The 2006 ARRL Handbook, page 3.7, section titled 'Grounds', indicates that the NEC requires that all grounds be bonded together.I am setting up my first HF station, and my house will have the following grounds:1. Safety Ground by electrical panel (existing).2. Ground rod installed for center aluminum mast for outdoor wire dipole.3. Ground rod for coax ground.4. Ground rod for shack equipment grounding5. Ground rod the cable company installed for recent cable equipment upgrade.My house is single-story, slab-on-grade.What wire should I use to bond all of the ground rods?Should I install the bond wire along the perimeter of the foundation, or should go up, through, and down from the attic?If I go along the perimeter of the foundation, should I bury the wire?
(It be more XYL-friendly if I buried it).Thanks.73, de K5RFF RayLogged. Also, I'd suggest you thoroughly read the Polyphaser and ICE (Industrial Communications Engineers) very helpful technical articles.What wire should I use to bond all of the ground rods?# 4 bare solid at minimum.Should I install the bond wire along the perimeter of the foundation, or should go up, through, and down from the attic?Perimeter only.If I go along the perimeter of the foundation, should I bury the wire? (It be more XYL-friendly if I buried it).Burying is best since it is then in contact with the earth.Another important point, per NEC, you can use mechanical connections (clamps) or exothermic connections (CadWeld). I strongly suggest the exothermic since they do not require any maintenance and provide the best, low resistance bond.Installing a good grounding system should be one of the very first things to building a radio station.Phil KB9CRYLogged. Now you have all the towers, station and AC panel grounded together don’t forget to put AC surge protectors on you AC panel. Over 90% of all lightning damage comes through the AC power lines. Intermatic makes a unit for about $60 P/N IGI240RC.
This you wire into the panel via circuit breakers into you 240 VAC buss lines.Getting the grounding on you station and surge protection issues taken care of will give you a tremendous piece of mind. I hav ebeen hit serveral time in Colorado and it pays.Logged.
Hi.Sounds like you want to do it right. Congrats.you will be VERY glad you did at some point. If you live in a high thunderstorm/lightning area, the peace of mind alone is worth the effort.I second the AWG # 4 (minimize size).that is 'OK', but # 2 or bigger is better. Remember, lightning carries THOUSANDS of amperes.!!
It takes some SERIOUS wire to keep lightning under control.Your basic # 12 wire ain't gonna do the job!!Bury the outside stuff. The wire doesn't care and if the XYL is happy, you will be happy!Candidly, people who do not have decent lightning protection grounding and live in a high lightning incidence area are living in denial. And simply BETTING their QTH won't get hit. Ultimately, lightning is pretty predictable stuff.
It is simply looking for the lowest resistance path to ground.either you can GIVE it that path with a good ground system OR. You can let it find its way to ground through your AC house wiring, cable TV, telephone, water pipes, etc.It is simply a matter of personal choice.73, K0ZNLoggedPages: 1.
Installation of at least one ground rod is among the grounding methods now suggested. Because the panel must be connected to the ground rod by a buried copper wire, however, best. The standard copper wire size should be no smaller than No. Can You Use Thick Curtains on a Wire Curtain Rod?
@FedericoRusso - I think it's safe to presume that this is an electrical panel which will contain a rectangular bar with holes and screw clamps. A wire runs from this bar to a long copper rod which is physically pounded into the dirt (aka 'ground'). The question is about the appropriate sizing of these bars, rods, and wires. For example, a typical 60A residential panel in the US requires a 10-gauge wire, and a 100A panel requires an 8-gauge per the US National Electrical Code. No idea about international standards, though.–May 2 '12 at 15:01. If you are in the US, you'll likely follow National Electrical Code (NEC).Lets start with some definitions.
NEC 2008Bonding Jumper, Main. The connection between the grounded circuit conductor and the equipment grounding conductor at the service.Grounding Conductor. A conductor used to connect equipment or the grounded circuit of a wiring system to a grounding electrode orelectrodes.Grounding Conductor, Equipment (EGC). The conductive path installed to connect normally non–current carrying metal parts ofequipment together and to the system grounded conductor or to thegrounding electrode conductor, or both.Grounding Electrode. A conducting object through which a direct connection to earth is established.Grounding Electrode Conductor.
A conductor used to connect the system grounded conductor or the equipment to a grounding electrode orto a point on the grounding electrode system.and a picture to help make things a bit more clear.The size of the Main Bonding Jumper, Grounding Electrode Conductor, and Grounded Electrode is defined by table 250.66The size of Equipment Grounding Conductors (the ones that run from the Ground bus bar out with each circuit), is defined by table 250.122.