Hi Just been to my mates house , he had it built about 4 years ago , we were just having a walk around his property and I noticed twin earth rods ( His supply is one phase of a 3 phase TT supply ) what worried me though was the rods above the ground looked rusty , tested with a magnet and it seems they just mild steel rods that have some traces of green paint on them , I have never fitted a ground rod but I would of thought they would have to be made from Copper or SS ! . spike
The earth rods should also be in inspection pits. http://www.screwfix.com/p/plastic-inspection-earth-pit/59527
You should not be able to touch the rod or the ground around the rod, during fault conditions the rod can raise in voltage compared with ground around it, they are normally covered with an inspection cover so you can't touch ground for an area around the rod. There is nothing wrong in using steel, it is common on mariners to use a metal the same as the boat hulls to reduce electrolytic erosion, where there is steel reinforcement used then good reason to use a steel rod, however they are normally copper coated steel. Older houses often had exposed earth rods, however these were not for the electric supply, they were for party line telephones, since you can see the rods, question is are they for the electric supply or some other function?
The earth rods have a steel core with a copper cladding to prevent or reduce corrosion. The top of the rods and the connection to the rods should be enclosed to prevent contact and to protect against mechanical damage, ideally the top of the rod should be below ground level to control the voltage gradient at the surface. Multiple rods should be spaced apart a distance equal to the sum of their lengths, so 2 x I metre rods will need at least 2 meters separation. For rods on agricultural horticultural or equine installations, the rods should be placed well away from areas frequented by animals.
Hi Thanks all for your replies , the top of the rods are above ground ( 20cm +- ) hence me seeing them , with a clamp on each one they are spaced about 50cm apart , if they are copper clad how come they are showing signs of corrosion products on the rod after only 3.5 years , they do not look like copper cladding on the rod , it looks more like green pain and rust coming through the coating ! . ps: will check again when I get up there , might scrape the rod to check if it is actually copper on the outside ! spike
Hi I would not use ordinary carbon steel , it will rust and the electrical connection will start having a resistance between it and the rod ! . spike
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