ERICO 3000 ERITECH SYSTEM - Manual (Page 14)

INSTALLATION, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE MANUAL
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When using ground rods it is advisable to:
t
Use driving heads to prevent
mushrooming on top of the rod.
t
Use driving heads when using
coupled rods.
t
Use a post or picket driver.
When bonding the grounding system
components, try to use the recommended
methods suggested below:
t
CADWELD ® connections must be
used to provide permanent electrical
bonding, corrosion resistance and
mechanical strength between
conductors, including most types
of copper cable, bar, rod, tape,
structural steel work, reinforcing
steel and pipe.
t
Supplied ground rod clamps should
be used for termination of ERITECH ®
ERICORE downconductors directly
to ground rods. This allows later
disconnection for maintenance
requirements.
t
Use of aluminum lugs or couplings is
prohibited.
t
Waterproofing mastic tape should be
used for waterproofing corrosion
vulnerable connections.
Ground Resistance Lowering
Compounds
Ground enhancing compounds, (such as
GEM) are recommended and supplied when
the existing soil mass has a high resistivity.
These compounds can be used to increase
the total surface area of grounding
conductors, thereby reducing the ground
resistance / impedance.
Compounds may require water and a
mixing container.
When applying these compounds, be sure
to take necessary handling precautions
as advised by the product instructions,
and ensure that the directions for use are
followed correctly.
Insulation of Grounding
Systems
In some installations, it may be necessary
to insulate part of the ground system from
an area of the surface, for the purposes of
safety or isolation, (pedestrian walkways,
proximity to other services, etc.). In this
situation, it is recommended that a
minimum of 70 mm
2 (2/0 AWG), insulated
copper cable is run in PVC conduit to the
connection point (start) of the intended
ground system. This conduit should be at
a depth of at least 600 mm (24 in.), or
greater if required, to ensure that it is below
the frost line to the start of the intended
ground system.
Another possible design method for
reducing surface step-potentials may be to
insulate the ground system for the first few
meters of depth from the surface. This is
done by isolating the initial injection point
of the downconductor from the surface
of the ground mass by running it through
PVC conduit to the required depth before
exposing it to the ground mass.
Bonding the Lightning
Protection Ground to Other
Service Grounds
Where separate grounds exist eg: Structure,
Power, Communications and Lightning
Protection, they should be bonded together
to form an equipotential ground plane.
This will eliminate the possibility of ground
loops and potential differences arising
under transient conditions.