[RE-wrenches] Braided grounding wire

[Sky Sims]

Braided wire works great for grounding and lasts a long time. I've seen
it sit in a puddle of water for over 20 years. I will say that the green
oxide coating occurs pretty soon after installation usually in the first
6 months to 1 year whether its solid wire or braided. Its caused by the
interaction of the copper with oxygen. It's a non issue as long as your
contact points are good. You can ohm it out to verify the contacts are
good. 5 ohms or less is a good ground. Want to do more testing? then
it's time to break out the arc welder.

Sky Sims
Ecological Systems
http://www.ecologicalsystems.biz
220 County Road 522
Manalapan, NJ 07726
732-462-3858  toll free)866-759-7652  fax)732-462-3962


-----Original Message-----
From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of R.
Walters
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2008 2:01 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Braided grounding wire

>
We don't use braided for direct burial. We use it to bond to the  
array, run with the PV wires, and switch to regular copper as soon as  
we go into conduit at the first J box.  We zip tie it together in a  
bundle with all the MC cables.

ray at solarray.com

> Braid tends to "wick" water, and we have seen it corrode into a  
> crumbly green mass of copper oxide in a matter of 2-3 years in wet/ 
> damp locations. Probably OK for indoor use, but we prefer to avoid  
> it completely.
>
> ......................................................................

> ............................
> Northern Arizona Wind & Sun - Electricity From The Sun
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