Ground Rod Resistance Check

With this method the resistance of two electrodes in a series is measured by connecting the p1 and c1 terminals to the ground electrode under test.

Ground rod resistance check. Run the wire to your test location. For instance if a ground rod is driven into a very rocky and dry area it may not conduct electricity into the ground well. Unfortunately as time goes by factors such as ground rod corrosion soil moisture high salt content high temperatures and loss of contact of your wires as well as others may increase the resistance of ground rod s hence affecting its effectiveness. Step 5 measure the ground or leakage current if you wish to find out about the ground or leakage current all that you have to do is to set the rotary switch to ma or a.

Make sure that you have stripped back the insulation from both ends of the wire to allow for a good connection. However we can estimate the resistance to ground using scenario b. An ideal ground rod resistance should be below 3 ohms. R loop 10 ω 0 17 ω 10 17 ω.

Check your clamp on tester s manual if it uses another kind of configuration. Multiple ground rods yield a lower resistance to ground than a single rod. So if you are using 10 foot ground rods you must place. The nfpa and ieee recommend a ground resistance value of 5 ohms or less while the nec has stated to make sure that system impedance to ground is less than 5 ohms specified in nec 50 56.

If there were 60 similar ground electrodes with a resistance of 10 ω each the measurement of the total loop resistance would be. P2 and c2 connect to a separate all metallic grounding point like a water pipe or building steel. Unfortunately there is not one standard ground resistance threshold recognized by all certifying agencies. You can only do this by using the fall of potential method with a three terminal earth ground resistance tester.

If this is the case for your ground rod the best solution is to drive a different rod into a different location. In areas where driving ground rods may be impractical the two point method can be used. The measurement of the loop resistance is relatively close to the resistance of the ground electrode being tested. For a safe electrical system your ground rod resistance should have a very low resistance value.

Step 1 connect your length of wire to a metal stake in the ground. Ideally a ground should be zero ohms of resistance but. To properly test the resistance of a ges you must follow some simple rules. You should measure the resistance of an electrode with respect to the surrounding soil in the area.

The lower it is the better job it does. For example the national electric code requires no greater than 25 ohms of resistance in a ground system.