Site Management

Earthing Guidelines
2.4.0

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UID EL INES

Copyright
VNL 2010-2011 All Rights Reserved

Disclaimer
No part of this document may be reproduced in any form
without the written permission of the copyright owner.
The contents of this document are subject to revision without
notice due to continued progress in methodology, design, and
manufacturing. VNL shall have no liability for any error or
damage of any kind resulting from the use of this document.

Trademark List
WorldGSMTM is a trademark owned by Vihaan Networks Limited.
All other product or service names mentioned in this document
are trademarks of their respective companies.

Document Reference Number

Agile # VNL-STM-CUG-000001

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Contents
1. About This Document ............................................................... 6
1.1 Purpose ............................................................................................................6
1.2 Intended Audience ......................................................................................6
1.3 Document Conventions ............................................................................6
2. Overview of Earth Resistance................................................... 8
2.1 Earth Resistance ............................................................................................8
2.1.1 Achieving Earth Resistance ...............................................................8
2.1.2 Ground System Resistance ...............................................................8
2.2 Earth Resistance Measurement...............................................................9
3. Earthing Connections ............................................................. 10
3.1 Joining Earth Pits at RBTS Site .............................................................. 10
3.2 Earth Pit at VBTS Site ................................................................................ 11
3.3 Connections and Joints in Earthing System.................................... 12
3.4 Earth Connection to Various Equipments ....................................... 13
3.5 Safety Precautions .................................................................................... 13

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Figures
Figure 1: Joining the Earth Pits ........................................................................ 10
Figure 2: Earthing Electrode Installation View ........................................... 11

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Tables
Table 1: Document Conventions .......................................................................6

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1. About This Document

1.1 Purpose
This document is intended to familiarize you with the measuring
of earth resistance and the guidelines to be followed while
connecting or working with earth pits.

1.2 Intended Audience

The intended target groups for this document are:

Installation and Commissioning Engineers

1.3 Document Conventions

The different conventions used in this document are explained
in the following table.
Table 1: Document Conventions
Conventions

Description
Note: Provides information
about important features or
instructions.
Caution: Alerts you to potential
damage to a program, device, or
system.
Warning: Alerts you to potential
injury or fatality. May also alert
you to potential electrical

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hazards.

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2. Overview of Earth Resistance

This section details the rules and guidelines to be followed while
examining the earth resistance and measuring its values.

2.1 Earth Resistance

Earth resistance is defined as the resistance existing between
the electrically accessible part of an electrode and the earth. You
need to understand the conditions such as type of soil and
geographical location in order to measure its resistance.

2.1.1 Achieving Earth Resistance

To achieve the earth resistance, the combined earth resistance
of all pits in a site must be 1 or less, while the individual earth
resistance of a pit must be 2 or less. If the above resistances are
not achieved due to soil condition then follow any of the
following methods to achieve the required resistance:

Constructing additional pits

Using conductivity enhancing compounds

2.1.2 Ground System Resistance

The resistance of the complete earthing path from the body of
the equipment (including the earth-pit resistance, which should
be less than 10 ) is called as ground system resistance.
Measuring this resistance practically is a very tedious process
requiring highly sophisticated set-up. Hence, to keep the
ground system resistance within limits, it is important to not
only keep the combined resistance of earth pits 1 or less but
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also to use appropriate size of earthing and protective

conductors.

2.2 Earth Resistance Measurement

A manually rotated dynamo earth meter is used for measuring
the earth resistance, which depends upon type of material
(resistivity) and its physical dimensions (area, length). While
measuring the earth resistance, you need to follow these
guidelines:

The handle (of the dynamo) should be rotated

approximately 2-2.5 times per second.

Do not use force on the earth meter, it does not show

correct reading if there is excessive shaking or vibrations.
The meter is supposed to be kept horizontal (face up) and
steady during measurement.

When a digital meter is used for earth resistance

measurement:
o Make sure that the battery inside the meter is providing
at least 95% of the voltage.
o While taking the reading, press the measuring/activating
switch at least for 3 seconds and take a steady reading.

Distance of the two rods (used in earth resistance

measurement) from the pit and their configuration (straight
line or triangular) with the pit should be based on the
instruction manual of the meter. The meter is calibrated
based on the given distance and configuration only.

You need to ensure that between the earth pit and the rods,
there is no water-drainage pipe, sewerage, boundary wall or
anything that changes the configuration of earth/soil. This
ensures the correctness of the reading.

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3. Earthing Connections
This section details the guidelines to be followed while joining
the earth pits and connecting earth pits to various equipments.

3.1 Joining Earth Pits at RBTS Site

All the earth pits in a site should be connected to each other at
the chamber level to form a ring of pits. This is very important
for proper functioning of the earthing system. The following
figure shows the earth strip 25x3 lightening arrestor, main grid
50x6 strip ,40 meter high tower, earth pits EP2, EP3, EP4 that
are joined in the form of ring which are connected underground
at a RBTS site:
Figure 1: Joining the Earth Pits

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GI strip (25*3mm) from the battery cabinet is connected to

EP2.The earth pits EP2, EP3, and EP4 are connected to the three
legs of the tower and EP2 is connected to EP1.
Note: While connecting earth-pits to each other and the
earthing conductor, a provision should be made to disconnect
each pit individually for the purpose of testing of earth-pit
separately/individually.

3.2 Earth Pit at VBTS Site

The installation view of an earthing electrode at a VBTS site is
depicted in the following figure:
Figure 2: Earthing Electrode Installation View

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The poly propylene advance earth pit comprises of the earthing

electrode with a terminal, backfill compound, and is covered
with an openable cover. The terminal from the earth pit is
connected to the earth strip. An earthing electrode is placed in a
bore dug in the ground and is filled with backfill compound.
Note: The dimension of a terminal is specific to a product and
you can use different third party products in future.

3.3 Connections and Joints in Earthing System

Following guidelines should be followed while having
connections and joints in the earthing system:

Nut and bolts used in the earthing system should be of

stainless steel.

Cable terminations should be done using lugs of proper size;

aluminum lugs for aluminum cables and tinned copper lugs
for copper cables.
Note: Hole of the lug should be of same size as the hole/bolt

of bus bar/termination to maximize the contact area. This is the

correct technique for all connections using lugs irrespective of
the connection is in the earthing system.

Joints should be tight and their surface must be totally flat

and clean.
o All the weld joints should be covered with aluminum
paint to minimize corrosion.
o

In case of lap joints, the two strips must be at an angle of

90 to each other. An additional diagonal joining piece is
placed in the adequate joint area.

o All nut-bolt joints should be covered with petroleum jelly

to minimize corrosion.

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Welding of GI strip should be done carefully as the fumes of

galvanizing material, if trapped within the joint, makes the
joint improper for conducting.
Note: At sites, it is a common practice to make holes on strips

using welding equipment. This should not be done as the

contact area around the hole becomes uneven due to
uncontrolled solidification of molten metal. Such joints have
very high resistance and hence are not desirable.

3.4 Earth Connection to Various Equipments

You can connect the earth pit to various equipments such as:

Solar stands: The adjacent pieces of the solar stands should

be connected to each other using a piece of 16sq.mm cable
lugged at both ends. The solar stands are earthed at least at
two diagonally opposite places.

Armored cables: Proper glands are connected to all the

armored cables and these glands must be properly installed
or tightened with the panel body.

Down conductor: The conductor connected from the

lightning arrestor to the earth-pit should take minimum
possible turns. Also, ensure that the turn should not be at an
angle of 90 or less.

All the equipments/items cabinet/body should be provided

with an earthing point/bolt.

3.5 Safety Precautions

These following precautions are to be noted while you are
connecting the earth pits:

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The strip from lightning arrestor should be fixed on the

climbing ladder. It should be supported at every 3 meters of
the tower and should be connected directly to the earth pit.

When any electrode is earthed, it should not have paint at

the earthing point.

To reduce the earth resistance, do not pour excess water in

the pit. Too much water loosens the contact between
electrode and the surrounding soil thereby negating its own
effect.

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