• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

GreyMatters

Electrical Earthing System Design & Soil Resistivity Testing

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Earthing Services
    • Earthing Design Services
    • Lightning Protection Design
  • Earthing Training Courses
  • XGSLab
    • XGSLab Services
    • XGSLab Online Demo
    • XGSLab Sales
  • Members Academy
  • Contact Us
Home » Ask the Experts Electrical Earthing Blog » Are you getting tired of people stealing your lovely earthing arrangements

19/06/2019 By Ian Leave a Comment

Are you getting tired of people stealing your lovely earthing arrangements

Good news – having just finished a project to pin lovely shiny copper conductors to their supporting structures protecting their Earthing Arrangements. We’ve ended up with quite a few surpluses of the Fischer FNAII stainless pins (we call them Titan pins – part no. 044112) leftover – 3,400 to be exact!

These bad boys are simple to fit concrete structures using a 6mm dia masonry drill at discrete spacings (typically 500mm) to make things incredibly hard for a thief to remove the valuable conductor without spending considerable time trying. This Anti-theft earthing arrangement is not a silver bullet, but even if they do persist all that they can practically do is to cut away a 500mm section at a time not 10’s or 100’s of meters. Therefore slowing the whole process down massively.

Thus, making things incredibly frustrating for the thief and making them more vulnerable to getting caught as well as reducing how much of the conductor goes missing.

Anti-theft for Earthing Arrangements Protect your Earthing Design Assets

They normally sell for around £300 plus VAT per 100 boxed. But you can get your hands on them for £200 per 100 boxed, a saving of 33%. Each box is sufficient for approximately 50m of the conductor.

Once they’re gone… they’re gone!

Anti-theft for earthing arrangements  Protect your Earthing Design Assets
Anti-theft for earthing arrangements – Protect your Earthing Design Assets

The Solutions To A Global Epidemic of Metal Theft

A recent small decline in the price of copper led to hopes that there might also be a downward trend in copper theft in South Africa. However a major Chilean earthquake has resulted in copper prices starting to rise again.

Metal theft remains an attractive prospect for many unemployed young men in South Africa. And is a lucrative activity for international criminal gangs.

Serious Consequences For Industry and Commerce

Metallic theft has been identified as a major threat to the South African economy. Recent examples include the cable theft in October 2013 at O R Tambo Airport which grounded all flights. Power station metal theft is a continuing source of electricity supply problems. Such as the theft attempt which caused an explosion at Tshwane in March 2014, blacking out much of the city of Soshanguve.

West Midlands Police Tracking Metal Theft
IMAGE:  West Midlands Police Tackling Metal Theft   (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Deterrence, Detection, and Technology

No single solution will eliminate the problem. However, metallic theft is being made harder, and detection rates improved. At the same time, technologies are being developed which will make electrical systems more robust.

Legislation and Policing

The Second-Hand Goods Act came into full operation on April 30th 2012. The Act equates possession of stolen goods with theft, and regulates the scrap metal trade. It also criminalises the possession of non-ferrous metal cable from which the insulating cover has been burnt off. This is to counter the thieves’ usual practice of burning cables in order to disguise their origin.

The Copper heads, the specialist police unit formed in 2007 to fight non-ferrous metal theft in the Western Cape, is currently making up to 300 arrests every year. There have been suggestions that a similar unit might be established in Johannesburg.

Combatting Power Station Metal Theft

Eskom, the South African electricity generating company, has an in-house copper theft prevention unit and has established a task force with other interested parties. Eskom is actively engaged in seeking alternatives to copper. But has recognised that at present, more work needs to be done on the technical specifications necessary for its earthing systems, before copper replacements can be used in them.

Earthing Alternatives and Copper Replacements

One way of reducing the damage caused by the theft of earthing materials is to use a copper replacement. Aluminium, which has 60 per cent of the conductivity of copper, is sometimes used but it presents problems of corrosion. It is also itself sufficiently attractive to thieves to make its use unsafe. Copper clad steel is an option which has been used in America for many years. It is now gaining favour in SA. The two metals cannot be easily separated for resale, and the copper actually reduces the scrap value of the steel. At present, this would be an expensive solution. As there is no manufacturing facility for copper covered steel in South Africa, but in the long run technologies such as this one are bound to become more cost-effective.

Engage with us…

  • Earthing Design Services & Lightning Protection Design – If high voltage power systems and lightning are causing you concern why not see how we can help with a quick ‘live chat’ below as a start.
  • XGSLab – A complete software tool for the simulation of  Power, Earthing, Grounding and Lightning Systems, get in touch to request a free demo.
  • Get Certified – Start your journey to become certified in Power Systems Earthing & Design.

Filed Under: General Post Tagged With: Earthing Arrangements

Electrical Earthing Training – Free Trial

Do you want to understand more about Electrical Earthing System Design – Greymatters Academy is our Earthing Training site take a look or access your free trial here.

Recent Posts:

Are you looking to enhance your skills in lightning protection system design? In the world of lightning protection system design, having the right tools and knowledge is paramount. The ability to accurately model and analyse lightning protection designs can make all the difference in ensuring the safety and functionality of structures. That’s where XGSLab SHIELD […]

BS EN 5022 standards

Are you involved in the design, installation, or maintenance of earthing systems? Do you want to ensure the safety and reliability of your electrical installations? Then this blog is for you! In this piece, we will explore the latest updates and revisions to the BS EN 50522:2022 standard. Highlighting the changes made to the standard […]

Earthing Design

If you’re an electrical engineer, you know how crucial it is to have a solid grounding system for your electrical installations. Proper earthing design protects against electrical shock, ensures electrical safety, and prolongs the lifespan of your equipment. But what happens when you encounter a complex grounding challenge that’s beyond your expertise? That’s where “how-to” […]

Ian getting ready

We take a look at soil resistivity and provide practical advice on what is ground soil resistivity, why we measure it and these common mistakes when Soil Resistivity Testing:

Soil Resistivity Testing Methods Wenner 4 Probe Test

Soil Resistivity Testing Methods a popular post. Originally published in 2013 and now updated. A Wenner probe test is a geotechnical investigation method used to determine the electrical resistivity of the soil. Soil resistivity testing can be carried out using different methods. The Wenner 4 Probe test is one of the most common soil resistivity […]

About Ian

This post is written by Ian Griffiths, Principal Engineer at GreyMatters, an Earthing & Lightning Consultant of 28 years, one of the top 1% accredited CDEGS and XGSLab consultants and professional advisor to international utility companies, data centre and infrastructure developers.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

GreyMatters Accreditations

GreyMatters Accreditations

Online Earthing Courses

Free Trial Learn More

Free Online Course – Learn Ohms Law in 10 minutes or less!

Learn Ohms Law

Blog Categories

  • Acadamy (3)
  • Anti-Theft (1)
  • CDEGS (6)
  • Earth Testing (6)
  • Earthing Designs (7)
  • Earthing Standards (1)
  • Earthing System Design (16)
  • Earthing Systems (5)
  • Electrical Earthing (39)
  • Energy Modelling Software (1)
  • General Post (11)
  • Grounding (1)
  • Lightning (12)
  • Lightning Protection Design (17)
  • Lightning Strike (1)
  • Renewable Energy (2)
  • Soil Resistivity (18)
  • Soil Resistivity Testing (10)
  • Solar (5)
  • XGSLab Updates (3)

Tag Cloud

BS7430 BS EN 50522 CDEGS data centres earth electrode Earthing earthing design earthing protection earthing standards Earthing system design earthing systems earth potential rise earth systems Electrical Earthing System Design Electromagnetic Field Theory electromagnetic interference EMI EN 50522 EPR Finite Element Analysis Finite Element Analysis Software greymatters Grounding HV Earthing HV Earthing Protection lightning lightning danger Lightning Protection lightning strikes Renewable Energy Rise of Earth Potential risk management ROEP Soil Resistivity Soil Resistivity Methods Soil Resistivity Testing Soil Resistivity Testing 10 Common Mistakes Soil Resistivity Testing Methods soil structure Step Potential Surge Protection Tag Archive - Lightning Strike Touch Potential what to do in a thunderstorm what to do when lightning strikes

Footer

  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
GREYMATTERS PART OF THE GROUP OF COMPANIES © 2023