Earth Rod - DIY

[Risteard]

Anyone who advises the OP that installing an Earth electrode is a DIY job is a charlatan. It most certainly is not.

 

[John D v2.0]

Anyone who advises the OP that installing an Earth electrode is a DIY job is a charlatan. It most certainly is not.

Are you thinking of the testing and connecting it, or do you mean even bashing into the ground? If so is that due to the danger of buried services?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Sorry for such a very late reply - it is a twin motor compressor, the biggest one Clarke do on a normal domestic supply.

You probably need permission from your DNO, because if you don't, and the use of it disrupts your neighbours' supplies, you'll be in trouble.

Good question, it took the man from the electric board to check. I think he said it looked like it was meant to be earthed to the neutral with a connector in the switch but he checked this and it wasn't.

Have they actually, formally, refused to provide you with a TN-C-S, aka PME, earth?

they have said I will need to provide the earth.

Possibly on the basis of "let's try fobbing him off with that, because that won't cost us any money".

 

[JohnW2]

Are you thinking of the testing and connecting it, or do you mean even bashing into the ground? If so is that due to the danger of buried services?

Good question. If the later, I doubt that many electricians would be much better than DIYers at predicting/guessing where underground services might be!

My main earth electrode is perilously close to where I know that there is a drainage pipe (about 400mm deep), which very probably pre-dated the electrode

Kind Regards, John

 

[dunny]

For clarity the spark has agreed to come and test it and I am merely sticking it in the ground. I know there are no services where I will be locating it so that isn't an issue. My question was if I put 2 in is it better to have them separate or joined?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Local established electricians might have relationships with local established builders and plumbers who might know. It's surprising how much "Yeah, when they built these houses they ran the <whatever> under the house and came up in the <wherever>" knowledge people like that build up over the years.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

For clarity the spark has agreed to come and test it and I am merely sticking it in the ground. I know there are no services where I will be locating it so that isn't an issue. My question was if I put 2 in is it better to have them separate or joined?

They will be joined at the MET - I can see no benefit in also joining them somewhere else.

But seriously - before it is too late, have they actually, formally refused to provide a PME earth, or might they have just fobbed you off to save themselves money?

 

[dunny]

Hi B-A-S,

They have verbally said, after checking with the office, that they are not responsible for providing the earth.

D

 

[JohnW2]

They have verbally said, after checking with the office, that they are not responsible for

My understanding is that if they have ever provided an earth, they acquire a responsibility to provide and maintain an earth indefinitely. Do I therefore take it that they have never supplied an earth?

Kind Regards, John

 

[dunny]

My understanding is that if they have ever provided an earth, they acquire a responsibility to provide and maintain an earth indefinitely. Do I therefore take it that they have never supplied an earth?

Kind Regards, John

There appears to have never been an earth. We are on an overhead supply and just a live and neutral come into the house. There are earth cables running from the CU's to the fuse and I seem to remember he took the cover off this to see if there was a bridge to the neutral (or something like that anyway) and there wasn't. As a temporary measure they put an RCD (?) thingy in to get the supply back on and now want an earth,

 

[ban-all-sheds]

They have verbally said, after checking with the office, that they are not responsible for providing the earth.

Hmmm.

We are on an overhead supply and just a live and neutral come into the house.

Just L & N goes into every house which has a TN-C-S supply.


But it may be that in a few months time you'll need to have your own rod(s) for a new TN-C-S supply anyway.

 

[JohnW2]

There appears to have never been an earth. We are on an overhead supply and just a live and neutral come into the house.

As has been said, that proves nothing. I have an overhead supply (with just L & N) coming into my house and, although I have declined their offer, they have offered me a "TN-C-S" earth.

There are earth cables running from the CU's to the fuse and I seem to remember he took the cover off this to see if there was a bridge to the neutral (or something like that anyway) and there wasn't.

Are they perhaps saying that the supply to your house does not have "Protective Multiple Earthing' ("PME"), which is necessary for them to supply a "TN-C-S" (the earth being provided by a connection to the neutral within their 'fuse box')? If not, it sounds daft. As you say, an 'earth' connection already exists between that box and your CUs so, if the supply did have PME, all they would have to do would be to install that apparently missing link in their 'fuse box' (normally called a 'cutout' or 'service head').

In any event, as BAS has said, in a couple of months the regulations are changing such that (at least for new installations) one will be required to have an earth rod in addition to any earth provided by the supplier and, as he said, that might apply in the case of a newly-supplied TN-C-S earth.

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

one will be required to have an earth rod in addition to any earth provided by the supplier

I thought it had been dismissed (not sure why I thought that).

Are there any suggestions as to how effective the rod has to be, or does it just have to be there?

 

[JohnW2]

I thought it had been dismissed (not sure why I thought that).

If that's true, I hadn't heard - it is/was certainly in the draft.

Are there any suggestions as to how effective the rod has to be, or does it just have to be there?

In the draft, the regulation in question (542.1.201) is silent on that issue. However, I would assume that the implication is that it would have to be as effective as would be required if it were providing the sole (TT) earth for the installation.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I thought I read that it had to have a resistance of ≤30Ω?