Copper Vs Stainless Steel in an Earth Mat

[mpnes]

Hi there,

I have a bit of a dilemma. My supervisor just returned from Germany and while he was there he discovered that on Cell Sites they use stainless to form a ring with electrodes to earth the mast. Has anyone out there know any pros and cons of using stainless over copper.

Thx in advance

 

[itsmoked]

Interesting cuz stainless corrodes in the absence of air {I think}.

Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.- <

http://www.flaminsystems.com>

 

[jtkirb]

copper- cheaper, good conductivity, easy to weld in the field, common grounding material.

Stainless- well, can't think of a reason to use it other than corrosion.

JTK

 

[jghrist]

Galvanized strip is common in Europe. A lot of copper in the ground may cause problems with galvanic corrosion of galvanized steel buried nearby.

 

[stevenal]

According to Erico, SS is for highly corrosive soils and has a longer service life.

http://www.erico.com/products.asp?folderid=164

It is true that SS corrodes in the absence of O2 (not air). Probably not an issue in most places, but might be in some.

 

[BJC]

Do a google search and read up on stress corrosion. Stainless can corrode in different modes. Copper corrodes uniformly over the entire area of the matt or ground rod. Stainless can corrode between the grains of the metal and develope cracks ( stress corrosion). Stainless is pretty but not allways the best choice for ground mats or rods. You've got homework.