On Thursday, May 12, 2005, at 07:44 PM, RACE427@aol.com wrote:
> Hello to the group;
>
> a separate ground wire to an 8 ft grounding rod driven into the
> earth. Any
> help is greatly appreciated!
>
> Thanks, Tony G LI,NY
Hey, Tony, I don't know how important a good ground return is for
welding -- but in ham radio, it's vital, and here's what I've done:
Don't settle for an 8' rod pounded into the ground if you could instead
pound a well-screen full of rock salt into the ground. The salt will
keep things moist and improve conductivity by a bunch -- until the
screen rusts out, at least. You oughta get a couple of years before
that happens.
Or, better still, pound that ground rod in and then create a "fan" of
wires, maybe 10' long each, that attach to the rod and spread out every
so-many degrees around the rod, burying those wires a foot or so
underground.
\ I /
\ I /
\ I /
\I /
---------.-----------
/ I \
/ I \
/ I \
/ I \
Oughta be evenly spaced around the rod, but this is the best I can do
with limited keyboard skills, but you get the idea. More radials makes
for better ground. This'll give vast improvements in ground
"efficiency" -- increased my ham radio reception/transmission range by
a zillion percent. Maybe it'll make for better welds. . .
Jon Wennerberg
Seldom Seen Slim Land Speed Racing
Marquette, Michigan
(that's 'way up north)
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