Posted: 3/13/2015 10:59:21 AM EDT
I have an older home, built in the '70s, and one thing I just recently happened to notice is that the ground wire from my breaker panel terminates to the copper water pipe for the home. The wire appears to be either a #6 or #4 solid copper wire. Now I have no idea if this is still ok according to NEC, but from what I understand I need an 8' copper rod put into the ground near the meter and verify I can get at least 25 ohms. That rod should then be connected to the meter socket ground connection. Right now there is no ground connection in the socket, just the ground from the breaker panel to the water pipe. Should I try to get this corrected pretty soon? Is it a disaster waiting to happen? ATF agents ready to set fire to my home then blame electrical fault?  |
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Compliant with older NEC rules so it is grandfathered.
It is rarely worth trying to verify the 25 ohms. Just drive a second rod and you are done. The rods (and water pipe that is required to be connected as an electrode (metal, long enough, deep enough, etc.) are for lightning and primary leakage in distribution transformers. |