Re: [TCML] Grounding Coil to Water Pipe

["Dan Casaregola" <ag2z@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Since were on the topic of using copper (water) pipes for grounding a coil, 
here's my story;  I wanted to move my coil out of the garage, and decided to 
use a hose bib on the side of the house about 2 feet above ground of 3/4 
inch copper pipe.  It had been painted over, so I diligently sanded it to a 
bright finish, and purchased a strong clamp to terminate my ground cable 
(more on that later).  I delayed about about 3 months before deciding to use 
it, but decided to do some measurements today.  I ran a wire from my current 
ground in the garage to the external hose bit pipe, and measured the 
resistance..6.7 megs!  I couldn't believe my eyes.  My present ground was 
about .6 ohms.  Boy, was I glad I did'nt hook up the coil first.  Can you 
imagine sparks jumping of the inner copper pipe to whatever looked like a 
path to ground?  How about a fire?  The cable I fabricated consisted of r 
shielded cables (11) feet long containing 3 #12 stranded wires hooked in 
parallel for low Z.  Talk about putting the cart before the horse.  How do 
you spell ASSume?
Dan
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Mastroianni" <joe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 3:35 PM
Subject: Re: [TCML] Grounding Coil to Water Pipe


> Re: Pounding in ground rods -
>
> As I mentioned I'm using a separate 8' ground rod just for my coil. 
> (Connecting to it via stranded jumper cable wire I salvaged from an old 
> set of Sears Jumper Cables)
>
> Here in NoCal in the hills the soil is very rocky, so I was worried about 
> being able to pound in a ground rod at all.
>
> I have a Bosch electric SDS rotary hammer I use for home upgrade and 
> repair - mostly for drilling holes in big rocks to run wires, or to crack 
> rocks when I'm trying to sink a fence post, or to demo stubborn parts of 
> my house.  They actually sell a ground rod pounder attachment for the 
> thing.
>
> The thing was worthless in getting the rod past (or through) the rocks. 
> Yes, I got 11 slams a second.  But the rod never moved.
>
> I switched to my 8lb sledge, and first I had to stand on a ladder to get 
> any sort of angle on the thing.  But it got through the rocks, and down to 
> the point where there was only about 3" showing.
>
> My arms were somewhat useless for the rest of the day, afterward.  But arm 
> power beat the SDS jackhammer.
>
> Cheers,
> Joe
>
>
>
>
> On 9/1/2010 6:29 AM, Brandon Hendershot wrote:
> > Alright,
> > Briefly returning to the initial subject;
> > So what I've learned is that it's a very bad idea to ground to the water 
> > pipe partialy because it may be connected to the "green wire ground" at 
> > the water heater. Also because the underground pipes may convert to 
> > non/conductive PVC piping, destroying any ground potential.
> > BUT, assuming that the electrical system doesn't comply with code and 
> > doesn't connect back to safety ground at the water heater, and that the 
> > pipe leading underground doesn't switch over to PVC, I *could* get a 
> > solid ground connection without pounding down a new pipe or frying any in 
> > home electronics?
> > Thanks Guys,
> > Brandon_______________________________________________
> > Tesla mailing list
> > Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
> > http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>
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