What is a "three king" or 3 grounding rods in a circle? How safe?

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 02:01:37 -0400

I know how to properly ground the generator. However, when I was out in mission, I saw other units have other ways to ground their gen. One of the thing I saw was called 3 kings where 3 grounding rods are formed in a circle connected by copper wire. I thought that was interesting because I've never seen it that way but I never really asked why , the only reason I could think of was that they don't have coupling to connect the rods together. Anyway, how safe is this?? It is not the proper way to ground gens tho. So, I'm not sure if I should recommend doing that way.

Response by SSG Mike Wyche made Jul 3 at 2018 11:01 AM

SSG Mike Wyche — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 11:01:12 -0400

Look in the TM. There are multiple ways to ground equipment depending on the environment.

Response by CSM Richard StCyr made Jul 3 at 2018 1:05 PM

CSM Richard StCyr — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 13:05:15 -0400

In all my years of service never heard of such an animal.
There are several means of ensuring you have a grounded system based on the resistance the soil is providing. Sometimes it is necessary to bury plates in dry loose soil to gain the proper surface area to ensure grounding or salt and wet soil in a pit around a rod. Both these methods are in the electricians FM under grounding and bonding and in the old 51 series 51H30 MOS manual as an acceptable alternate means of grounding.
You would have to refer to the -10 manual to see what is recommended for the particular piece of equipment to determine if it's "appropriate". To determine if it's a "safe" alternative you would need an ohm meter to see if there is resistance on the ground. Remember there is often a difference between "appropriate", "recommended" and "safe". Ideally you pick one that covers all three.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 17 at 2018 2:11 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 14:11:54 -0400

Wheb we deployed we ditched the 1.5KW generators for a place to hold extra ammo. The 4.2 remained with the TOC

Response by PFC Leander Yazzie made Sep 21 at 2018 12:44 AM

PFC Leander Yazzie — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 00:44:36 -0400

A 3 king grounding set-up
Is designed in theory to so the external surge energy is dissipated in a star pattern.
Again this is in theory it is covered in the TM
But this will not work in wet ground!