Can the ground rod be totally buried?

[kc8qln]

I put in an 8' copper ground rod about 18 inches from the house, and used #6 solid copper to connect it to the mast.

This side of the house is grass where a lot kids play, so I drove the rod about 4" below ground level, and dug a small trench for the #6 copper wire to get to the hosue. Then filled it back in with dirt, so all you see is a copper wire coming up my house.

Is this ok? Otherwise I have potential lawnmower damage & kids tripping on it.

Thanks

 

[buffalogoat]

The ground rod is fine but you'll more than likely have moisture & corrosion problems with the ground wire connection being covered in dirt! That's why most ground wire-to-ground rod connections are above the dirt.

 

[Thayne]

If you used approved clamp & rod then burying the whole thing is ok. The rod is copper plated steel and the clamp is bronze-brass looking.

They do make something called Cadweld that actually exothermically welds them together but you don't need that---

 

[Yokoshibu]

The ground rod is fine but you'll more than likely have moisture & corrosion problems with the ground wire connection being covered in dirt! That's why most ground wire-to-ground rod connections are above the dirt.

yeah, check it in about 5 years... j/k it might be sooner or less but eventually mother nature will do its thing!

 

[kb2vxa]

Hi KC and friends,

It's common practice and I have done it myself, like the man said if you use approved (bronze) hardware it's just fine.

Yoko, five years is a day to hardware that meets the NEC requirements, it's aluminium you have to worry about. That 6ga "grounding wire" that Rat Shack used to sell is case in point. I removed a 6M antenna from a widow's house and the aluminium wire was so stiff and brittle it broke apart in my hands and in some places it was hair thin and the rest was oxide. Here in Ocean County the electrical code forbids aluminium EMT because of the danger of salt corrosion but farther inland I have had masts made from heavy wall up for 30 years without problems. BTW, that wire was used in the same area but the alloy is quite different and far more prone to deterioration. EMT is made from Duralumin, wire is not.

Let that be a lesson to you, there is no substitute for copper and certain alloys. Copper roofs have been around for a hundred years and most of them don't leak. Bronze cannons have been raised intact from shipwrecks so there must be a reason why it's used in electrical fittings exposed to the elements.

 

[Yokoshibu]

I have seen weird stuff in soils with a High ph... but what do I know, I will still check mine in 5-6 years but I am a little anal like that!