Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I use x5 Vagabond I 150w inverters, always outdoors. In summer I push the grounding rod into the ground, no problem. However it is now winter and the ground is frozen hard as concrete for about two feet down. It would take a sledge hammer to drive something into the ground. That's if I can even get to the ground through the three feet of snow. What I've been doing is burying the grounding rod in the snow and stomping snow all around it tightly. I also thought about pouring a cup of water over the grounding rod after packing the snow, but that might weld it to the ground.

So, my technical questions are:

1. Is my snow stomping technique actually grounding it?
2. Is there some sort of GFIC dealy-bob I can plug in between the inverter and my X3200 monolights I can buy somewhere?
3. No one is going to touch this question with a 10-foot pole? :lol:

I'm always out there in the middle of nowhere, in the dark, and sometimes wonder just how likely my big toys will zap me. So far, no problems. The snow has been "dry" but if it gets warm enough it will start to melt and the ground surface will be very wet. (Soil will still be hard as concrete through April.)


Kent in SD

There is a product called a "Shock Buster" and should be available at Home Depot and similar stores. It is a GFCI with a three outlet strip. With the power of the lights you use, i would test to see how many lights you can work off one "dealy-bob". Too much power coming through it could trip the GFI, even if there is no fault. If there is bare ground, you can simply set the Vagabond on the grouding rod, which is laid on the ground (this also works indoors). Since you are in the snow, driving the grounding rod into the snow, is as effective as an earth ground.

TS

This is probably expensive and heavy, but you can get a bit for some hammer drills that are made to drive grounding rods into the ground.

The problem is that they usually require pretty beefy hammer drills to use them, so that might not be a useful option since you might not have the electrical power to drive them.

You can google for:
hammer drill grounding rod

And you will probably find more info.

Shop carefully. There are some GFCI three outlet "tails" that are better than others. Buy one from a reputable manufacturer. All should make things safe for you, but the cheap units tend to handle short term overloads in an unpredictable manner, and they can cause maddening trips for no apparent reason when RF currents are present in the load circuitry.

I'm an old school ham radio operator, and have been designing and building RF communication devices for 40 years (sometimes they even work after countless hours of tweaking and changing the initial design). GFCI units are a godsend, but they are not created equal. In my current job, I manage a staff of technicians, and they work in all environments. After tossing several samples in the trash, I have been satisfied with the Leviton model 103-66593-003. It's a weatherproof GFCI "tail" with a three outlet head. It is rated for 15A, and although I would have preferred a 20A unit, this one handles short term overloads like it is supposed to, as opposed to acting like a fast blow fuse as some cheap models prefer.

It also seems to be immune to RF interference from computerized toasters, cell phones, and 1KW class transmitters located in the same room. Not that PCB flash units would trip any other GFCI unit, but most any modern device generates RF currents somewhere along the line, and many GFCI units are notorious for misbehaving in such company.

Anyway, I ended up issuing the Leviton units to all my techs, and I have not had a problem since. They are about $36. By the way, even if you chose to home brew a unit around a standard duplex GFCI home outlet, the premium Leviton brand outlets seem to be high on the list of GFCI units that just do their job without surprises in the ham radio community.

Voyager