ground rod question [RE-wrenches]

[Peter Duchon]

Dear all,
Wow, some pretty gruesome stories related to ground rods.  I've certainly
missed a few times with the ol' sledge hammer technique and the idea of a
simple enlarged contact area (made of titanium?) that could serve as the
strike zone seems fitting, but what do you about the "schwiing" effect after
every hit?  Twine and belt loops?  Yeah, ok, maybe.   The water jet idea is
also kind of appealing but not sure if that would work in all circumstance.
Miller's pilot hole certainly seems plausible, but might need a tiny
diamond-bit core-drilling head/device to break through the tough stuff and
send up small particles center of shaft?

Well, with all the suggestions I did settle on a Hiliti roto-hammer, their
largest model (15A max), rented from Home Debit, with ground rod attachment.
Went in like butter for four feet, met the same bedrock of solid granite
(not decomposed in this area) and stopped and then burned up the Xantrex
1500 w portable power on wheels (about 250 feet from nearest outlet,
fortunately, the unit kicks itself off before any damage is done).  But it
wasn't going anywhere anyway (and yes I knew I was pushin' it with only 1350
continuous watts on the power supply).  So it did work nicely for a while.
I was so excited!  But alas, will have to dig this one out like the others
left poking out and cut off below grade and cover.

So...got job permitted yesterday as inspector watched my guys finish digging
an 8' trench with heavy pike and spade shovel, achieving 30" below grade
(inspector didn't even bother to measure as he knew what we were going
through, seemed like 3 feet we had, and felt like 4!).  Laid the ground rod
horizontal to granite slate bed, after removing many large pieces of broken
up rock as we went.   The area stays relatively moist and they were ok with
it and the array performed nicely upon commissioning.   We'll see what
happens if lightning strikes.

Moral of my story?   Do whatever works OR whatever is easiest until you
git'r'done...

Thanks again to everyone.  I love this list and all of you.

Peter Duchon
asappower.com
1auinc.com

-----Original Message-----
From: William Miller [mailto:wrmiller at charter.net]
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 1:23 AM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Re: ground rod question [RE-wrenches]



Friends:

A good friend of mine injured his thumb very badly with a ground rod
driver-- I assume it was a slide type driver from his description of the
accident.  I will not use one.

We have a large Bosch rotary hammer with the ground rod attachment.  With
our sandstone soil it frequently fails the test.  I was developing at one
time an eight foot by 1/2" masonry drill to drill a pilot hole.  I think
this might be the ticket.  My design bogged down in that I was unable to
figure out how to create flutes all the way up to clear material....

William Miller



At 07:54 PM 5/31/2006, you wrote:

>A similar story:
>The apprentice of an electrician we work with (his daughter) put a ground
>rod right through her hand using a fence-post driver. Came up off the top
>and on the way down.....:(
>
>I don't mind the sledge hammer so much, but sometimes wish for larger
>surface contact area to the head :)
>
>-Kelly
>Kelly Keilwitz, P.E.
>Whidbey Sun & Wind, LLC
>Renewable Energy Systems
>NABCEP Certified PV Installer
>987 Wanamaker Rd,
>Coupeville, WA 98239
>PH & FAX 360-678-7131
>sunwind at whidbeysunwind.com
>
>On 5/31/06 6:52 AM, "Dan Whigham, SC Solar" <DWhigham at scsolar.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Todd,
> >
> > I will concur, but take it a step further. I lifted one up too high and
my
> > finger was caught between top of the ground rod and the handle of the
> driver
> > when it came down full thrust. If it were not for gloves, I would have
lost
> > the finger for good. The finger to be re-attached, it cut through the
bone
> > and 2 stainless steel pins held my finger together while it healed-
which
> > took many months. I personally stopped driving the ground rods with the
> > fence post driver method- however my helpers still use the method.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> >
> > Dan Whigham
> >
> > SC Solar
> > Lighting The Way
> >
> > www.scsolar.com
> > 803-802-5522  Phone
> > 803-233-1750 Fax
> >

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.8.1/355 - Release Date: 06/02/2006


- - - -
To send a message: RE-wrenches at topica.com

Archive of previous messages: http://lists.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/read

List rules & how to change your email address: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquette.php

Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/

Hosted by Home Power magazine

Moderator: michael.welch at homepower.com
--^----------------------------------------------------------------
This email was sent to: michael.welch at homepower.com

EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bz8Qcs.bz9JC9.bWljaGFl
Or send an email to: RE-wrenches-unsubscribe at topica.com

For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit:
http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER
--^----------------------------------------------------------------