The main reason to ground electrical installations is safety. If all electrical equipment connected to the network is grounded and one of the insulations fails, there will be no dangerous voltage on the surface of their casings.

If the phase touches the properly earthed appliance housing, a short circuit will occur and thus the fuse will blow or, in the case of automatic fuses, it will disconnect. The moment the safety trips, the danger is removed.

Earthing installations have the role of protecting against an electrical accident that could bring material and human damage, whether we are talking about causing a fire or damaging electrical consumers . More precisely, there are situations in which, in the event of electric discharges or the malfunctioning of the electrical system, the electrical voltage can rise threateningly, well above the threshold of electrocution or consumer damage. Thus, if the intensity of the electric current exceeds the value of 25-30 mA, there is a great danger of electrocution for people. And, more than that, some electrical consumers that cannot withstand high voltages can be irreparably damaged, precisely because of this excess electrical voltage. Earthing installations must have the greatest possible resistance in the event of a short circuit in the electrical system, in order to ensure the necessary protection of both material goods and, above all, human lives.

For installations with grounding, we make an assembly consisting of electrodes buried in the ground, linked together, and conductors connecting to the ground. These have the role of conducting into the ground, under conditions of maximum safety of currents coming from atmospheric discharges, thus ensuring a certain mode of operation of strong currents or telecommunications installations.

Purpose of grounding:

  1. Safety to human life / to buildings / to equipment
  • To save human life and remove the risk of electric shock by tripping the fuse.
  • To protect real estate, industrial equipment and machinery, household appliances and electronic equipment.
  • To ensure that all parts that can conduct electricity and are exposed do not pose a risk.
  • To find a safe way to dissipate currents resulting from a lightning or short circuit situation.
  • To provide a safe operating platform for electronic equipment sensitive to variations in electrical values.
  1. Overload protection
  • Lightning, accidental electric discharges or unintentional contact with medium and high voltage lines represent an increased risk of high voltage reaching the consumer. Grounding represents an alternative route to these accidental electrical discharges and thus significantly reduces the risks associated with them, while protecting both human life and electrical equipment. More information on how you can protect your electrical installation using voltage monitoring relays.
  1. Voltage stabilization
  • There are many sources of electricity. Thus each electrical transformer can be considered an independent electrical source. Correlating their voltage would be almost impossible if they did not have a common reference point such as ground. This is the most ubiquitous conductive surface, so it has been universally adopted since the beginning of the creation of electrical distribution networks.

Grounding execution methods:

  1. Metal Plate Earthings In general, in the execution of these types of earthing, Fe (Iron) metal plates with a minimum size of 600 mm x 600 x 12 mm, or a Galvanized Fe (Iron) plate with a size of 600 mm x 600 mm x 6 are used mm. Copper plates with the size 600 mm x 600 mm x 3.5 mm can also be used. It is buried at a minimum depth of 3.5 meters, in a vertical position. The connection to it is made with flatband (minimum 50 mm x 6 mm) fastened with galvanized screws, with which the surface is reached. Alternate layers of coal and salt are used to bury them, totaling no more than 1.5m from the base of the pit. These types of grounding are suitable for single-family residential constructions of small and medium size.
  2. The grounding installation is installed in the ground and consists of galvanized pipes approximately 2 meters long and 25-30 mm thick. The galvanized pipes are connected to each other by a galvanized platband, and the connections will be protected. It is good that every grounding or electrical work carried out is implemented by specialists, by electricians, to eliminate the risk of electrocution or accidents in the long term. For this, EL-CON electricians, engineers and specialist welders are at your disposal for any electrical installation, regardless of its amplitude and complexity. Our team is prepared to carry out works of this kind for civil buildings, commercial buildings and industrial buildings that require more complex installations.