On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 21:23:04 -0500, "Jack Painter"
wrote:


"Bob Miller" wrote
Did a Google on cleaning copper, and the most common cleaner for
copper pots appears to be vinegar and salt, or lemon juice and salt.
Maybe Worcestershire sauce has same ingredients?

Or, maybe I'll just have to drive a new ground rod :-)

Bob
k5qwg

Yessir my friend, the latter is your best move, and at about $12 it just
isn't worth the worry about longevity of a compromised electrode! Do resist
the temptation to push a new one back in the same hole, o.k.? ;-)

While you're at Home Depot, pick up a few, and add those extra ones you were
meaning to do. It might be Lowe's that carries the pre-cut 25' lengths of #4
copper grounding wire for about $8. These are such cheap solutions to
sleepless nights during thunderstorms!

My main problem is there is solid rock/limestone about a foot down. I
can't even penetrate it with my Glen Martin ground rod driver. So
putting down a new rod probably means digging a shallow ditch and
laying it down horizontally -- or laying some radial wire, or both.

bob
k5qwg



73,
Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, VA

"Bob Miller" wrote
My main problem is there is solid rock/limestone about a foot down. I
can't even penetrate it with my Glen Martin ground rod driver. So
putting down a new rod probably means digging a shallow ditch and
laying it down horizontally -- or laying some radial wire, or both.

bob
k5qwg

Hi Bob, the horizontal burying of ground rod is fine, although a minimum
depth of 3' is recommended in NFPA-780. Follow the same plan as for vertical
ground rods by burying two additional (min.#4 wire) conductors for another
20' in a "Y" direction and repeating a horizontal rod at each of those
locations.

horizontal horizontal
----------- --------------
\ /
\ /
\ 20' 20' / buried #4 (min) bare
copper
\ /
\ /
\ /
\ -------------- / horizontal
|
|
|

Even in dry soil this will be a much more effective ground than a single 8'
vertical ground rod.

73,
Jack

Bob,
An easy fix? Forget it. Pull the thing out of the
ground and replace it with hard drawn copper pipe.
'Water drill' it into the ground (keep large hammer handy
for the rocks). Better yet, lay out several hundred
radials (sure easy to tell others to do that, isn't it?).
An 'easy way' and a 'good way' are seldom the same thing.
'Doc

PS - Don't bother pulling the old ground rod out. Just
sink the new one near it.

PS - Don't bother pulling the old ground rod out. Just
sink the new one near it.



Actually, given the "rock layer" situation he has, it might be worth
pulling out the old one and driving the new one in the same hole.



Ed

What's the matter with "Brasso".

There's also tins of "Duroglit", a wool impregnated with some chemical or
other.

Both been around for 60 years or more.

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 23:39:44 +0000 (UTC), "Reg Edwards"
wrote:

What's the matter with "Brasso".

There's also tins of "Duroglit", a wool impregnated with some chemical or
other.

Both been around for 60 years or more.


Tonight I tried a little Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce on the
ground rod. Smells good enough to eat. I'll check it in the morning.

Bob
k5qwg

Tonight I tried a little Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce on the
ground rod. Smells good enough to eat. I'll check it in the morning.

Bob
k5qwg

================================

Interesting to know Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce is available in the USA.

I live in the next county to Worcestershire.

I cook for myself and use a small bottle in two or three weeks.

But as for your subsidiary use on ground rods I hope they're made of carbon.
Ordinary metals are less resistant to attack than my stomach lining.
----
Reg, G4FGQ

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 03:23:30 +0000 (UTC), "Reg Edwards"
wrote:

Interesting to know Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce is available in the USA.

Hi Reggie,

Back in the 60s, a black comic by the name of Godfrey Cambridge used
the name as the punch line to a joke about one of his forbears (an
uncle perhaps) who was visiting in England. It seems he was served a
dish with that garnish and it was named upon his exclamation:
"Wus dis here sauce?"

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

"Reg Edwards" wrote

Interesting to know Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce is available in the
USA.

I live in the next county to Worcestershire.

I cook for myself and use a small bottle in two or three weeks.

But as for your subsidiary use on ground rods I hope they're made of
carbon.
Ordinary metals are less resistant to attack than my stomach lining.
----
Reg, G4FGQ

Lea & Perrins is the ONLY Worcestershre sauce! ;-)

Most of wouldn't waste it on ground rods, but I'm sure Bob thought that too
funny not to at least try.

Jack

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 23:31:55 -0500, "Jack Painter"
wrote:


"Reg Edwards" wrote

Interesting to know Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce is available in the
USA.

I live in the next county to Worcestershire.

I cook for myself and use a small bottle in two or three weeks.

But as for your subsidiary use on ground rods I hope they're made of
carbon.
Ordinary metals are less resistant to attack than my stomach lining.
----
Reg, G4FGQ

Lea & Perrins is the ONLY Worcestershre sauce! ;-)

Most of wouldn't waste it on ground rods, but I'm sure Bob thought that too
funny not to at least try.

Jack


Finally, success at last!!

I tried the Lea & Perrins Worchestershire overnight on the corroded
ground rod. It did little but attract 2-inch cockroaches.

This morning, I brought out the heavy stuff: a mixture of vinegar,
lemon juice and salt, applied with a steel wool pad.

It still wasn't working; my VOM showed no continuity.

So, a trip to Lowes for Brasso and sandpaper.

The Brasso did nothing. But the sandpaper (#150 fine) seemed to do the
trick. Now my VOM shows continuity in the cleaned area of the rod.

I'll probably augment this old ground rod with a new one laid in a
horizontal ditch (got rock about 12" down), but at least the old rod
is working again.

Bob
k5qwg