Need Earth Ground Without Drilling a Hole

Welded stud.

John

Aluminum flux and some solder. Silver impregnated epoxy, and rough up the surface.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Jim

If appearance isn't an issue, there are grounding clips that clip onto the edge of an approved metal fixture box. Unfortunately, I don't think aluminum has been used for such a box in premises wiring, so the use of such a clip (intended for steel boxes) isn't within the scope of their acceptable use. That's per NEC rules.

TIG weld a ground stud or lug into the box in a convenient location. If the aluminum is thick, you might be able to drill and tap a blind hole (if appearance was the reason for the 'no drill' rule).

What kind of box? Project box, or wall outlet/junction box?

Good Luck! Rich

Never, ever solder a safety ground connection.

Thanks, Rich

Maybe I could make a welder?? I've heard about mini pulse arc welders for jewelery. D from BC

I could try soldering..But I'll need lots of heat.. The point I have to ground is also an excellent heat sink. Also...I think aluminum flux might be a specialty item.. A pita to find.

One time I did mix epoxy with aluminum splinters..Worked good.

Commercial silver conductive adhesive sounds ok.. I'm clueless if this can pass 15amps in the event of a ground fault. I'll check some specs.. Also, I wonder if CSA would approve an earth ground wire bonded with conductive adhesive to an aluminum box. Maybe the ground wire will burn off... Although, I'm not aiming for CSA..I do try to practice CSA approvalable construction. D from BC

Oh yah...clips...It's been ages since I've seen that..Totally forgot.. (It's the lead! :P ) But clips will interfere with assembly in my app.

Tapping is possible but I think I'd have to track down some high thread count specialty tap. It's 1.5mm thick aluminum..

I've been thinking buiding making my own TIG welder circuit.. An example on:

Project box..but I want all sides smooth. The electronics inside are at shock levels.

D from BC

Is that because of the solder resistance? Flunks at approval agencies ? D from BC

It's indirectly because of the resistance - at a certain current level, the I^2R will heat up the solder, which _could_ melt and leave you with an open ground, which depending on the fault, could make the equipment dangerous to touch.

Cheers! Rich

If it's a one-off, then Drill & tap, use a screw on the inside, and grind off however much screw sticks out on the outside. :-)

Use the kind of lockwasher with the teeth all around, to dig into the metal.

Good Luck! Rich

Nice! Cannot drill a simple hole in soft matter and is building a TIG welder. No wonder elders are complaining that this world IS going to hell.

HTH

Stanislaw

It's like I got a bad case of stupid-smart :)

Maybe I can get my ground wire blended into the aluminum like with the Hutchison effect.. :)

Yup..it's one-off..

Doh!...Forgot the teethed lockwasher. I'll have to put another screw on and regrind. D from BC

I thought about countersinking but I think all the bolts in my fastener collection have heads in excess of the material thickness. I could try shopping for a 1.5mm heads.. But..I recall some years ago using washers on the inside to fix that. D from BC

Oh yeah....huhhh..I'm forgetting everything.. :( But I do remember trying to get PEM fasteners about 2 years ago.. I think I still have the link to a distributor on my PC. Thanks D from BC