Braided wire works great for grounding and lasts a long time. I've seen it sit in a puddle of water for over 20 years. I will say that the green oxide coating occurs pretty soon after installation usually in the first 6 months to 1 year whether its solid wire or braided. Its caused by the interaction of the copper with oxygen. It's a non issue as long as your contact points are good. You can ohm it out to verify the contacts are good. 5 ohms or less is a good ground. Want to do more testing? then it's time to break out the arc welder.
Sky Sims Ecological Systems http://www.ecologicalsystems.biz 220 County Road 522 Manalapan, NJ 07726 732-462-3858 toll free)866-759-7652 fax)732-462-3962 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of R. Walters Sent: Friday, August 22, 2008 2:01 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Braided grounding wire > We don't use braided for direct burial. We use it to bond to the array, run with the PV wires, and switch to regular copper as soon as we go into conduit at the first J box. We zip tie it together in a bundle with all the MC cables. [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Braid tends to "wick" water, and we have seen it corrode into a > crumbly green mass of copper oxide in a matter of 2-3 years in wet/ > damp locations. Probably OK for indoor use, but we prefer to avoid > it completely. > > ...................................................................... > ............................ > Northern Arizona Wind & Sun - Electricity From The Sun > ...................................................................... > ............................ > _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org http://lists.re-wrenches.org/listinfo.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.138 / Virus Database: 270.6.6/1623 - Release Date: 8/20/2008 8:12 AM _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org http://lists.re-wrenches.org/listinfo.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
