and bit. It was about $35 for a half day. Took about twenty minutes of actual installation time. I would highly recommend this method. Much better than the sledge hammer method. Especially if you can borrow a drill.