Interesting - but it doesn't seem to be working so ufering well in Frank's
case. Ufer grounding refers to grounding to a network of rebars that are
well tied together - are your rebars, mesh, etc. all nicely tied together,
Frank, or is the ground to only one rebar that may not contact anything
else, or at least not be well tied with good clean connections to the rest
of the mesh and rebars ?
And whatever the case, since it doesn't seem to be working, a real ground
rod is cheap and definitely does work, as long as it's not pounded only into
dead-dry ground, like the desert, where a ufer ground wouldn't work in this
case either. Or tie it in with the Ufer system too - just get a real ground
rod.
The Ufer ground was primarily developed to dissipate lightning strikes,
which carry far higher voltage than domestic ac electrical service. That
can blast through poor, rusty, high-resistance connections between rebars,
whereas a few amps at 110-220 volts may or may not do so well. A little
resistance in those connections can allow the ground to float as Franks'
seems to be doing. The minuscule amperage of the meter or the neon-light
tester is no match for a rusty, high-resistance connection. It allows a
floating ground, at least at relatively low voltage and current, as Frank
has.
By the way - the Wikipedia article states "If Ufer grounding alone was
enough, the manufacturers of ground rods would go out of business. But a
Ufer ground alone it is not adequate." It goes on to note that the NEC
requires a regular grounding rod.
Karl
> Karl Vacek wrote:
>> If your ground is a rebar in your concrete foundation, encased in
>> concrete,
>> that's NOT a good ground. You should get a real ground rod - a solid
>> piece of
>
> I had not heard of such a thing till a year or so ago. But the "ufer
> ground" is legit, and possibly better than a soil-encased rod:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ufer_Ground
> http://www.scott-inc.com/html/ufer.htm
>
> -W
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