In an electrical installation, an earthing system or grounding system connects specific parts of that installation with the Earth’s conductive surface for safety and functional purposes such as:

• Protection against electrical overload
• Re-directing electricity 
• Stabilising voltage levels
• Preventing damage, injury and death  

For these reasons, one or more grounding rods are used to connect the grounding system to earth ground and it’s required by the National Electrical Code (NEC) and local building codes as well. It’s a conducting element buried directly in the ground, facilitating the flow of fault currents towards the ground. If properly installed, connected and maintained these rods achieve safe, reliable, and long-term earthing protection. These rods are simple and inexpensive but are crucial to protecting electric equipment and electronics, and therefore must not be neglected.

LEC’s grounding rod also known as Chem-Rod is ultra-efficient and can be used to replace as many as 10 conventional rods. Advantages are:

• Large surface area – the wider 25/8 inch diameter provides a larger surface area for a better connection to the earth.
• Electrolytic Salts – In the presence of moisture, these salts dissolve and seep out of leach holes along with the electrode. The salts continually increase the soil’s conductivity, further reducing impedance and resistance
• Soil augmentation: GAF (Grounding Augmentation Fill) is a combination of organic soil materials which optimize the conductivity of the soil around the Chem-Rod. Increasing the amount of GAF can decrease the overall system resistance thereby increasing the system’s efficiency.
• Easy Refills: Every Chem-rod comes with a standard removable cap and access cover for easy maintenance of the ground salt charge
• Optimized pigtail: the 2-foot long, 4/0 AWG stranded pigtail is exothermically welded to the body of the Chem-Rod

Grounding rods and their accessories provide high fault current capacity for LV, MV and HV substations, towers and other distribution applications. They can be used for both overhead and underground networks to achieve optimum earthing for distribution and transmission. Grounding method used consists of grounds rods spaced about 10 m (33 ft) apart and driven into the earth. If available, other grounding objects are interconnected, such as utility systems building electrical ground systems, etc. However careless installation of grounds for other equipment, such as cable TV, security systems or generators can lead to damage. Thus regular inspection and maintenance is important. 

Thank you for reading, Lightning Eliminators & Consultant Inc., is a leading manufacturer and supplier of lightning protection systems and solutions including grounding rods. To get a quote, talk to one of our engineering experts.