# How to ground a weather station



## icontractor82 (Mar 25, 2012)

Hi folks

I really need some help here. I'm installing a weather station for a local elementary school on my roof that the kids will be able to access over the Internet. Becuase I'm paying for this out of my pocket my budget is very limited and evey electrician I talk to wants to charge me an arm and leg.

I have a weatherhawk weather station that I'll be mounting on my home roof but it's asking to earth ground the station. What is the best practice for grounding it?

Your help is very much appreciated


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

An electrician or radio guru will be right along----In the mean time--Is there a link to the product and a spec sheet available?

That would help an electrician figure out the best and simples way to DIY that---Mike----


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## wareagle (Apr 11, 2011)

Depending on were you live, Eg. Florida has a very high incident of lighting, you may not. I would try to mount it on a pole away from your house and then ground it according to the local rules. If you need further information you can find it on Google. What does the weather station consist of?


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## icontractor82 (Mar 25, 2012)

Hi guys

The weather station I have is the following

http://weatherhawk.com/s240w

It is on a 4 foot metal pole. Becuase of obstacles I have to mount this on my roof. The manual says to consult with an electrical on proper grounding. It gives no information on how to ground it. I've been told that I can run an 10 awg wire to my water meter. Can this be done?


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

Forget about google, only way that you will find out, is either contact your local NOAA office, the Coast Guard, which can explain better to you on proper installation. To make things easy, do not ground to your water meter, since it violates the proper method of guarding against possible electrocution, or travel of electrical charge to the house.

The proper info is contained in the NEC, and also your local code office can tell you the proper method for your area in grounding to Earth Ground. What is earth ground, it is a ground rod, Ufer type ground.


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## icontractor82 (Mar 25, 2012)

Well I know that my electrical panel and house electricity is grounded to my water meter but it's inside my home. Do I still need to ground this to a grounding rod or is there another way...


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## frenchelectrican (Apr 12, 2006)

icontractor82 said:


> Well I know that my electrical panel and house electricity is grounded to my water meter but it's inside my home. Do I still need to ground this to a grounding rod or is there another way...


Most case it will be direct to your ground rod and #10 is IMO is too small in most case so #6 will handle it but before you do anything run this by electrical inspector or other proper personal with the correct infomation to do this.

Gregzoll have good answer there and do as he mention plus my comment above before you do anything else check with them first to see excatally what the requirement.

Merci,
Marc


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## mpoulton (Jul 23, 2009)

icontractor82 said:


> Well I know that my electrical panel and house electricity is grounded to my water meter but it's inside my home. Do I still need to ground this to a grounding rod or is there another way...


Grounding for the weather station is for lightning and static protection, rather than protection from faults (bonding). You will not be able to provide adequate grounding to protect against a direct lightning strike. Instead, you will be protecting against nearby strikes and atmospheric charge (St. Elmo's fire, in the extreme). However, it may get struck by lightning. So you want your grounding solution to pose the least hazard in case this happens. A separate ground rod is probably the most reasonable way to achieve this. This is NOT a supplemental grounding electrode for the purposes of your home's electrical system. You CANNOT use it to "ground" anything other than this weather station, and you cannot rely on it to protect you from ground faults or other sources of electric shock. It's only purpose is to drain atmospheric charge from the metal pole on your roof and keep it at close to the same potential as the earth in case of a nearby lightning strike. Make sure all of the electronic equipment that connects to the weather station is properly grounded (NOT to the new ground rod), and preferably has lightning suppression on the lines that run to the rooftop equipment. Following amateur radio practices for lightning protection would be wise. There is a lot of information on the web about amateur radio antenna installation, almost all of which is applicable to your project.


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## wareagle (Apr 11, 2011)

http://weatherhawk.com/documents/site-installation-guide.pdf

Page 14 of the installation give you instructions. It will usually involve a down conductor connected to the mast down to a ground rod. The NEC will require that you bond this to your home grounding system. You would be better to get someone knowledgeable to assist you. Check with your local inspection people for assistance.


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## Ravenworks (Oct 31, 2010)

Are you going to be running a server for this or allow access through your router Via IPsec tunnel?
On air it says it's good for 1/4 mile wow, I didn't realise how much loot these things cost.


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## mpoulton (Jul 23, 2009)

wareagle said:


> http://weatherhawk.com/documents/site-installation-guide.pdfThe NEC will require that you bond this to your home grounding system.


Really? I didn't think lightning protection electrodes were required (or ever intended!) to be bonded to the grounding electrode system. That sounds like a bad idea.


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## Speedy Petey (Feb 1, 2004)

icontractor82 said:


> I really need some help here. I'm installing a weather station for a local elementary school on my roof that the kids will be able to access over the Internet. Becuase I'm paying for this out of my pocket my budget is very limited and evey electrician I talk to wants to charge me _*a service call fee to come out and do the job properly and safely*_.


There. I fixed it for you. :whistling2:


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## Jim Port (Sep 21, 2007)

Speedy Petey said:


> There. I fixed it for you. :whistling2:


The nerve of those guys charging for their services and knowledge.


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## oleguy74 (Aug 23, 2010)

read art.810.820,250.50.these relate to antennas and masts.altho these art's are for catv and radio,i think they apply to this situation..


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## wareagle (Apr 11, 2011)

*icontractor 82 where are you located?*



mpoulton said:


> Really? I didn't think lightning protection electrodes were required (or ever intended!) to be bonded to the grounding electrode system. That sounds like a bad idea.


MP
I tend to agree with you but the reason for the bonding is to prevent "side flashing" or arcing to other parts of the grounding system. This is one
reason I suggested to the OP that he might want to install the device on a pole located away from the house. He would then need only to drive a ground rod and install the conductor from the rod to his weather device. 

From a _Code_ standpoint, the _NEC_ has been relatively silent on the _Code_ requirements that relate to lightning protection systems; however, the _NEC_ requirements (Sections 250.60 and 250.106) cover the materials and bonding of the electrode of a power distribution system to the ground terminal of a lightning protection system on the same structure.

Quote*"**Where a lightning protection system is installed, it must be bonded to the building or structure grounding electrode system as per 250.106. In addition, the grounding electrode for the lightning protection system cannot be used for the building or structure grounding electrode [250.60].
Note: The bonding of the lightning protection system to the buildings or structures electrical system, via the grounding electrode system, is intended to prevent lightning "side flash" or arcing between metal parts, which can result in a fire by minimizing the difference of potential between the lightning protection system and the electrical system*." taken form another site.
 MP this is some good information you may want to check out
http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lhm/IEEE_Guide.pdf


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## rrolleston (Oct 17, 2011)

If I was going to be installing something that expensive I would check with a local inspector what they require for your area. Some number 4 insulated wire to a couple copper rods would not cost that much to be on the safe side. And the unit should also but properly grounded when connected to the power.

We had an antenna at our home when I was a kid that had a fairly large ground from the mast to a rod and it also had a motor that was grounded inside. I am not sure if it was bonded to or isolated from the mast ground. And I also added a grounding block inside before the cable went to the signal amplifier and splitter.


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## wareagle (Apr 11, 2011)

rrolleston said:


> If I was going to be installing something that expensive I would check with a local inspector what they require for your area. Some number 4 insulated wire to a couple copper rods would not cost that much to be on the safe side. And the unit should also but properly grounded when connected to the power.


The size of the conductor does not really make a big difference. At the frequency of the strike, the impedance of the conductor is about the same for #6 thru 4/0 copper. Also it is not necessary that it be insulated.
If the op decides to install several ground rods, I would space them at least 2 x the length of the rod.


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

I think you have two separate concerns. Grounding/bonding the system and Lightning protection with proper air terminals. These are two separate issues.


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## brric (Mar 5, 2010)

Jim Port said:


> The nerve of those guys charging for their services and knowledge.


 Yeah, but he can afford a $2800.00 unit.


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## Speedy Petey (Feb 1, 2004)

brric said:


> Yeah, but he can afford a $2800.00 unit.


HAHAHA, good point. I never looked at the unit in question. 

A $2800 weather station (for volunteer work no less) is affordable, but ~$250 to ground it properly is an arm and a leg. 
Priceless. :laughing:


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

I guess he didn't like what he heard here.
http://www.mikeholmesfanforum.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=48693


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

So, if you go around Spamming other forums due to you did not like the answer you got on one of the others, does that change the response in doing it properly, as we have already stated?

I know, they expect the answer to change and if they do not like the new answer on the Mike Holmes Forums, they are going to probably show up on DSLReports Home/DIY forum and try to do it all over again.


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

Well at least now we know where they live. The MH forums will give the proper answer for Ontario. It is mostly a Canadian based membership.


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## rrolleston (Oct 17, 2011)

Reminds me of this thread. I found a link to it on another forum. The guy just kept going around asking till he got the answer he wanted from who knows where.

Unsafe Panel

Once he does the hack weather station install and something happens probably void the warranty that thing will even be worthless as a boat anchor because it's too light.


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