IG-250 – Comprehensive Grounding and Bonding (12 labs) (4 days)

Our flagship training course addresses advanced grounding/bonding/site survey methods with a heavy emphasis on electrical safety, equipment operation, lightning protection, and other grounding/bonding considerations. This course is specifically designed to increase the knowledge base for any technical team. The twelve (12) labs reinforce the knowledge to understand key issues to any site installation, including SATCOM, cellular, Outside Plant/Inside Plant (OSP/ISP), and data centers. Whether you’re in Quality Assurance, installation, or a technician, the hands-on test labs and proven troubleshooting methods, data collection/analysis, and data presentation techniques will have you poised for success.

Course Outline

Chapter One – Why Bonding/Grounding?

• What is Grounding/Bonding?
• NEC^© definition
• Overview of different systems
• Lightning and Lightning Protection
• Personnel Safety
• Telecommunications Bonding
• Personnel Involved
• Where do we go from here?

Chapter Two – Electrical and Metering Principles (4 labs)

• Volts, Ohms, Amperes
• Lenz’s Law
• Resistance and Diffraction
• Circular Mils/Area of Conductor
• Insulation Materials/ Temperature Coefficient
• Impedance
• Conductor Properties Impacting Impedance
• Inductive Reactance/ Capacitive Reactance
• Impedance of Conductors
• Waveform Propagation
• Single Phase vs. Three-Phase Power
• Premises Wiring System Components
• Separately Derived Power Systems

Chapter Three – Grounding Electrode System (2 labs)

• Grounding Electrode System Purposes
• Grounding Electrode System Components
• The Earth as a conductor
• Importance and Contributions to Soil Resistivity
• Basics of Earth Ground Resistance Measurements
• Improving Earth Ground Resistance
• Types and Selection Criteria of Grounding Electrodes
• Grounding Electrode Conductor Terminations
• Electrolytic Corrosion

Chapter Four – Equipment Grounding System (1 lab)

• Equipment Grounding System Purposes
• Types of Equipment Grounding Conductors (EGC’s)
• Sizing of EGC
• Voltage Drop Calculations for EGC
• Types of Electrical System Faults
• Conductor Routing
• Fault Circuit Demonstration
• Improper Neutral – Ground Bonding

Chapter Five – Troubleshooting (2 labs)

• IEEE^® Categories of Problems
• Troubleshooting Methodology
• Site investigations
• Torque and Busbar installations
• Types of Equipment to Use
• Average Responding vs. True RMS

Chapter Six – Telecommunication System Bonding (1 lab)

• Purposes of the Telecommunications Bonding System
• Telecommunication Bonding Systems Components
• TIA 607
• Small/Large System Arrangements (TIA-607 & BICSI)
• Types of Bonding/Grounding Problems
• Sizing of Bonding Conductors
• Conductor Sizing Practice Exercises
• Raised Floor Bonding
• Equipment Rack/Cable Tray Bonding
• Data Center Bonding

Chapter Seven – Power Quality Disturbances/Monitoring (2 labs)

• Categorizing Voltage Quality Issues
• Horsepower (HP), True Power (Watts)
• Apparent Power (VA), Reactive Power (VARs)
• Power Factor (PF)
• Determining If/When It’s a Problem
• Manufacturer Guidelines
• Monitor Displays
• Interpreting the Data
• Types of VQ Issues
• Electrical Noise
• Sample Graphs