Supplemental Grounding Electrodes

Ten years ago I happened to discover a potential of 0.25 VAC between the grounding electrode under my electrical entrance and the one under my telephone entrance. To protect my computer from lightning, I bonded them with twenty feet of wire. It paid off in 1998 when lightning struck a tree thirty feet from my electrical entrance. I was online and suffered no damage.

A telco man restored service by replacing a fuse on the utility pole. When I asked the company's policy on bonding, he beat around the bush twenty minutes before saying the electrical code required it but the telco didn't like it because they would have to replace more fuses.

Neighbors went online five years ago. Each time they've lost a modem or surge protector, they have asked me for an explanation and I've told them ground surges will keep getting them until they clamp a wire between their phone and power electrodes. They have always ignored my advice.

I was online Monday during a quiet rain when lightning hit my chimney, blowing masonry and shingles sixty feet in all directions. My screen froze with a weird tint, but things were fine when I restarted.

My neighbors weren't so lucky. Their phone electrode is 40 yards from my chimney. Their power electrode is 10 yards farther. They lost a modem, a satellite dish, and two telephones. Instead of demanding that I explain it again, they asked the telco to send a rep. He told them their ground is fine. My neighbors are pleased because this proves I have always been wrong.

Article 250.54 of the NEC says local supplemental grounding electrodes (such as the one for phone service) must be bonded to the primary electrode. Where does the NEC apply? According to what the telco man admitted seven years ago, I assume our county code says the same thing.

Is this a recent addition to the NEC? How is a citizen supposed to find out local code requirements? How is a citizen supposed to know his electrodes are not bonded or that it's necessary? If the telco assures a customer that there is nothing wrong with grounding which in fact is a code violation, does the telco have any liability?

Reply to
Choreboy
Loading thread data ...

Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.