Ground pass through cinder block — copper pipe, braid, stranded?

Question

What’s the best way to connect a station (desk) ground bus to an outside ground rod?

Is it viable to double-sleeve a copper tube through existing PVC pipe?

For coax pass thru, I have a 1.5” PVC pipe through a cinder-block wall that connects to an outside junction box (entrance box) with steel plate.

I’d like to also connect a ground bus bar on the desk to a grounding-rod in the ground outside. Why not use a copper pipe sleeved through the PVC, and cut a couple of tabs in it? This would gain surface area and minimize the intrusion in the pipe to insert future coax lines.

Or do I need to use:

Braided copper to the steel plate (3/4” or 1”)
Stranded copper to the steel plate (minimum gauge?)

Hi! What's the proposed purpose of the copper pipe (my apologies if this is an obvious thing)? — Marcus Müller, Oct 18 '20 at 14:41
I have a copper bar (grounding bus) attached to my desk, that I’d like to connect up a grounding rod (spike) in the ground outside. — whiskeychief, Oct 18 '20 at 16:01
In order to ensure that the grounding you're proposing to add does more good than harm, we might need more information — could you add details of where your antenna is mounted and how power is supplied to the equipment on your desk? — Kevin Reid AG6YO, Oct 18 '20 at 17:01
Desk is very close to the pass thru: about 3 feet (1 m), just out of the picture. — whiskeychief, Oct 24 '20 at 18:46

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 20 '20 at 14:00

Just about anything should do. The ground connection between the entrance panel and the desk shouldn't carry any current if everything else is properly installed. I'd probably use some tinned copper braid because I already have some and it would be easy to install.

It's not too important what's connecting the desk and that exterior panel because:

it shouldn't carry any current under normal circumstances, and
there should already be many connections between the two, made by the coax and mains grounds of all the equipment

Connecting a desk ground bus and the exterior panel is just to maintain a connection if somehow you manage to disconnect all the other grounds, which is especially difficult if you're using modern AC outlets with a ground connection.

For further reading I suggest How can I protect equipment against a lightning strike?

Ground pass through cinder block — copper pipe, braid, stranded?

Is it viable to double-sleeve a copper tube through existing PVC pipe?

1 Answers1