Experience and cost of thermite (exothermic) welding

[pc1966]

We have a potential new site and it will need earth electrodes both for the LV side in general, but also for lighting risk. There may well be quite a few buried conductors and rods making this up and I was wondering about the use of thermite / exothermic welding for attaching copper to copper or to copper-clad steel rods as it seems a better option for "maintenance free" when buried a metre down. This sort of thing:

Kingsweld Exothermic Welding - Kingsmill Industries

Exothermic Welding is a permanent, corrosion resistant, safe, simple and quick way to join copper to copper and...

kingsmillindustries.com

So I was wondering if any one here has used this before, and if so how easy was it, reliable, and sort of costs involved?

It might be we get a LPS company in to do it, but equally it is more likely to be done our way if we can do a lot of it ourselves as the various aspects of the site a built up.

 

[freddo]

That does look like fun I must admit! The end result looked rather tidy.

 

[Robson689]

From experience the Erico Cadweld products are the most reliable and easiest to use with the electronic ignition

 

[timhoward]

That is most interesting. I've sat transfixed and watched the same (scaled-up!) process being used to join two sections of rail-head together. Like this:

I wonder if the gear is cheaper than a round of golf - if so the fun factor alone would sway me!