Dear craigeperkins-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
As for your brief question about the UPS battery, I can only see your
system benefiting from one. Obviously, just having an uninterruptible
power supply would not only provide you with a sufficient and stable
source for power, it would prevent immediate drain from your solar
source and allow for more build up if you are storing energy in cells.
Now, to address the grounding issue: Grounding is essential in helping
to protect your sensitive electronics from damaging static electricity
caused primarily, but not exclusively, by lightning strikes. Although
properly grounding your system cannot guarantee that at some point in
time that your electronics won't be damaged by a lightning strike, it
greatly reduces the potential and severity of a possible strike.
To do this properly you would need to splice the cable, wire or
whatever from your device onto a brass or other static resistant
ground block that has been mounted as closely to the point of entry
into the building’s exterior as possible. This is to help suppress any
uninvited and potentially damaging surge of voltage. On the other side
of the ground block you should connect a #10 copper ground wire which
is then securely fastened at the other end to the building's
electrical ground rod (usually found just below the electrical service
meter) or a ground rod that you implant for this purpose. I’ll warn
you in advance this rod is much longer than one foot long, by the way.
Some of them are as long as eight feet, but in your case, a three-foot
rod would probably do nicely (that’s what I use and I have five
devices on mine). The rod looks like a big brass or copper nail and
can be driven into the ground fairly easily. The reason you do this is
to ensure that the surge is redirected into a safe area away from your
computer where it can be harmlessly discharged and dissipated. Your
local hardware store should have ground blocks, wire and a grounding
rod in stock. If not, ask them to order them for you. They are
relatively inexpensive and very easy to install.
Here is an example of a grounding block that accepts either wire or
coaxial cable:
http://www.caringcomputerservices.com/comersus/store/comersus_viewitem.asp?idproduct=387
Here is also a good article about the length of the ground wire.
Ignore all the military references and mumbo-jumbo about “radios” and
look at the paragraph entitled, “Electrical grounds” and “Grounding
methods”. It actually explains it quite
well.http://www.gordon.army.mil/AC/SUMR00/elecgrnd.HTM
By doing these two things, this keeps drains off nearly all of the
static electricity that can build up during a thunderstorm and
potentially damage the sensitive electronics connected to the system.
Also, by having only one grounding point all grounds at the same
potential and eliminates two different grounds that could potentially
act as a highway for static electricity currents.
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for using Google Answers.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
DEEP EARTH GROUNDING
http://www.cpccorp.com/deep.htm
TIPS TO CLEANER & MORE EFFICIENT POWER
http://www.cpccorp.com/tips.htm
Get a FREE 15 minute consultation about power problems
http://www.cpccorp.com/pwrproblem.htm
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
Computer grounding rod
Computer grounding block
Ups battery computer |
