How to choose ground rod

There are a lot of ground materials on the market, such as copper-clad ground rod, galvanized ground rod, pure copper ground rod, stainless steel ground rod and so on. But what kind of ground rod should we choose? Let us take a look and choose a suitable ground rod.

Galvanized ground rod

The galvanized ground rod composite ground electrode is a new type of grounding product. It uses low-carbon steel and high-purity zinc as the main raw materials, and uses a special process to continuously cast hot-dip zinc to form a bimetal composite material. This product combines the advantages of zinc strip anodes and traditional galvanized steel grounding materials. It not only has the high strength and high thermal stability of steel, but also has the function of cathodic protection. Its service life can be as long as 50 years.

Pure copper ground rod

Pure copper ground rods are simply ground rods made of pure copper. As we all know, copper is one of the best conductive materials. It is second only to silver in conductivity, and the copper element is very stable and not prone to corrosion. However, because of its high cost, pure copper grounding rods are generally not used in non-specific places.

Stainless steel ground rod

Stainless steel is generally used for lightning rods. At present, it has been increasingly eliminated as ground rods. Stainless steel has relatively large electrical resistance and poor electrical conductivity because of the addition of various other elements. However, stainless steel has a hard structure and good impact resistance. , It is suitable for the hard geological structure.

Copper Clad Steel Ground Rod is the Best

In summary, the service life of copper-clad steel and zinc-clad steel as ground rods can reach as long as 50 years, and the use cost is relatively low. So which material is the best to use as the ground rod? So let us further explain the characteristics of these two materials. First, let us explain the reason why the copper and steel core can be bonded by electrolysis technology. For steel, the copper-plated layer is the cathode, which is determined by the voltage characteristics of the metal. Therefore, only the steel core may be corroded, not the copper plating layer. When such a grounding rod is driven into the ground, the steel core only acts as a force-bearing body. According to the skin effect, copper is an effective conductor for carrying current to the soil. The opposite situation occurs in the case of hot-dip galvanized rods (note: the electro-galvanized layer cannot resist soil erosion), and zinc only plays a protective role. This is because the coating is anode-caused for steel, corrosion causes zinc to dissolve, and the product’s resistance rises due to corrosion. Taking into account the above facts, copper-clad steel is a better grounding material.

SBK copperbond Ground rods

SBK copperbond Ground rods offer installers the most economical method of achieving a low earth resistance. Each rod has a high tensile strength, low carbon steel core. 99.95% pure copper is applied electrolytically and forms a metallurgical bond between the steel core and the copper. This combination makes the rod ideal for deep driving whilst also provides lasting resistance to corrosion. The threads are formed by a cold rolling process which ensures strength and maintains the molecularly bonded copper covering along the full length of the threads. Cold-rolled threads are stronger than cut-threads. The standard copper thickness is 0.25mm. Greater copper thicknesses are also available. Please contact our sales office for further information.