The Buzz on Drought.

[TLS Guy]

I have recently encountered an unusual cause of hum.

For the last couple of months I had a low level buzz/hum develop. However it was loud enough to just hear at the listening position in quiet passages.

I have been frantically chasing this.

Last weekend it started to fade progressively and this weekend has disappeared entirely.

Now we have had a severe drought here that started August 15 last year.

We had very little snow and NOAA have had us in moderate drought.

Everyone has been frantic about forest fires, and we had one two weeks ago at the town of Nimrod about 30 miles from here, that destroyed 1600 acres, eight structures, including one home and the National Guard was called out.

Last weekend we had torrential rain, ice and finally 5" of very wet snow, that took two days to melt.

Last weekend as we received two inches of water as rain snow and ice, that hum/buzz gradually faded. Yesterday it rained all day and most of the night. Today the hum is gone.

Coincidence? Not likely.

Despite my uber ground of three seven foot rods driven to the hilt into the ground and tied together, the soil must have dried out to the point were the house grounding was not adequate.

So in future when it starts drying out I will give those rods a good watering. I will water them well before putting the hoses away prior to freeze up.

I never thought the water table would recede bleow those grounding rods, but obviously it did!

 

[bikdav]

On the surface, it doesn't seem to make much sense. But, your suspicions about the grounding might be right. Electricity can be very unpredictable in behavior.

 

[TLS Guy]

On the surface, it doesn't seem to make much sense. But, your suspicions about the grounding might be right. Electricity can be very unpredictable in behavior.

I never even considered that, until it improved after the first major precipitation in 8 months.

 

[3db]

I have recently encountered an unusual cause of hum.

For the last couple of months I had a low level buzz/hum develop. However it was loud enough to just hear at the listening position in quiet passages.

I have been frantically chasing this.

Last weekend it started to fade progressively and this weekend has disappeared entirely.

Now we have had a severe drought here that started August 15 last year.

We had very little snow and NOAA have had us in moderate drought.

Everyone has been frantic about forest fires, and we had one two weeks ago at the town of Nimrod about 30 miles from here, that destroyed 1600 acres, eight structures, including one home and the National Guard was called out.

Last weekend we had torrential rain, ice and finally 5" of very wet snow, that took two days to melt.

Last weekend as we received two inches of water as rain snow and ice, that hum/buzz gradually faded. Yesterday it rained all day and most of the night. Today the hum is gone.

Coincidence? Not likely.

Despite my uber ground of three seven foot rods driven to the hilt into the ground and tied together, the soil must have dried out to the point were the house grounding was not adequate.

So in future when it starts drying out I will give those rods a good watering. I will water them well before putting the hoses away prior to freeze up.

I never thought the water table would recede bleow those grounding rods, but obviously it did!

You think seven feet is going to be drought proof? I remember the drought I was still living on the farm. We had to drill 375' to get enough water to sustain the animals. Seven feet is more than adequate under normal conditions but under sever drought condition, as you found out, 7' is nothing.

 

[TLS Guy]

You think seven feet is going to be drought proof? I remember the drought I was still living on the farm. We had to drill 375' to get enough water to sustain the animals. Seven feet is more than adequate under normal conditions but under sever drought condition, as you found out, 7' is nothing.

As I found out! However in my defense we have water seems all over the place and we are over an under ground lake that pushed water up the sand point without pumping, and the grounds are right below a steep bank.

However, it must be so, as I listened a lot this week end and it dead quiet.

 

[Rickster71]

I've run into the same problem on jobs with extremely sandy soil. If the ground isn't damp, the ground rods don't pass a resistance test.
A few ways around it, are to add additional ground rods. .
Use Noalox on all the connections, or even or CadWeld them.

When the resistance of a single ground rod is over 25 ohms, the Code wants to see an additional electrode to augment the ground rod electrode, and it must be installed not less than 6 ft away. (I keep them at least 8ft apart)
You can get longer ground rods, but they'll have to stand on a ladder and use a hammer drill with a cup adapter to get them in.
At this point it would be easier to put a rain barrel over the ground electrode and a drip irrigation tube out of the barrel.

 

[TLS Guy]

I've run into the same problem on jobs with extremely sandy soil. If the ground isn't damp, the ground rods don't pass a resistance test.
A few ways around it, are to add additional ground rods. .
Use Noalox on all the connections, or even or CadWeld them.

When the resistance of a single ground rod is over 25 ohms, the Code wants to see an additional electrode to augment the ground rod electrode, and it must be installed not less than 6 ft away. (I keep them at least 8ft apart)
You can get longer ground rods, but they'll have to stand on a ladder and use a hammer drill with a cup adapter to get them in.
At this point it would be easier to put a rain barrel over the ground electrode and a drip irrigation tube out of the barrel.

I'm glad you saw this and responded.

The soil is quite sandy there as a matter of fact.

There is no downspout anywhere near that location to keep a rain barrel full. However the hose is nearby and there is no water rate here.

So I could rig up a tank for drip feed, in the summer.

The other thing I could do is divert a little water from the geothermal air conditioner. This unit is very close. That is probably my best solution.

We should probably consider the house ground as a cause of puzzling persisting noise problems more often.

It is interesting you have run into this before.

 

[GO-NAD!]

So in future when it starts drying out I will give those rods a good watering.

How tall do think they'll grow?

 

[Seth=L]

ITT: Real reasons the weather will affect your mood.

 

[96cobra10101]

Here is some info that may be useful to help your grounding issues.Bentonite

 

[Rickster71]

Here is some info that may be useful to help your grounding issues.Bentonite

Bentonite, that's a component used in a 'Chemical Ground Rod.' ERITECH
I didn't mention them earlier because they are very expensive, $800 - $1,500+ and in the Doc's case keeping the soil damp will do the trick.
Over the years, I've installed dozens of them on a nearby military installation.
They work very well; mainly used when standard electrodes can't be driven, or in sandy soil, where the best possible ground is required.

 

[Alex2507]

When the resistance of a single ground rod is over 25 ohms ...

Where do they measure that?

What's up with grounding a panel to the cold water line?

That house that I did the electrical work in has the panel grounded to the cold water line or maybe it's the cold water line being grounded to the inside of the panel? I didn't look around outside for a metal rod.

Is there a ground that runs back to the pole or is that the neutral? Is the neutral tied into the ground inside the panel? ... and can you help me program my VCR?

I should probably Google something but if there are some easy answers you want to throw out I'll take 'em.

 

[Rickster71]

Where do they measure that?

You can't use a multi meter; while there are many types of GND testers, this is one of the easiest to use:
382357 - Clamp-on Ground Resistance Tester This is placed on the GND rod.

That house that I did the electrical work in has the panel grounded to the cold water line or maybe it's the cold water line being grounded to the inside of the panel? I didn't look around outside for a metal rod.

There's grounding and there's bonding. As to why the water pipe gets tied into the GND system? If the water pipes become accidentally energized, it will cause a ground fault and trip the breaker. That wire should continue on to the GND electrode.

Is there a ground that runs back to the pole or is that the neutral? Is the neutral tied into the ground inside the panel?

The house neutral, transformer neutral, and ground are all bonded together in your panel. The transformer neutral is bonded to the primary side neutral, which then runs back to power station.

... and can you help me program my VCR?

You don't need your VCR anymore; Broke Back Mountain is out on DVD now.
Sorry for the de-rail.

 

[GO-NAD!]

So in future when it starts drying out I will give those rods a good watering. I will water them well before putting the hoses away prior to freeze up.

How tall do think they'll grow?

Oh come on! That was good! I'm really dissapointed in you guys....

 

[GO-NAD!]

You don't need your VCR anymore; Broke Back Mountain is out on DVD now.

But that was better...

 

[TLS Guy]

You can't use a multi meter; while there are many types of GND testers, this is one of the easiest to use:
382357 - Clamp-on Ground Resistance Tester This is placed on the GND rod.

Interesting post Rick.

However this shows why I have to pay my electrician so much! This is the cost of your ground tester from a supplier in Minneapolis.


I think I'll just put my ear in a speaker!

More rain last night, so everything is good now.