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Re: [TowerTalk] Tower grounding connections and foundation (Shawn Donley

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tower grounding connections and foundation (Shawn Donley)
From: Jim Lux <jimlux@earthlink.net>
Date: Sat, 08 Aug 2015 14:57:32 -0700
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
On 8/8/15 2:33 PM, N3AE wrote:
Concerning lightning damage to a concrete foundation .... ran across the 
example in the link below. In this case a concrete guy anchor was damaged. But 
looking at the pictures, this might have been caused by moisture entry due to 
surface cracking with the lightning strike just finishing it off as the current 
pulse turned the moisture into steam. Hard to say.

and this quote covers why "commercial" installations (where labor is a big cost) are different than "ham" installations (where labor is often free); "the conductors are really a small portion of the overall cost of the job"...


"Deep-driven rods in combination with heavy copper cabling have proven to be an effective, reliable and durable solution. And don’t skimp on the copper. Use large conductors, not ‘Code Minimum’ sizes. The conductors are really a small portion of the overall cost of the job.

“Install ring grounds and radials if there’s room, and bond all connections properly. In a major lightning strike, you’re potentially dealing with tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of amps. Copper is cheap insurance compared with the equipment damage that could occur if the system is inadequate. In the case of the KPTH-KMEG tower, another strong hit might have led to very expensive repairs … or worse.”


I think the real question is if a lightning strike can cause internal damage to 
a tower concrete foundation that you can not easily detect.

N3AE

http://www.copper.org/applications/electrical/pq/casestudy/a6137/a6137.html
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