The electrode should be 8 feet deep. I could wiggle this pipe a bit. First of all, I don’t see how it is possible to drive a hollow pipe 8 feet deep without bending it totally in half by trying. Second, if it *were *8 feet deep, I doubt there would be any wiggle room.
It looks bent. And if I remember correctly from the Grounding section in the interNACHI Electrical exam it says it can be buried in a trench 30" deep 8’ long. But does it meet size requirements.
It appears that the pipe is bent like someone intentionally bent an elbow? Are you sure that it goes straight down as required? 3/4" galvanized pipes are permitted as grounding electrodes providing that there driven to a depth minimum of 8’. That can only be buried in a trench when rock bottom prohibits installing the electrode at an angle 45° or less. Also the conductor attached to the clamp appears to be a #8 solid or smaller. It is prohibited to run a conductor this small without protection from physical damage. Here are the applicable sections from the 2008 NEC:
That bend looks like someone had trouble driving it at least part of the way and it bent when it hit an obstruction. If the pipe is only 8’ long it does not have the required 8’ in contact with the soil. As far as the looseness it may have undermined.
