How to do Electrical Earth/Ground in Lahore soil?

[OmRON]

Earth or ground is an important thing in electrical installations. I want to know how to do perfect long lasting earth / ground in our lahore soil. I only know that a bore is carried out near water level , they put coal, salt and Qalmi Shora with a copper plate and copper wire.

I want to know the basic principle, standard practices for an earth / ground which can last decade at-least with sure fault prevention. If anyone Electrical Engineer pls guide us with some diagrams, standards and tip will be appreciated.

[PKTUN]

1 ft by 1 ft copper plate 5mm thick welded with qtr inch 24 inches long copper rod shall be placed into 30 inches deep x 30 inches wide pit full of coal, sodium, sulphur, varnish stones & sodium bicarbonate (all equal in weight) mixture when pit is half full stuff the plate with rod upside down like a inverted T so it is visible above the ground attach copper lugs insulated copper wire length connected to a DB put up warning sign to that. All ground cables terminate at ground db keep the area wet all the time. that is how it is done at our electrical workshops across pakistan

[pak786]

Wrong Section.

[OmRON]

thanks, but please tell me is it for
1) rocky area or soft soil area,
2) is it Low voltage earth or High voltage earth

I need solution for my 25 KV transformer, You know the surge arrestors 3 prolong sticks of each phases, when a bird sit on them it burns and then D-fuse melts but also in my kitchen fire , sparks and appliances burn. Don't know why. Some one told me that 11 KV surge from bird's body to neutral comes in my kitchen in-search of my home earth.

It with me since 7 years, every year such incident happen 3 - 7 times a year. All electricians are stupid and fail to find any solution. Changed the phase of my kitchen. But all remain the same. Lineman say remove those surge suppressors. Which I don't want to. Problem is very severe. Hard to investigate.

MY Own finding says earth is not properly done at transformer point. This excessive fault current should go in the transformer earth not in neutral. You know three things at transformer must be earthed

1) The pole
2)Transformer body
3)Common neutral

Earth done by Wapda is simple steel rod almost 3/4 of an inch , steel rod, wire used is 8 no single core without insulation Aluminum wire which is not bonded just wrapped around the rod couple of times.

If please someone can guide me the about such problem. Its really strange for me. It always happen when birds sit and touch both phases.

Many Thanks

Omar

1 ft by 1 ft copper plate 5mm thick welded with qtr inch 24 inches long copper rod shall be placed into 30 inches deep x 30 inches wide pit full of coal, sodium, sulphur, varnish stones & sodium bicarbonate (all equal in weight) mixture when pit is half full stuff the plate with rod upside down like a inverted T so it is visible above the ground attach copper lugs insulated copper wire length connected to a DB put up warning sign to that. All ground cables terminate at ground db keep the area wet all the time. that is how it is done at our electrical workshops across pakistan

[imranbhatti]

@OmRON

U r on rite track the root cause of damages to electrical applainces is due to High voltage transients which are caused by FLoating Neutral. If u got propoer earthing done & connect ur Transformers Neutral to Earth then this issue will definately resolved. The genreal Earthing system with material as u suggested in above post will serve good If u reach Water Level during bore.
Regarding long term duarbilty/maintenance of the Earthening system periodicaly( After 3~6 months) u have to supply Water to earthening bore & it will work for years.
Another earthening system (Designed for areas where water level is very low or in Hilly areas) uses 5~6 meter Electrode covered with some Gel type material (That became hard later) to enhance the conductvity. This system require less excavtion work (i.e. achieving water level under ground) & is maintenance free for decades but cost of that system is High.

[ToxicDevil]

Why dont you talk to wapda?

[mag88]

Dear ,
No local electricain can solve ur problem only WAPDA lineman will be able to work on the mains supply. You need to launch an official application for such problem to your utility company.
As a user you need to take following actions to save ur appliances:

MUST:Make local earth connection as pktun as said and ground Neutral at the Main incoming DB. Also, if possible in retrofit, keep a separate wire till the socket for appliances (washing machine, refrigerator,ac to name a few)with earth connection (3 core plug). Contact a construction thakaydar for this and he can arrange the necessary people to this job for you. The Electrical connection can be done by the electrician available at lighting shops.

In your case untill WAPDA resolves the issue:
I am not sure which surge arrestor you are mentioning but you are better off to utilize a surge arrestors as in attached link (a bit expensive solution as per buying power of people in pakistan). For cheaper solution,less reliable and pray it works, utilize stabilizer for expensive appliances. There are surge arrestor extension sockets available with APC by SE (may be comparable with stabilizer price but sure thing to work if used as per rating.

Technical Library - Schneider Electric Schneider Electric


BR
Electrical engineer

[Xulfiqar]

There is a little problem I see, you say that the original ground is just a steel rod?? it is not even approved in extreme ghetto rigs - to me a steel rod would create a large resistance as it normally used to "soften" the transfer flow - and when there is a corrupt spike it hunts for the path of least resistance to dump itself - which is routed via neutral in this case, dig a good ground pit and PKTUN gave an excellent recommendation how to build it and use pure copper to make it, braze solid wires to it and paint over if acid flux was used - I would also add a thick plastic pipe with some holes in it to wet the area if needed. Once done then have the power supplier reroute wiring if needed.

[capsat]

The crux of matter is " COPPER " shall be used for as for grounding material. an iron rod as earth is like Potato filling in an apple pie.

[Xulfiqar]

The crux of matter is " COPPER " shall be used for as for grounding material. an iron rod as earth is like Potato filling in an apple pie.

great example - love it, hehehe . Im still wondering why is there an iron rod - who passed it to be installed as earthing electrode.

[OmRON]

hi
sorry I was away for a week. If you please have a look at this transformer diagram No 13 are Surge Arrestor or Arching Horns. Main problem comes when a bird sit anyone of these three.

I hope earthing will solve the problem but not sure. Plus I am still find it hard which earthing / grounding method I should go. Wapda has no concern since 7 years of complains. so I have to arrange this all by myself.

Should I go for pit earth 1ft x 1ft.
or I should go for water level earthing system with copper plates.
Please suggest me how one should do proper water level earthing.

Thanks in Advance,

Allah Bless You
Omar

[imranbhatti]

Better go with water level earthing system with copper plates

[Angeldust]

Cooper rod is too expensive but iron rod coated with cooper work in this case.Something is missing on your panel inside your house for better protection.

[OmRON]

Hi sorry for late reply.

Pls tell me what this is. It looks to me the circuit breaker. We have circuit breakers in our db. I heard about surge protectors but don't know about them. Someone told me they are blown and need replacement in case surge hits.
Pls share some thing about this picture and surge protectors with us

Thanks

Cooper rod is too expensive but iron rod coated with cooper work in this case.Something is missing on your panel inside your house for better protection.