I don't think that these rods are especially susceptible to corrosion.

I believe that the steel core is a standard feature. Yes, they look like
solid copper
but it's just a copper coating on the outside.

One of the rods in my home corroded and had to be replaced, but it took
nearly 30 years. I can handle $8 - $15 maintenance expense every 30 years
or so.
Life may be shorter if you have more acidic soil.

You can drive into pretty hard ground with a good sized sledge hammer, but
you are all done if you hit a hard rock. Lots of little firm taps works
better than
big swings, with less chance of bending the rod. Work slow until you get
most of the
rod into the ground, than you can take bigger swings.

NEC code has a spec for the amount of resistance
that you must shoot for, I think it was something like 8 ohms. I did not see
any
description of how you actually measure it. If you can't get it on the first
rod, you have to
drive in a second. But, even if you don't do any better with the second, you
can stop at two.
I guess they figure if you don't get it after driving two rods, you chances
of doing better
with several is slim.

There are other possibilities, including buried mesh screens, and even
attaching to rebar inside the concrete of the structure. Most of the other
methods require
a bit of pre-planning or more work to install.

If you buy steel cored copper rods, also pick up some heavy duty clamps
brass or copper
clamps that are made for this purpose to attach your ground wire to the rod.
Usually, you
use #6 braided copper with no insulator.



"Ignoramus24153" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 18:10:22 GMT, Bughunter wrote:
I bought some ground rod this spring, and I seem to recall that they were
about
$8 for an 8' length. It's a simple steel rod, sharpened point and coated
with copper.

I was surprised how inexpensive it was.

This is nice. Steel, I am sure, does not bend as easily either.
Is there any issue with corrosion impeding conductivity?

i


"Ignoramus24153" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 17:55:16 GMT, Doug Kanter

wrote:

"Ignoramus24153" wrote in message
...
I am aware that "all generators must be grounded". In the instance of
a standby portable generator like this

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/onan/Diesel/

how would I ground it? I have two options:

1. Ground it to a new grounding rod (expensive and involves actual
work).

2. Ground it to the home grounding system, such as copper pipes in the
utility room, or even better next to the existing home ground
connection.

Which option here is more legal and more safe?

thanks

i

What does a grounding rod cost???

I am not sure, I think that about $40, I may be mistaken. Plus, I have
to pound it in, it could bend, right now everything is frozen, etc etc
etc.

i




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