[Boatanchors] Ground Rod

[Gary Schafer]

Hi Brian,

Nothing at all wrong with "wet earth" for a good ground connection.
What I was responding to was the method of installation where the rod 
was worked up and down and the hole was loose enough so the rod could be 
installed by hand.
If the earth is that loose you will never have good contact with the rod.

Also washing one in with a hose or a water pipe will give the same 
results. The earth is loosened around the rod and all you have left are 
larger rocks / stones / gravel that will not form around the rod.
Digging a hole for a rod and back filling the hole nets you near the 
same effect.
You never have as good a connection with the earth as you do with 
undisturbed soil.

73
Gary  K4FMX


Brian Clarke wrote:
> Hi Gary,
> 
> I think there may be a misunderstanding here.
> 
> The ground rod can only work if it can conduct electrons between the rod and the 
> Earth. When Earth is dry, it is a fairly good insulator. When the Earth is wet, it 
> ionises the salts and allows electrons to move. So, the ideas of using the rod as a 
> hydraulic ram - not hydrostatic - can't be as the rod is moving - or of using a hollow 
> pipe fed with tap water under a little pressure is a good one. 
> 
> The manuals issued to electrical distribution authorities' and telco's workers make 
> it quite clear that the better grounds are maintained wet and seeded with highly 
> ionisable salts, eg, copper sulphate, sodium chloride. But these will eventually eat 
> away at your ground rods - which will need replacing. When to replace? When the 
> Earth resistance that you measured just after you established your ground rod 
> system, starts to rise no matter how much water or salt you add.
> 
> Why do you want a ground system, anyway? You should aim for a dipole antenna 
> and then the ground system is irrelevant. If you use a vertical, then you can use a 
> ground system or you can use a counterpoise - much less expensive and can be 
> above ground. The main use for a ground system is to carry away lightning currents.
> 
> 73 de Brian, VK2GCE.
> 
> Gary opined:
> 
>   They may go down easy but you don't have a good ground when you do that. 
>   The earth needs to be all left intact in order to be a good ground 
>   connection.
> 
>   In reply to Gary:
> 
>     Don't know how rocky your soil is, but an
>   > electrician buddy told me how to drive an 8' ground rod in normal soil with
>   > nothing but bare hands and a cup of water.  Dig a little hole and pour the
>   > cup of water in it.  Push the rod into the hole and keep working it up and
>   > down, forcing the water ahead of the rod as a hydrostatic ram.   Not
>   > intuitive but it really works - I planted 6 rods in 30 minutes!
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