27.06.16
The grounding equipment market today is full with a variety of products and solutions from different manufacturers from different countries. Established in 1969, the Polish company GALMAR chose the direction to achieve the highest quality of the manufactured products. The unique technology of copper bonding, designed by GALMAR specialists, can produce corrosion resistant copper-bonded rods, wire and tape with a guarantee of at least 30 years. Thanks to its reverent attitude to product quality, GALMAR remains a leading manufacturer of grounding and lightning protection equipment till today.
Technological processes are not static, and the appearing of other manufacturers of grounding is quite expected. Of course, the consumer often has the question: what manufacturer to choose and not to lose? To dispel any doubts, lets consider the important characteristics of grounding equipment and compare ground electrodes produced by GALMAR with the products from other manufacturers.
Thickness of the copper bonding
Thickness of the coppered coating of GALMAR rods is not less than 250 microns in contrast to thу rods of other manufacturers, on average equal to 100 microns only. What is the difference?
The thing is that during the installation the stones which are in the ground can damage the upper layer of the rods, which will lead to corrosion. Thickness of the copper coating plays the key role here. The researches held have shown that to prevent the copper bonded rod from serious damage during installation, the copper layer should be not less than 250 microns. In this case, the ground stones met by the rod will slide on it and won't constitute a significant damage. In case if a copper layer is 100 microns thick, scratches violate the protective copper layer, exposing the steel core of the rod. Then corrosion appears in these points, which destroys the rod in a few years. The video below shows the tests of the mechanical strength of the copper coating of the ground rod.
Testing of the mechanical strength of the rods
In addition to thickness, copper coating of GALMAR rods has distinctive adhesive properties and plasticity. The high adhesion value ensures the absence of delamination and cracking when embedding the rod into the ground, and ductility of the material ensures safety of the coating at the rod deformation during installation. Rods of other manufacturers as a rule do not pass the test for ductility, adhesion and mechanical strength.
On the left is the rod with copper coating of 254 microns, and on the right- with zinc coating of 99 microns. Both were extracted from the ground (loam) 10 years later. The difference is obvious
Thread on grounding rods
The method of manufacturing threads on GALMAR ground rods is different from the rods of other manufacturers. The thread is executed after applying the copper coating. Due to the adhesion properties of copper, thread extrusion with the help of rolling techniques, goes without losing coating thickness and retains its value of 250 microns. This makes it possible to solve the basic problem of the coppered coating - protect the metal rod from rusting, keeping the electromechanical properties of the metal along the entire length of the ground electrode and extending the service life of your grounding device, than no other grounding manufacturer can boast.
Application of thread to the grounding pin
Hardened steel
GALMAR uses hardened steel in the manufacture of rods, having a high tensile strength of 600 MPa. This parameter is responsible for the integrity of the rod under tension and it can be installed in the ground to the depth of 40 meters using a jackhammer.
Installation of GALMAR ground rods with a jackhammer for substations for the Olympic Games 2014 in Sochi
After reading about the important parameters coppered rods, you've probably made your choice. GALMAR manufacturer works for the long term prospect, rather than a temporary solution, that is why the produced product doesn't lose its electrochemical properties for a long time and guarantees safety of the ground electrode for up to 100 years! ZANDZ trade mark usaes copper-bonded steel components made by GALMAR in its kits. Make the right choice, ask for the solution to the ZANDSZ Technical center!
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