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To: <rfi@contesting.com>
Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 05:26:56 -0500 From: Douglas Bradford Reply-To:
kz5qdx@COMMUNIQUE.NET Organization: ADXG South Louisiana X-Mailer:
Mozilla 4.04 [en]C-DIAL (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Bob
Wanderer CC: "'k0il@qsl.net'" , "rfi@contesting.com" , "'Tower
Reflector'" Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] RE: [RFI] Copper clad or Galvanized
steel ground rods??? References: <01BD7540.A0130640@p22.stl1.nwrain.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding:
7bit Just My 2 cents worth: or : Galvanized won't work in South
Louisiana. I am located in one of the "Hot Spots" South Louisiana. I
have over 40 + years in underground construction. In the Late 60's The
Pipe Line Safty Act was passed. Steel Gas Pipe was required to be
protected against corrossion.Underground Galvanized Pipe was not used.
Several methods of doing this were available. Anodes, on isolated
sections were most common methods and connecting material was copper and
ir brass, still is today. Not wanting to get into procedures taken just
saying that never ever allowed to use Galv. In this area of the country,
I have seen Galvanized pipe destroyed in less than 6 months. In over 40
years I have yet to see a piece of copper destroyed. Have seen many a
time, a copper water line and black steel or galv steel gas line , side
by side and the steel line every time was damaged due to corrossion.
Distance between them did not matter. From 1" to 50 feet at same depth,
it made no difference.. About 35 years ago I used a Galv. rod for a
property corner. Replaced it later with copper as it was gone. Lasted
maybe 10 years, at the most, Copper one is still there. I was not aware
of EIA standards reg. Galv. Steel Rods. This is not the first time a
mistake has been made if it is so. Maybe we need to get the Corrosion
Engineers on this one. Might need to see if we need anodes on Towers>
This might open a wild new thread. BTW one of my property corners is a
piece of copper dating back to 1912 when this land was acquired. It is
still there. For Installing Ground rods: Use a copper rod ........
Forget the Sledge Hammer, use a coke bottle full of water and jig it up
and down, goes in easy. If that's too hard, get a piece of pipe , put a
sleeve on end and connect the water hose of the other end and jig it up
and down, washing a hole as far down as you want to go If you are in
rocky terrain, it won't work but does real fine down here. In the old
days, we bored roadways for pipe crossings with a few five gallon
buckets of water. And I am in acid area, strawberrys, azealeas, etc love
it. Galv.Don't. 73 Brad KZ5Q Long Live CW My Preferred Mode Bob Wanderer
wrote: > While Anchor Guard was one of the major forces behind EIA/TIA
222 F > which precluded the use of copper in the grounding system, I
think they > tried to solve a complex issue simplistically. There is
more to the situation > than dissimilar metals (copper and galvanized
[zinc]) being near each other. > Unanswered in my mind is how close to
(or actually how faraway from) each > othjer they have to be before
problems might occur. > > The corrosivity of the soil is another issue
left unaddressed. One should measure > the pH of the soil, preferably at
the depth at which the grounding system is to be > installed. The pH
testers sold at spa and swimming pool places will suffice for >
ascertaining whether your soil is acidic or alkaline. If your soil is
acidic (most of > the eastern US is), you want to go with galvanized
because the acid will attack the > copper. If your soil is alkaline,
however, you want to avoid galvanized/tin/aluminum > grounding
components because those metals are quickly attacked in that
environment. > > 73, > Bob Wanderer AA0CY > ex PolyPhaser Sr Appl Engr >
now (Thank God) back in the cable television industry > but had to leave
Nevada and move to Seattle. > > ---------- > From:
k0il@qsl.net[SMTP:EEDWARDS@oppd.com] > Sent: Friday, May 01, 1998 6:54
AM > To: rfi@contesting.com > Subject: Re: [RFI] Copper clad or
Galvanized steel ground rods??? > > >Another question, which is better
in clay type of topsoil? I currently > >have several copper clad one out
and I assume I should continue to use > >copper clad on the ones I am
soon to add? > > I've used only copper clad rods since pure copper won't
go straight into the > ground here with clay soil. I usually have to use
a sledge hammer to get 'em > all the way in. At home I use 8 ft copper
clad. At work I use two coupled 10 > ft rods for 20 feet total. > >
Remember to add grounding to tower guys also; yet another path for
lightning > to follow away from your shack. > > I understand the new EIA
tower standards now specifies galvanized steel rods, > but I think that
is due to corrosion of tower anchors in certain parts of the > USA.
Copper clad should work okay for radials in most of the USA. > > There's
a company that specializes in this area called "AnchorGaurd". They >
have a good web page with lot's of pictures of corroded tower anchors
and the > catastrophic results. Also shows a map that shows the areas of
the country > that have corrosive soils. You may want to use galvanized
steel rods on your > guy wire's ground rods if you live in those areas.
Apparently Norht & South > Dakotas have really bad corrosive soils as
does alot of Texas/Louisiana. See: > www.anchorgaurd.com for lot's more
info. > > 73, > de ed -- K0iL > k0il@qsl.net > > > -- > Submissions:
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