I have been watching my ‘Voltage readings’ for several weeks using the ‘Power Quality’ graph in the new ‘SENSE Labs’ section. My graph is not as bad as some others who have posted, but it got me to thinking. Do I have a good connection at my external house ground rod?
I shutdown all the power to my house.
I removed the ‘acorn-style grounding clamp’ and inspected.
What I found was a lot of corrosion. I think my clamp was probably providing a good connection (I didn’t run any tests), but went ahead and cleaned the wire and the ground rod with a wire brush and emery cloth and installed a shiny new $2.28 clamp from Lowes.
I will keep watching the graphs to see if that maintenance check helped. Even if if doesn’t help, I have peace-of-mind knowing that my grounding bond is good.
This was an easy item to check and to service.