Audiophile-grade ground rod?

Here you go. Solid copper ground rod.

https://www.gordonelectricsupply.com/p/Erico-Lpc711-Cu-Solid-Ground-Rod/6315842?text=ERICO+LPC711++c...

I recommend at least two rods.


Silver plated solid copper bare wire.
https://www.ganpatiengineering.com/bare-silver-plated-copper-wire.html

I’m wondering what true audiophile rod made from OCC copper would cost and would it provide better sonic,s . I bet it would ,

It wouldn’t do a darn thing...

The earth does not possess some magical mystical power that sucks nasties from audio equipment.


Grounding Myths

"Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineering" by Henry Ott

3.1.7 Grounding Myths

More myths exist relating to the field of grounding than any other area of electrical engineering. The more common of these are as follows:

1. The earth is a low-impedance path for ground current. False, the impedance of the earth is orders of magnitude greater than the impedance of a copper conductor.

2. The earth is an equipotential. False, this is clearly not true by the result of (1 above).

3. The impedance of a conductor is determined by its resistance. False, what happened to the concept of inductive reactance?

4. To operate with low noise, a circuit or system must be connected to an earth ground. False, because airplanes, satellites, cars and battery powered laptop computers all operate fine without a ground connection. As a matter of fact, an earth ground is more likely to be the cause of noise problems. More electronic system noise problems are resolved by removing (or isolating) a circuit from earth ground than by connecting it to earth ground.

5. To reduce noise, an electronic system should be connected to a separate “quiet ground” by using a separate, isolated ground rod. False, in addition to being untrue, this approach is dangerous and violates the requirements of the NEC (electrical code/rules).

6. An earth ground is unidirectional, with current only flowing into the ground. False, because current must flow in loops, any current that flows into the ground must also flow out of the ground somewhere else.

7. An isolated AC power receptacle is not grounded. False, the term “isolated” refers only to the method by which a receptacle is grounded, not if it is grounded.

8. A system designer can name ground conductors by the type of the current that they should carry (i.e., signal, power, lightning, digital, analog, quiet, noisy, etc.), and the electrons will comply and only flow in the appropriately designated conductors. Obviously false."

Henry W. Ott

Who is Henry Ott?
http://www.hottconsultants.com/bio.html

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@jea48
2 rods tied to the panel’s ground buss bar and 6’ apart, correct?

@lowrider57 ,

I assume you are referring to the earth grounding for an electrical service.
"The Grounding Electrode System".

6’ apart is the minimum distance required by NEC. The ground rods can be, and is better, if they are at least the length of the rods apart. (8’ rod, 8’ apart). As I remember, Just going from memory, IEEE recommends the ground rods should be twice the length of the rod apart. (8’ rod 16’ apart).

So why don’t electricians install the rods farther apart? Because they only have to follow the NEC and the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction). FWIW, NEC is bare minimum electrical safety standards, requirements.
Time = money. The further the rods are driven apart from one another the more hand digging to bury the #6 solid bare copper ground wire that will connect the rods together. Add to the labor cost is the additional cost of the longer #6 solid copper ground wire. Why do electricians use 5/8" x 8’ ground rods? Because that is the minimum diameter and length required by the NEC.

FWIW, for my electrical service I drove three 5/8" x 10’ ground rods about 15’ apart from one another. I used #4 solid copper ground wire instead of the minimum NEC required #6.

What’s the advantage of using 2 rods on a simple residential service panel?

The NEC only requires one ground rod IF it has a rod to soil resistance of 25 ohms or less. So the electrician drives one ground rod. The electrician calls for an inspection. The inspector sees there is only one ground rod. The inspector asks the electrician to see the certified resistance test report proving the ground rod to soil resistance is 25 ohms or less... It’s cheaper just to install the second ground rod. Funny thing, if only one rod is installed and a rod to soil resistance test was done, and the resistance was say 100 ohms all that needs to be done is to drive another ground rod. No further testing is required by NEC.

The main reason for connecting the electrical service equipment and service neutral conductor to earth is for lightning protection. The lower the ground rod , (Grounding Electrode System), to soil resistance the better. IEEE recommends for commercial and industrial electrical services 5 ohms or less.


Earth-Resistance-Ground-Testing-Weschler.pdf

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My test engineer suggested sinking a ground rod through the floor right next to the test stand so that the chassis could be grounded. Our facilities mgr was not on board with that plan until we showed him that the building ground was floating at 500+ mA! The ground rod worked. To be effective the ground wire must be thick and short. The ground rod must be near the equipment. The ground was connected to the chassis only.

@ tonywinga
I have attended numerous Power Quality seminars over the years and this type of discussion always comes up. Usually the equipment comes from Europe. Specs for the equipment will say a ground rod shall be installed next to the equipment and connected to the metal frame of the equipment or connected to the provided ground lug.

The electrician follows the specs *but* still connects the branch circuit wiring EGC (Equipment Grounding Conductor) to the metal frame of the equipment as required by NEC. I bet you see a problem...
(Meets NEC. Aux ground rod is allowed as long as NEC 250.54 conditions are met.

So the manufacturer’s Tech comes to see what is causing the problem(s) with the equipment. Where does he look first? "Well there’s the problem"... His equipment is connected to the building’s System Ground, (Grounding Electrode System) by the EGC. He tells the electrician his equipment has to isolated from the building grounding system and only connected to the earth driven ground rod beside the equipment.

Not only dangerous, it violates NEC.
In the event of a Hot ungrouned conductor to metal frame ground fault how does the ground fault current return to the source? Through the earth? Not hardly. The breaker at the electrical panel will never trip. What protection will a person have from receiving an electrical shock if he touches the frame of the energized equipment with one hand, and his other hand, or some other part of body, is in contact with a grounded object that is connected, grounded, to the building System Ground? None! No protection at all!


Here is a short video about the use of an aux ground rod. When watching the video substitute the whole house generator with audio equipment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg4wBI7bWgI

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@lowrider57

Yes, I did watch the video. It was pretty interesting to watch.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cadwelds (Trade Name) used in residential for connecting the ground wire to the ground rod. That welded connection is forever.

One thing for sure Fremer was ready for a new electrical service. Did he say how old the house was?

@tonywinga ,

I was hoping you would respond to my above post in response to yours.

My post, 10/21/2021 9:03am.

It’s not often to read a post where someone with your back ground, can backup their findings with actual hands on testing with measurements.
I don’t doubt for a second what your test engineer suggested driving the ground solved the problem you were having. But do you know for sure why it did?

1) How old is the building? The reason I ask as a building ages the soil under a concrete slab, floor, that is on poured on grade will dry out.
2) What is the length of the ground rod that is driven into the earth through the drilled hole in the concrete floor? 8ft? Less?

3) By chance was the rod to soil resistivity, resistance, checked using the proper type of test equipment? If tested what did it measure? Less than 5 ohms?
If not tested the rod to soil resistance could actually be high. If the resistance is high then basically it would be no different than floating the chassis of the piece of test equipment above ground. Or at the very least equal to a resistor, resistance, in series with the test equipment and earth connection...By chance did the test engineer repeat the same test with the ground rod ground wire lifted from the piece of test equipment? (Floating the test equipment chassis above ground.)

4) If the test equipment is made to be used on airplanes I can’t help but wonder why you are not using a medical grade type Isolation transformer for a power source for the testing equipment.

One thing I have learned over the years about branch circuit wiring is the type of wiring used and the wiring method used for installation can make a difference on how well a circuit will perform.

A true dedicated circuit should not share the same raceway, conduit, or cable assembly with other branch circuits. Installing more than one branch circuit in the same conduit can/will cause induced voltage, as well as noise, from one current carrying circuit conductors to the other. Also when an insulated EGC is pulled in the conduit the current carrying circuit conductors can induce a voltage, and noise, onto the insulated EGC. This is true even for a dedicated circuit installed in a dedicated conduit where the hot, neutral, and insulated EGC are installed loosely, randomly, in the conduit. Twisting the current carrying conductors together and installing the EGC just along side the twisted current carrying conductors in the conduit greatly reduces the induced voltage onto the EGC.

Well worth reading.
2012 Seminar w-Notes v1-0.ppt - indy-aes-2012-seminar-w-notes-v1-0.pdf

Note page 16 and read pages 31 thru 36.

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FWIW: A test of a dedicated ground rod not bonded, connected, to the electrical service main system ground. (Grounding Electrode System).

A while back I drove a 5/8" x 8’ ground rod in the rock garden at the back of the house to use as a dedicated test grounding electrode. The driven ground rod is probably a good 70’ straight as the crow fly s, from the electrical service’s three 10’ each driven ground rods. I did a quick check measurement today and the difference of potential, voltage, from the test ground rod to the electrical service grounding electrode system measured 347mV. ( Meter, Fluke 87 mulimeter).

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