[BC] Protecting Steel and Copperweld Wire In AM Ground Systems

[Danny Ray Boyer]

With regard to the discussion about using Copperweld Wire for AM ground
systems and having the steel wires being distroyed over time due to
"nicks' in the copperweld -  here is an idea that I have had.

Why not bury several sacrificial anodes in a ring on the outside of the
AM tower's 1/4 wave radials?

Connect one wire from the output of a low voltage DC Rectifier to the
ground strap at the bottom of the tower where the radials tie together.

Run the other wire from the rectifier's output via insulated wires to a
insulated "ring wire" that one would bury in a circle on the outside
edge of the AM's 1/4 wave radials.   This "ring wire" would connect the
multiple sacrificial anodes together that would one would space and bury
around the "ring wire".

For those that are not familiar with this technology (which is quite
common for many years in the oil and gas pipeline industry), you are
basically flowing DC current from the sacrificial anodes toward the
radial wires and the base of the tower.  In this process, you are
placing a "coating" on the radial wires to protect them in the long term
from corrosion and decay.

A control form of reverse electrolysis.......   Just make sure that you
have the DC current flowing in the correct direction.

Here are a some links to a couple of sites that help to explain the
process.
<http://freespace.virgin.net/roger.alexander/technic.htm>http://freespace.virgin.net/roger.alexander/technic.htm 

http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/pdfs/fitzgerald_04.pdf

After installation, you would have constant DC current, that would be
superimposed on the radials - along with the AC current from the RF
flowing in the radials.

I have never heard of this being done in the broadcast world.

Any thoughts about this to help protect copperweld and steel radials?

In my opinion, if you buried steel wires for radials, instead of copper,
this should protect them for many years.  In the meantime, it should
greatly slow down the copper thefts.

Danny Ray Boyer