I was at Lowes today to pick up some clamps to use to connect wires to 5/8
ground rods. The cartons containing these clamps say they are U.L. approved
for direct burial.
I believe strongly that code is the minimum acceptable practice in most
cases.
I have no required inspection in my area. I architected my current home and
retained a contractor and subs to help build it. We were required to
register our successful septic perk test performed by a civil engineer (who
registered it with the Dept of Environmental Quality.) The septic installer
was "self inspecting."
I have NEVER had an inspector on my property for any reason hence my
interest in what works rather than what is code or makes an inspector happy.
If I can weld or solder and it works good, I'm happy. I have made and played
with thermite, great fun, way more expensive than some alternatives in this
particular application. (I should have said thermite-like as the rust (iron
oxide is most likely replaced with copper oxide. Exothermic is just a neat
word than means it gives off heat. Exothermic welding is welding with a
process that gives off heat, typically by a chemical reaction as described
for the interested folks in Wikipedia under thermite) I weld with heat too
furnished by electricity, or combustion.
House has 2 each 200AMP pannels, 3 heat pumps one of which is ground sourced
driving hydronic heating sysem. and has attached metal working shop and wood
working/electronics shops not included in the 5000+ sq ft of living space of
the three floors including a walkout basement.
Not a single permit, not a single visit by an inspector. Everything to code
or better, preferably better. Well, truth be told, there was one inspector,
ME.
Patrick AF5CK
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Lux
Sent: Sunday, May 05, 2013 8:04 PM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Grounding HDX-555
On 5/5/13 4:27 PM, Bryan Swadener wrote:
I was advised by an electrician that 4 AWG was
required in my area (Snohomish County, WA) to
bond ground systems together.
Interesting..
I googled the local codes out of curiosity.. you have a local code that
requires a CEGR (Ufer) and inspection prior to pouring the concrete. I
couldn't find the AWG4 requirement, but I didn't look very hard. There
were some rules that seem to say "ground bonding conductor must be equal
to service conductor in size".. maybe that's where it comes from, but
AWG 4 seems small for a service conductor, but who knows.. maybe it's
local practice..
The building inspector didn't say anything about it.
I think he was amazed that a ham would try to
install a tower by the book.
I'll bet he was.
When I pulled the permit, they couldn't recall
the last time a ham asked for one (there are
some 2K hams in my county).
vy 73,
Bryan WA7PRC
Date: Sun, 05 May 2013 14:12:01 -0700
From: Jim Lux
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Grounding HDX-555
NEC doesn't require 4 AWG, in general, but
your local electrician might have gone for
4, based on local knowledge. Bear in mind
that the local "Authority Having Jurisdiction"
(AHJ) is the final arbiter, which is why
it's worth having local input. You NEVER
want to get into a "but the code says X"
discussion with the local inspector. You
*will* lose.
On 5/5/13 12:35 PM, Bryan WA7PRC wrote:
Hi Brad,
Refer to the instructions from the PE you hired, and do
that. For my TX472, my PE (Hank KR7X) specified one
ground rod/electrode per tower leg, connected using
2/0 wire or equivalent, with all rods/electrodes
interconnected using 2/0 wire. I did exactly
that: http://www.tinyurl.com/wa7prc-tower
A UFER ground was suggested but I didn't do that
because it wasn't in the plans from the PE.
Per NEC & NFPA, all grounds are tied into the
electrical service ground using 4 AWG, according
to instructions from a licensed electrician.
vy 73,
Bryan WA7PRC
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