Couple of tips from an old hand. 1. If doing it like this ALWAYS put a couple of nuts on the top thread it will allow you to back them off to clean any threads if they get damaged. 2. I now always use the Linian 1LERPB + 1LERPD Earth Rod Pro Driver SDS+ and bit with my heavy duty Dewalt SDS drill, no more banging rods with a hammer! It cuts the job down to a fraction of the time and drills through virtually anything as it essentially turns the rods into a long drill, even goes through rock. The bit screws onto the end of the earth rod, you leave the bit on the rod so does cost an extra £9/job but so much easier. I live in Portugal now and we virtually all have TT systems with lots of houses built on rock, so use it all the time. 👍👍👍
Always good to use a bolt as gives the threads a better change of not getting damaged and not having a hole saw rattling about but looks like you managed it so good work. I did do one recently on the farm and used the poster on the tractor! two bangs and we were done all be it slightly extreme.
Australian here - all we do is TT here. We have MEN - Multiple Earth-Neutral - which is very similar to your TT. We typically drive in 1.7M stakes without joining them. We may also drop a group of stakes in the ground to get the return path measurements down to below 10 ohms.. In sandy-loam areas, we might end up with 5-6 electrodes in - or in rocky areas, we might be only down 500mm in the soil, with a group of electrodes laying horizontally in a pit.
Not being super critical but would it not have been a better idea to install the Earth Rod at the same time as the Street Cabinet install at one side then have a Earth Inspection Chamber that you can test from in future and the DNO could have energised you at the same time as their resin joint work?
When using your torque wrench to check terminal screws you just try to tighten the screw and if it clicks without turning all you have done is check its tighter than the torque wrench setting. If you want it tightened to the correct torque you need to undo it a little then tighten it until the torque wrench clicks.
Nice Job. Would have been interesting to see a Ze as if it were a TNCS. Normally when the DNO leave the head without an MET and labelled as TT only, it's because the Ze is > 0.35. I guess I would sandwich the MEC between the back of the clamp and the rod, with the bolt directly tensioned into the rod, so all strands are in compression and in positive contact with the rod. I think there's a good reason the regs ask us to do the Zs after all the dead tests. It confirms that Line and CPC, at least, have not inadvertently been left poorly or not reconnected. One little tip - when you buy the rods, get same number of threaded connectors. Then you have one spare to put on top of the last rod. Then you can use this to protect the top thread on the rod. If you find the Ze is too high and you need to add more rods, you will not have already smashed the thread out of shape.
It’s TT because it’s a temporary building supply…DNO can’t supply PME to a TBS. Also the TT has nothing to do with the ELI being over 0.35 ohms. DNO standard is is normally maximum of 0.35 for PME and maximum 0.8 ohms for SNE but it also depends on network construction like if it’s a long radial network on an overhead line or if a property is fed from a 35mm service on a potend which is like 150m away from the substation then earth loop will be high
That's a very common method of ground rod attachment in the US however we usually use a solid core copper wire between the board and the Rod. The stranded doesn't quite get the bite it looks like with that style clamp. At least it got good readings.
I remember in 80s as a apprenticeship we used to fit earth rods all the time overhead cables running along backs of houses because water companies took all the lead pipes with plastic
Good evening, your rotary hammer drill has an attachment. That you can purchase. And drive the ground rods that way, makes it a lot easier. Just a thought, Joe Capo.
I use a 20mm hole saw (with pilot bit removed) into an sds drill on hammer mode, and it drives it in noice 😂 20 mhm hole saw fits over earth rod just nice aswel 👍🏻
Your'e lucky my first Earth Rod or Grounding Stake. I had to put in through shingle . It took 45 minutes and all I had was a masons club hammer and a block of wood to protect the top. For a period here in NZ they allowed galvanised rods to be used. Though now it's raw copper and they aren't cheap.
Copper clad steel in Australia in most circumstances. Actually a google search shows a lot of copper clad stakes for sale in NZ. Are you sure it's straight raw copper?
Your content is by far the best on youtube and is covers lots of different areas. ØY Electrical and yourself are really smashing it with interesting content. Keep it going 👌🏻👌🏻
Piece of wood, fence board etc 20 mm. hole near one end , bout 1 mt. Long. Mate holds it near top of rod .. steadies it , lowers it with you as it's driven in....there are other ways too.
A scrap length of twin and earth double wrapped and pulled back on by an assistant works well too. Anything really so the person keeping the rod vertical is out the way and you can get a good safe swing.
Had a job recent where we installed 1 circuit supplying a FCU in the same cupboard as the DB for a 2port valve for heating in about 30 flats in a retirement home and I often got much higher Zs value than expected. Figured after a while it was the crabtree type AC RCD's in the older DB's, the newer RCBO DB's always gave sensible Zs readings. Something about the makes my megger play up
AIUI the absoloute max earth rod resistance is the max acceptable touch voltage divided by the trip current of your RCD. 50 volts divided by 30 milliamps gives 1666⅔ ohms 100 milliamps gives 500 ohms, 300 milliamps gives 166⅔ ohms. However ground resistance can vary substantially, so it's considered wise to stay well away from the absoloute max.
I love HILTI when it comes to chipping or any SDS Max application. I used a Bosch SDS Max and after 30 minutes of chipping I'd be dying, but the HILTI is 1 5th of the weight. Could chip all day with the HILTI
Its hard to believe how shallow the DNO buries the incomers there. In the US, we use usually 2 earth rods 2.44m long and min 2m apart (unless you can prove
In the Western part of the nation we use a lot of Ufer Grounds too. Since we use a lot of slab on grade concrete foundations, we tie the ground to the steel rebar in the concrete foundation. This makes the entire foundation of many square meters the ground. It works well even in the west where you have a lot of dry Rocky soils and a couple of copper rods, even a couple meters long doesn’t provide enough ground.
@@retrozmachine1189 For transmission and distribution (ie greater than 1000V AC) you don't have a high voltage neutral... You sure you're not referring to interconnecting the HV and LV earths together?
@@gloveyourway2000 They do in the USA. Their MV distribution is 12.7kV (?) 3P + N with their transformers usually being single phase hung between 1P + N for 7.2kV primary side supply.
Gonna sound.... daft / clearly uneducated... but considering the 'ease' with which the tool helped bury the rod, is there simply diminishing returns for adding a 3rd rod? (Ie is the additional cost, time, and effort, not really beneficial when conpared to the smaller reductions in earth impedance? Also appreciate may not be a product suitable / within regs, but as you already had a large sub surface hole, could you not have a copper mesh layed in the hole connected to the rod as well (ultimately good TT earth is linked to surface area of copper in the ground). This is wholly an uneducated post and not an 'opinion' on the work.
It depends on the ground you are driving into and the different types of substrate. Where you have well draining top layers, adding an extension rod will be much more beneficial that an area like the one in the video. On ground that holds the water, then you get more benefit by installing a second rod spaced away from the first, by at least twice the depth that the rods go down to. It isn't just a case of getting a low reading though, you are also looking to get a stable earthing arrangement, and adding extra rods can achieve that. A mesh arrangement or earth mat can be used instead. There are guidelines on the spacing of the mesh to achieve maximum effectiveness. If you ever have the misfortune to see a DNO install the PME, you will often see a single rod laid down by the side of the underground joint where they have tapped the earth into.
You are not trying to get the impedance down as low as possible. You are trying to get the impedance down to be low enough to enable the circuit breaker to trip. Once the impedance is down to a low enough level and it's stable and is going to be low enough all year round in wet and dry conditions then there is no need to install additional earth rods to lower the impedance further. And on certain circuits under the regs must be protected by an RCD, so that helps too.
8:46 drill a length of wood, drill a hole in it just enough to go over the earth rod. That way someone can hold 5he wood and keep the rod still with out gett8 g their fingers smacked. You can use both hands o the slaedge
2 errors here don’t run the earth in front of tails ( also don’t touch tails) 1667 is the maximum for additional protection. But 100ma time delayed ADS is a maximum of 500ohms. You may have to cover both ADS and Additional protection depending on safety assessment.
Top tip, if you’re going to take a break from whacking the crap out of the rod, mark it with a hard hat. I did one last week and bent over and hit my head. 2 inches lower and I’d have lost an eye
How can 100 ohms be ok, that’s literally 0 protection if you have a short only 2/3 amps will flow and anything not on rcd won’t trip, in Ireland it would have to be below 1 ohm max I’m confused
Great watching thanks guys. Just an observation for your camera man if I may, bear in mind I have no qualification in camera work, so this is just my opinion. Get him to zoom out a bit and calm the camera movement. At the moment you can't see anything but either your head, or the cabinet. Consequently he is jiggling from left to right like a meercat at a tennis match. Made me feel queezy! Your music is also kind of loud. Perhaps fine for headset users, but my sound comes through a stereo amp to hi-fi speakers and I have to turn the volume down for your music and then up for your voice work. Not meant as complaint, I only offer in case it is constructive towards your future video work. Thanks again for the entertainment.
@@residualelectrical R1+R2 reading cannot be influenced upward by parallel earthing paths. This is your test leads not being nulled out, or a high resistance fly-lead connection between the line and CPC. This is why it was the same on both circuits.
Will be contact resistance on the socket outlet and the plug in leads. Especially if those sockets have been outside a while. A safety factor on the testing as will verify operation in worst circumstances lol. Little heater in the cabinet probs sort it out Mike. Top job and fantastic demo 💪
The inspection cover is pointless as the dno have only left you with a tt as its a temporary supply and will be redundant when the permanent supply is re installed.Secondly you dont want to be kneeling on that joint, your likely to over stress the old lead causing premature failure of the joint or cause a flash over
@@ashleystirlandThe electrode is not suitable, it should have many sharp edges not round, the connection point to the electrode is ..... a joke. How many ohm resulted?
Couple of tips from an old hand. 1. If doing it like this ALWAYS put a couple of nuts on the top thread it will allow you to back them off to clean any threads if they get damaged. 2. I now always use the Linian 1LERPB + 1LERPD Earth Rod Pro Driver SDS+ and bit with my heavy duty Dewalt SDS drill, no more banging rods with a hammer! It cuts the job down to a fraction of the time and drills through virtually anything as it essentially turns the rods into a long drill, even goes through rock. The bit screws onto the end of the earth rod, you leave the bit on the rod so does cost an extra £9/job but so much easier. I live in Portugal now and we virtually all have TT systems with lots of houses built on rock, so use it all the time. 👍👍👍
That was an excellent bit of advice . Bought mine because of this . Thanks . th-cam.com/video/a66xb8A5KUY/w-d-xo.html
You can get a driving stud that screws in to the threaded rod joiner
Always good to use a bolt as gives the threads a better change of not getting damaged and not having a hole saw rattling about but looks like you managed it so good work. I did do one recently on the farm and used the poster on the tractor! two bangs and we were done all be it slightly extreme.
Armeg SDS TT rod driver are good😊
Australian here - all we do is TT here. We have MEN - Multiple Earth-Neutral - which is very similar to your TT. We typically drive in 1.7M stakes without joining them. We may also drop a group of stakes in the ground to get the return path measurements down to below 10 ohms.. In sandy-loam areas, we might end up with 5-6 electrodes in - or in rocky areas, we might be only down 500mm in the soil, with a group of electrodes laying horizontally in a pit.
Please friends guide me and help me...I have 5 years experience in this field...now currently I am working in Malaysia kuala lumpur
You’re the highest quality electrical content creator. Nobody better
@walsee I completely agree. His videography is king
@carterscott 😂😂😂 Good one
@walseee sure I do agree mate .
But there's Artisan electrics as well
Not being super critical but would it not have been a better idea to install the Earth Rod at the same time as the Street Cabinet install at one side then have a Earth Inspection Chamber that you can test from in future and the DNO could have energised you at the same time as their resin joint work?
Your drone shots bro aren't over the top compared to other TH-camrs and are freaking cleannnnnnn
Simplicity sometimes works better
When using your torque wrench to check terminal screws you just try to tighten the screw and if it clicks without turning all you have done is check its tighter than the torque wrench setting. If you want it tightened to the correct torque you need to undo it a little then tighten it until the torque wrench clicks.
Nice Job. Would have been interesting to see a Ze as if it were a TNCS. Normally when the DNO leave the head without an MET and labelled as TT only, it's because the Ze is > 0.35.
I guess I would sandwich the MEC between the back of the clamp and the rod, with the bolt directly tensioned into the rod, so all strands are in compression and in positive contact with the rod.
I think there's a good reason the regs ask us to do the Zs after all the dead tests. It confirms that Line and CPC, at least, have not inadvertently been left poorly or not reconnected.
One little tip - when you buy the rods, get same number of threaded connectors. Then you have one spare to put on top of the last rod. Then you can use this to protect the top thread on the rod. If you find the Ze is too high and you need to add more rods, you will not have already smashed the thread out of shape.
I use a sds rod driver to save the thread works a treat😊 tou can get them and made by armeg😮
It’s TT because it’s a temporary building supply…DNO can’t supply PME to a TBS. Also the TT has nothing to do with the ELI being over 0.35 ohms. DNO standard is is normally maximum of 0.35 for PME and maximum 0.8 ohms for SNE but it also depends on network construction like if it’s a long radial network on an overhead line or if a property is fed from a 35mm service on a potend which is like 150m away from the substation then earth loop will be high
That's a very common method of ground rod attachment in the US however we usually use a solid core copper wire between the board and the Rod. The stranded doesn't quite get the bite it looks like with that style clamp. At least it got good readings.
I remember in 80s as a apprenticeship we used to fit earth rods all the time overhead cables running along backs of houses because water companies took all the lead pipes with plastic
This is a fantastic series Mike. Top stuff mate.
Good evening, your rotary hammer drill has an attachment. That you can purchase. And drive the ground rods that way, makes it a lot easier. Just a thought, Joe Capo.
If you was to do this again I'd recommend putting an earth bar on the board in the meter cab, and then going into the db off the earth bar.
I use a 20mm hole saw (with pilot bit removed) into an sds drill on hammer mode, and it drives it in noice 😂 20 mhm hole saw fits over earth rod just nice aswel 👍🏻
That’s bloody genius
Your'e lucky my first Earth Rod or Grounding Stake. I had to put in through shingle . It took 45 minutes and all I had was a masons club hammer and a block of wood to protect the top. For a period here in NZ they allowed galvanised rods to be used. Though now it's raw copper and they aren't cheap.
Copper clad steel in Australia in most circumstances. Actually a google search shows a lot of copper clad stakes for sale in NZ. Are you sure it's straight raw copper?
Cracking video, great content and definitely the best editing. Keep on producing this quality
Use a driving stud.
A solid pin terminal is good for clamping up behind the rod clamp.
You could’ve crimped the lug then clamped that between rod and clamp
Your content is by far the best on youtube and is covers lots of different areas. ØY Electrical and yourself are really smashing it with interesting content. Keep it going 👌🏻👌🏻
Thanks! 😍
Building site supplies are TT, I had one, then when moved onto the house (once built) it was a PME (TNCS) supply. Same supply, just a different use.
Piece of wood, fence board etc 20 mm. hole near one end , bout 1 mt. Long. Mate holds it near top of rod .. steadies it , lowers it with you as it's driven in....there are other ways too.
A scrap length of twin and earth double wrapped and pulled back on by an assistant works well too. Anything really so the person keeping the rod vertical is out the way and you can get a good safe swing.
2nd. Editing looks amazing on this video. Well done!
Love the content , thanks for taking the time to film .
Cute little earth rod. Here in the USA we need at least two 8' rods installed. 🤠👍
not sure if it was commented but why not strip the insulation - will give better connection to the general mass of earth and improve your readings
Had a job recent where we installed 1 circuit supplying a FCU in the same cupboard as the DB for a 2port valve for heating in about 30 flats in a retirement home and I often got much higher Zs value than expected. Figured after a while it was the crabtree type AC RCD's in the older DB's, the newer RCBO DB's always gave sensible Zs readings. Something about the makes my megger play up
Viewing from New York City, NY, USA. 🙂👊
Doesn’t the RCD for a TT system need to be installed before it enters the DB??
Doesn't the spd need a breaker if main fuse above 63a?
1 earth rod more than adequate and thase days your better off lying it in trench less risk off damage to any other service's in ground 👍nice work
Intro music is quite nice. Great work, as always.
AIUI the absoloute max earth rod resistance is the max acceptable touch voltage divided by the trip current of your RCD. 50 volts divided by 30 milliamps gives 1666⅔ ohms 100 milliamps gives 500 ohms, 300 milliamps gives 166⅔ ohms.
However ground resistance can vary substantially, so it's considered wise to stay well away from the absoloute max.
I love HILTI when it comes to chipping or any SDS Max application. I used a Bosch SDS Max and after 30 minutes of chipping I'd be dying, but the HILTI is 1 5th of the weight. Could chip all day with the HILTI
Good job the earth rod didn’t come back up out of the ground behind you!
Why no earth bar on the meter board then run into consumer unit
What distance should Earth rods be from each other please?
Its hard to believe how shallow the DNO buries the incomers there. In the US, we use usually 2 earth rods 2.44m long and min 2m apart (unless you can prove
Your extensive earthing probably stems from the fact that you tie your HV and LV neutrals together.
In the Western part of the nation we use a lot of Ufer Grounds too. Since we use a lot of slab on grade concrete foundations, we tie the ground to the steel rebar in the concrete foundation. This makes the entire foundation of many square meters the ground. It works well even in the west where you have a lot of dry Rocky soils and a couple of copper rods, even a couple meters long doesn’t provide enough ground.
@@Bill_N_ATX Yep, foundation earthing is something that's commonly used throughout europe...but rarely used in the UK.
@@retrozmachine1189 For transmission and distribution (ie greater than 1000V AC) you don't have a high voltage neutral...
You sure you're not referring to interconnecting the HV and LV earths together?
@@gloveyourway2000 They do in the USA. Their MV distribution is 12.7kV (?) 3P + N with their transformers usually being single phase hung between 1P + N for 7.2kV primary side supply.
Great vid mate , must agree not best connection for earth rod but did the job 👏
Great video, one thing you could do is use a large bootlace ferrule on the cable end 👍
Is that a temp site supply?
Was the bolt not supposed to tighten into the copper much better connection??
Nah cause if you go turbo tools on it you'll go straight through that copper geez
How many amps did u say your PFC was?
great electrician mate, you could always use 2 earth clamps for belt and braces approach
I think this is a really good idea! In engineering you always go for redundancy principle and back up in case of failure on one point!
Gonna sound.... daft / clearly uneducated... but considering the 'ease' with which the tool helped bury the rod, is there simply diminishing returns for adding a 3rd rod? (Ie is the additional cost, time, and effort, not really beneficial when conpared to the smaller reductions in earth impedance?
Also appreciate may not be a product suitable / within regs, but as you already had a large sub surface hole, could you not have a copper mesh layed in the hole connected to the rod as well (ultimately good TT earth is linked to surface area of copper in the ground).
This is wholly an uneducated post and not an 'opinion' on the work.
It depends on the ground you are driving into and the different types of substrate. Where you have well draining top layers, adding an extension rod will be much more beneficial that an area like the one in the video. On ground that holds the water, then you get more benefit by installing a second rod spaced away from the first, by at least twice the depth that the rods go down to. It isn't just a case of getting a low reading though, you are also looking to get a stable earthing arrangement, and adding extra rods can achieve that.
A mesh arrangement or earth mat can be used instead. There are guidelines on the spacing of the mesh to achieve maximum effectiveness.
If you ever have the misfortune to see a DNO install the PME, you will often see a single rod laid down by the side of the underground joint where they have tapped the earth into.
You are not trying to get the impedance down as low as possible. You are trying to get the impedance down to be low enough to enable the circuit breaker to trip.
Once the impedance is down to a low enough level and it's stable and is going to be low enough all year round in wet and dry conditions then there is no need to install additional earth rods to lower the impedance further.
And on certain circuits under the regs must be protected by an RCD, so that helps too.
Solid copper or copper plated earth rod ? Why not a disc ?
I was afraid you going to struggle with sledge till the end 😂
8:46 drill a length of wood, drill a hole in it just enough to go over the earth rod. That way someone can hold 5he wood and keep the rod still with out gett8 g their fingers smacked. You can use both hands o the slaedge
you do really do know your job ;;
I just drive 1 - 8ft copper clad steel rod into the ground using my hammer drill with ground rod install attatchment. No hammer needed.
2 errors here don’t run the earth in front of tails ( also don’t touch tails) 1667 is the maximum for additional protection. But 100ma time delayed ADS is a maximum of 500ohms. You may have to cover both ADS and Additional protection depending on safety assessment.
Top tip, if you’re going to take a break from whacking the crap out of the rod, mark it with a hard hat. I did one last week and bent over and hit my head. 2 inches lower and I’d have lost an eye
Great video and tips 👍
Great stuff highly interesting 👍👍
Thanks Dave!
Use an SDS armeg TT rod driver buddy. There mint😊😊 no mashed threads 😮😮😮
Just forfuture reference you can lug but gt yourself some brass washers and nuts an then your good to buddy 🤙🏻
3ohms in South Africa due to touch voltage
I have an attachment for a rotary hammer drill for beating them in
How can 100 ohms be ok, that’s literally 0 protection if you have a short only 2/3 amps will flow and anything not on rcd won’t trip, in Ireland it would have to be below 1 ohm max I’m confused
Brilliant video
Drill a hole. Put in the copper rod. Mix the dirt with a cup of salt. Fill in the hole.
Great watching thanks guys. Just an observation for your camera man if I may, bear in mind I have no qualification in camera work, so this is just my opinion. Get him to zoom out a bit and calm the camera movement. At the moment you can't see anything but either your head, or the cabinet. Consequently he is jiggling from left to right like a meercat at a tennis match. Made me feel queezy!
Your music is also kind of loud. Perhaps fine for headset users, but my sound comes through a stereo amp to hi-fi speakers and I have to turn the volume down for your music and then up for your voice work.
Not meant as complaint, I only offer in case it is constructive towards your future video work. Thanks again for the entertainment.
Could you not have sunk 1 rod and tested that it may have given you the reading you required if not then add the other.
Please guide me...I have 5 years experience in this job...now currently I am working in Malaysia kuala lumpur
What’s the pay like over there?
Why is the CU outside in that box? Never seen that before
Very common if the building is getting pulled down and rebuilt and also if major construction work is going on
Yeah Mike explained on the first part that the house is getting demolished and flats going up
R1+R2 is clearly wrong for 1m cable.
Around 0.02 for 1m of 2.5 T&E….
@@residualelectrical R1+R2 reading cannot be influenced upward by parallel earthing paths. This is your test leads not being nulled out, or a high resistance fly-lead connection between the line and CPC. This is why it was the same on both circuits.
Will be contact resistance on the socket outlet and the plug in leads. Especially if those sockets have been outside a while.
A safety factor on the testing as will verify operation in worst circumstances lol. Little heater in the cabinet probs sort it out Mike. Top job and fantastic demo 💪
The inspection cover is pointless as the dno have only left you with a tt as its a temporary supply and will be redundant when the permanent supply is re installed.Secondly you dont want to be kneeling on that joint, your likely to over stress the old lead causing premature failure of the joint or cause a flash over
Make sure the area was not a bomb zone in World War 2
Just from school?!
Hitting hardened steel on hardend steel aint the best!!!
CRIPPLER
should have used Earth rod drilling bit instead of hammering it down.......another quality stuff from Residual Current
I am electrical technician from Egypt my name is Ahmad I want work with you in UK
my position in my work electrical team leader
1st 😊
this is a crappy dodgy install.
please explain ?
@@ashleystirlandThe electrode is not suitable, it should have many sharp edges not round, the connection point to the electrode is ..... a joke. How many ohm resulted?
16 wasnt it? Which was under target of 21 no electrician so just wondering
What u mean it should have shape edges ?
@@ashleystirland sharp edges. Current prefers to get out throu sharp edges. Imagine a cross profile not a round one. :)
Are u on drugs ?
I am electrical technician from Egypt my name is Ahmad I want work with you in UK
my position in my work electrical team leader