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GEM Ground Enhancement Material

Ground Enhancement Material (GEM) is a superior conductive material that solves your toughest grounding problems. It is the ideal material to use in areas of poor conductivity, such as rocky ground, mountain tops and sandy soil. GEM dramatically reduces earth resistance and impedance measurements. Furthermore, GEM may reduce the size of the grounding system where conventional methods are unsatisfactory. Once installed, GEM is maintenance-free, not requiring periodic charging or the presence of water to maintain its conductivity.

Third-party testing has been completed to verify that GEM conforms to IEC® 62561-7. This standard introduces a benchmark for electrical performance and corrosion of earth enhancement materials that has been absent from the industry to date.

nVent ERICO offers GEM Calculator software that provides resistivity values for common GEM applications and can help estimate the amount of GEM required for an installation. It operates in four languages - English, Spanish, French and German - and performs calculations in Imperial or Metric units. The GEM Calculator is available for download on our website at erico.com.

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Details

Features

Specifications

Unit Weight 11.36 kg
Unit Weight 25 lb
Data Copied
Estimated Linear Feet of Ground Conductor Covering with Each Bag of GEM
Trench Width Total Thickness of GEM
4" 5" 6"
4" 3.5' 2.8' 2.3'
6" 2.3' 1.8' 1.5'
8" 1.8' 1.4' 1.1'
10" 1.4' 1.1' 0.9'
12" 1.2' 0.9' 0.7'
Suggested Specifications
Parameter Recommended Values Test Method
Standards Compliance Full compliance to  IEC 62561-7 EPA Toxicity  Characteristic Leaching  Procedure (TCLP),  test method 1311
Leaching Arsenic < 1.5 mg/L, Barium < 60 mg/L,  Cadmium < 0.15 mg/L, Chromium < 3.0 mg/L,  Lead < 1.5 mg/L, Mercury < 0.06 mg/L,  Selenium < 1.0 mg/L EC 62561-7 EN 12457-2
Sulfur Content < 2% ISO 14869-1
Resistivity <2 Ω-cm for powder <20 Ω-cm for mixed and cured material Compressed powder  according to ASTM G187-12 Mixed and cured per  ASTM D991-89
Corrosion Performance For copper-plated earth electrodes,  the polarization resistance shall be > 8 Ω x m2 for aggressive environments For galvanized earth electrodes,  the polarization resistance shall be > 7.6Ω x m2 for aggressive environments IEC 62561-7, Sec 5.5,  aggressive environment
Flexural Strength 300-450 psi [2070-3100 kPa] ASTM C293
Compressive Strength 100-200 psi [690-1390 kPa]  after 672 hours curing time ASTM C109
Estimated Bags of GEM for Backfilling Around Ground Rods to a Density of 63.5 lb/ft ³ (1,017 kg/m³)
Diameter of Hole ft m ft m ft m ft m ft m ft m
Inches Centimeters 5 1.5 6 1.8 8 2.4 10 3 15 4.6 20 6.1
4 10.2 2 2 2 3 4 5
6 15.2 3 3 4 5 8 10
8 20.3 5 6 8 9 14 18
10 25.4 7 9 12 14 21 28
12 30.5 10 12 16 20 30 40
Application images Resources
Video
Warning
nVent products shall be installed and used only as indicated in nVent's product instruction sheets and training materials. Instruction sheets are available at www.nvent.com and from your nVent customer service representative. Improper installation, misuse, misapplication or other failure to completely follow nVent's instructions and warnings may cause product malfunction, property damage, serious bodily injury and death and/or void your warranty.
WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including silica and hexavalent chromium, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.  For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.
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