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Ground Resistance Testing
by John Olobri
AEMC® Instruments
P
roper wiring and good grounds can eliminate many power quality When RX is much greater than
problems. Also important is the bonding to the ground system. Test- the effective resistance of a signifi-
cant number of other ground rods in
ing grounds and bonding should be an active part of any power quality parallel, E/I = Rx is established. If I is
troubleshooting strategy. One effective time-saving method is to use a clamp-on detected with E kept constant, mea-
sured grounding pole resistance can
ground tester. This technique employs a hand-held test instrument that has a
be obtained. Refer again to Figures
transmitter and receiver built into a split core head. This construction allows the 2 and 3. Current is fed to a special
instrument to clamp onto the rod or ground under test (see Figure 1). transformer via a power amplifier
from a constant voltage oscillator. The
To verify the grounding resistance, the current is detected and displayed on
operator simply clamps the sensor around the LCD.
the connection at the ground rod and reads A filter amplifier is used to cut
the resistance on the display of the instru- off earth current at both commercial
ment. It is that simple. This method offers frequency and high-frequency noise.
several distinct advantages over the com- Voltage is detected by coils wound
monly used fall-of-potential method. First, around the injection CT which is then
you do not have to disconnect the ground amplified, rectified, and compared by
rod from the system, which eliminates a a level comparator.
potential safety hazard. Secondly, no aux-
iliary rods need to be driven which saves
time and money. Thirdly, this test method
E
includes the bonding and overall connecting
I
resistance, which is not available with other
Figure 1 methods. An additional benefit is the ability
to measure leakage current flowing through
the grounding system.
Rx R1 R2 Rn-1 Rn
Usually, a common distribution line grounded system can be simulated as
a simple basic circuit as shown in Figure 2 or an equivalent circuit, shown in Figure 2
Figure 3. If voltage E is applied to any measured grounding pole Rx through a
special transformer, current I flows through the circuit, thereby establishing the I
following equation:
E
Figure 3
Building wall
Pole-mounted
Grounding transformer
conductor
Service box
Service meter
Utility Ground
Ground level pole rod
Figure 6
Figure 4
Pad-Mounted Transformer
A) poor ground rod
Note: Don’t open transformer enclosures. They may be
B) open ground conductor the property of the electrical utility. This test is for high
C) high resistance bonds on the rod or splices on the voltage experts only.
conductor; watch for buried split butts, clamps, and Observe all safety requirements, since dangerously high
hammered-on connections voltage is present. Locate and number all rods (usually a
singe rod is present). If the ground rods are inside the enclo-
sure, refer to Figure 7, and if they are outside the enclosure,
Service Entrance or Meter the measurement should be taken on the conductor just
Follow basically the same procedure as in the previous before the bond on the ground rod. Often, more than one
example. Notice that Figure 5 shows the possibility of mul- ground conductor is tied to this clamp, looping back to the
tiple ground rods, and in Figure 6 ground rods have been enclosure or neutral.
replaced with a water pipe ground. You may also have both In many cases, the best reading can be obtained by clamp-
types acting as a ground. In these cases, it is necessary to ing the tester onto the rod itself, below the point where
make the measurements between the service neutral and ground conductors are attached to the rod, so that you are
both grounded points.
Enclosure
AC PANEL BOARD
POWER METER
120/240V
POWER SERVICE
Underground service
Ground
rods
Figure 8