In article . 196,
"Ed_G" wrote:

Sometime in May I expect to be moving into a new house, built on
Pacific Northwest coastal Sand. It is at 100' elevation about 1/3 mile
from where the Siuslaw river dumps into the Pacific Ocean.

In the past, I usually drive at least one decent 8' ground rod outside
my shack for a station ground, but am wondering what you guys might advise
in this regard with having sand instead of dirt.


Ed K7AAT

To bad you can't get at the ReBar in the concrete pad your new house may
be built on. That grid, if tied together properly, would make a JimDandy
Low Impedance RF Ground.

--
Bruce in alaska
add path after fast to reply

Bruce in alaska wrote:
In article . 196,
"Ed_G" wrote:

Sometime in May I expect to be moving into a new house, built on
Pacific Northwest coastal Sand. It is at 100' elevation about 1/3 mile
from where the Siuslaw river dumps into the Pacific Ocean.

In the past, I usually drive at least one decent 8' ground rod outside
my shack for a station ground, but am wondering what you guys might advise
in this regard with having sand instead of dirt.


Ed K7AAT

To bad you can't get at the ReBar in the concrete pad your new house may
be built on. That grid, if tied together properly, would make a JimDandy
Low Impedance RF Ground.


Locate a piece of rebar in the concrete and carefully chip the concrete
away until you reach the metal. Then attach a heavy gage wire to the
rebar and close the hole with concrete patch. You will now have access
to the grounding grid.

Dave WD9BDZ

"David G. Nagel" wrote in message
et...
Locate a piece of rebar in the concrete and carefully chip the concrete
away until you reach the metal. Then attach a heavy gage wire to the rebar
and close the hole with concrete patch. You will now have access to the
grounding grid.

Dave WD9BDZ

One should never have any rebar exposed to the air. It will rust and expand
breaking the concrete. If put in correctly, it will be about 3 inches
inside the concrete.

On Feb 24, 11:37 am, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:
"David G. Nagel" wrote in odigy.net...

Locate a piece of rebar in the concrete and carefully chip the concrete
away until you reach the metal. Then attach a heavy gage wire to the rebar
and close the hole with concrete patch. You will now have access to the
grounding grid.

Dave WD9BDZ

One should never have any rebar exposed to the air. It will rust and expand
breaking the concrete. If put in correctly, it will be about 3 inches
inside the concrete.

Correct, Ralph. Also, NEVER allow the possibility of a lightening
strike to enter rebar in concrete. You will explode the concrete
because of the tremendous localized heating. There goes your
foundation and/or pad your house is setting on. The building
inspectors in Central Oregon do check the footings and foundation
before concrete is poured and would quickly notice a connection from
the rebar to the outside world.

Paul, KD7HB
Redmond, OR

wrote:
On Feb 24, 11:37 am, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:
"David G. Nagel" wrote in odigy.net...

Locate a piece of rebar in the concrete and carefully chip the concrete
away until you reach the metal. Then attach a heavy gage wire to the rebar
and close the hole with concrete patch. You will now have access to the
grounding grid.
Dave WD9BDZ
One should never have any rebar exposed to the air. It will rust and expand
breaking the concrete. If put in correctly, it will be about 3 inches
inside the concrete.

Correct, Ralph. Also, NEVER allow the possibility of a lightening
strike to enter rebar in concrete. You will explode the concrete
because of the tremendous localized heating. There goes your
foundation and/or pad your house is setting on. The building
inspectors in Central Oregon do check the footings and foundation
before concrete is poured and would quickly notice a connection from
the rebar to the outside world.

Paul, KD7HB
Redmond, OR

Interesting. Here in Florida, the lightning capital of the continental
US, the ordinary electrical service grounding mechanism is *only* via
bonding to the metal in the foundation. New house construction will not
pass inspection without such a connection unless other more complex
arrangements are fashioned. There are typically no driven ground rods,
and water pipes are usually non-conductive. (The NEC no longer allows
water pipes to serve as the sole ground in any case.)

73,
Gene
W4SZ

Interesting. Here in Florida, the lightning capital of the continental
US, the ordinary electrical service grounding mechanism is *only* via
bonding to the metal in the foundation. New house construction will not
pass inspection without such a connection unless other more complex
arrangements are fashioned. There are typically no driven ground rods, and
water pipes are usually non-conductive. (The NEC no longer allows water
pipes to serve as the sole ground in any case.)

73,
Gene
W4SZ

Must be a recent rules change Gene. I used to manufacture and sell an
instrument to the power companies in FL, a meter that they would connect
between one 120 Volt leg of the service drop and the residential ground rod,
and drive the rod for a 25 Ohm ground. Typically, if they were installing
pad mount transformers for underground service, they would install another
ground rod there.

The Withlacoochee Co-Op, which serviced some of the highest sand dunes in
FL, would often drive 60 feet of ground rod to reach the required
conductance.

W4ZCB

Harold E. Johnson wrote:
Interesting. Here in Florida, the lightning capital of the continental
US, the ordinary electrical service grounding mechanism is *only* via
bonding to the metal in the foundation. New house construction will not
pass inspection without such a connection unless other more complex
arrangements are fashioned. There are typically no driven ground rods, and
water pipes are usually non-conductive. (The NEC no longer allows water
pipes to serve as the sole ground in any case.)

73,
Gene
W4SZ

Must be a recent rules change Gene. I used to manufacture and sell an
instrument to the power companies in FL, a meter that they would connect
between one 120 Volt leg of the service drop and the residential ground rod,
and drive the rod for a 25 Ohm ground. Typically, if they were installing
pad mount transformers for underground service, they would install another
ground rod there.

The Withlacoochee Co-Op, which serviced some of the highest sand dunes in
FL, would often drive 60 feet of ground rod to reach the required
conductance.

W4ZCB



I don't know when the change was made. I discovered this rule when our
house was being built in 2003. I noticed that there were no ground rods,
and I started asking questions and looking into the code. Florida
follows the NEC without exception. No modifications or local electrical
codes are allowed. Of course the AHJ can override almost anything if he
decides to.

As you know, the electrical utilities generally are not bound by the NEC
or other codes. They follow their own rules. Also, there are a lot of
preexisting cases where the foundation steel is not connected to the
outside of the concrete. Ground rods must be used. In those cases your
ground-checker instrument would still be useful.

73,
Gene
W4SZ