The 5/8 Earth rod debate

[huntos33]

Did a re wire on a village hall TT system , after reading the threads on rods i went for it, chucked away the 3/8 twig coupled together 3 5/8 rods and away i went driving away with my 4lb lump hammer 3.6m of depth and got my ZE down to 14 ohms so i guess thats a ok reading for a TT well bellow the 200 ohms , but was hoping it would be a lot lower...

 

[Guitarist]

At least you will have a stable 14 ohms

 

[huntos33]

At least you will have a stable 14 ohms

I hope so broke a sweat driving that home :shocked3:

 

[Marvo]

Good on you. A ZE of 14ohms is pretty good, sometimes 1 extra rod gives a drastically better reading especially if you get below the local watertable level. Maybe invest in an SDS attachment for you jackhammer, it's a lot easier than a 4lb hammer

 

[sparks1973]

I hope so broke a sweat driving that home :shocked3:

well next time send it down with a rotary hammer set to hammer only......

 

[Guest55]

25kg pneumatic jackhammer with compressor - 0 to 3 mtrs deep in under 60 seconds ;-D
not everyone has the kit though lol.

 

[huntos33]

Good on you. A ZE of 14ohms is pretty good, sometimes 1 extra rod gives a drastically better reading especially if you get below the local watertable level. Maybe invest in an SDS attachment for you jackhammer, it's a lot easier than a 4lb hammer

The exercise did me good, think in this instance though the water table is a long way off a small village perched in the top of the cotswold hills but the attachment sounds a good idea going forward

 

[huntos33]

25kg pneumatic jackhammer with compressor - 0 to 3 mtrs deep in under 60 seconds ;-D
not everyone has the kit though lol.

60 seconds i would hire one for the day

 

[ackbarthestar]

The exercise did me good, think in this instance though the water table is a long way off a small village perched in the top of the cotswold hills but the attachment sounds a good idea going forward

Not so, there are springs all over the Cotswold hills, but I'm surprised that you were able to drive an electrode into the ground so far by hand since the soil is so rocky.

 

[sparks1973]

The exercise did me good, think in this instance though the water table is a long way off a small village perched in the top of the cotswold hills but the attachment sounds a good idea going forward

get a bit of bar end....say 1" dia...about 2" long....and just get someone with a drill to spotface it on one end about 1/2" deep with a drill the same diameter as the protective caps that you get with threaded earth rods then have a little sesh with the stick plant and weld it onto an old SDS shank...THERE! jobs a gud un...

 

[edexlab]

Tried with an SDS homemade attachment (previously worked in engineering so it wasn't heath robinson) didn't do much so I gave up and got the 1 1/2 lb 10'' long handle lumphammer I usually use and got three rods deep in 5 mins.
you need an SDS Max or jackhammer ,normal SDS drill nowhere near enough power, all the force just causes a lot of vibration and not much penetration.

(NB for all the house bashers this 1 1/2 lb hammer looks like a toy compared to the anvils on sticks I see people using which are really only meant for bashing bricks to pieces, and the users usually have very little control which usually means lots of effort for little result, and quite often injuries occur, a smaller one will work just as well, but its about technique and directing the energy in the right place and letting the hammer do the work. I've convinced several people who've got one arm twice the size of the other and a few mangled fingers by going head to head on chasing for boxes and driving rods in.)
I saw a post about a homemade slide hammer design for earth rods which did look very good ,might have ago at one myself.
out of curiosity does anybody ever check for cable before knocking rods in?

 

[sparks1973]

Tried with an SDS homemade attachment (previously worked in engineering so it wasn't heath robinson) didn't do much so I gave up and got the 1 1/2 lb 10'' long handle lumphammer I usually use and got three rods deep in 5 mins.
you need an SDS Max or jackhammer ,normal SDS drill nowhere near enough power, all the force just causes a lot of vibration and not much penetration.

(NB for all the house bashers this 1 1/2 lb hammer looks like a toy compared to the anvils on sticks I see people using which are really only meant for bashing bricks to pieces, and the users usually have very little control which usually means lots of effort for little result, and quite often injuries occur, a smaller one will work just as well, but its about technique and directing the energy in the right place and letting the hammer do the work. I've convinced several people who've got one arm twice the size of the other and a few mangled fingers by going head to head on chasing for boxes and driving rods in.)
I saw a post about a homemade slide hammer design for earth rods which did look very good ,might have ago at one myself.
out of curiosity does anybody ever check for cable before knocking rods in?

yep....dig a pit first ...just to be sure......

 

[huntos33]

Not so, there are springs all over the Cotswold hills, but I'm surprised that you were able to drive an electrode into the ground so far by hand since the soil is so rocky.

Well a spring is only a perched water table and i guess it was my lucky day and i miss the rocks

 

[huntos33]

Tried with an SDS homemade attachment (previously worked in engineering so it wasn't heath robinson) didn't do much so I gave up and got the 1 1/2 lb 10'' long handle lumphammer I usually use and got three rods deep in 5 mins.
you need an SDS Max or jackhammer ,normal SDS drill nowhere near enough power, all the force just causes a lot of vibration and not much penetration.

(NB for all the house bashers this 1 1/2 lb hammer looks like a toy compared to the anvils on sticks I see people using which are really only meant for bashing bricks to pieces, and the users usually have very little control which usually means lots of effort for little result, and quite often injuries occur, a smaller one will work just as well, but its about technique and directing the energy in the right place and letting the hammer do the work. I've convinced several people who've got one arm twice the size of the other and a few mangled fingers by going head to head on chasing for boxes and driving rods in.)
I saw a post about a homemade slide hammer design for earth rods which did look very good ,might have ago at one myself.
out of curiosity does anybody ever check for cable before knocking rods in?

Spent a while trying to assume the drain runs gas pipe water pipe etc supply was overhead , it's in the ground now and all seems well :smart:

 

[Marvo]

I also dig at least 2 ft and usually a meter to make sure there's no services.