Ground Rod Guy

[Mak Wilson]

Hey, it's me, the guy who started the long thread about grounding rods.

searching "Grounding Rod Info"

Anyway, I had the service disconnect that was separate from the panelbox.

(image of the service disconnect)

Well, the electrician that came over told me everything was okay the way it was. Then I started explaining why it wasn't (thanks to my education here on alt.home.repair). He left my house saying he was going to have to check the NEC book, then call me back before doing any work.

One idea he was going to "check the book" was regarding the service disconnect. Of course there are 2 hots and a neutral coming in. What if I just have 2 hots and a neutral going out with NO ground. Then, I just treat the panelbox as if it were the main service disconnect and treat the originial service disconnect as a sort of shut off only box. Would this be up to code? Why not? Lightning invited into the home?

Also, I got a lightning arrestor and a surge protector from him. He said I could just mount them in the panelbox and run them BOTH one of my double breakers (both buses), in this case, my 60 amp AC breaker. Is doesn't seem safe to have all these wires coming off the same breaker.

Oh, and he told me 0/4 was needed for 200amp power (hots & neutral). Is this correct? I thought I heard somewhere that 0/2 was enough?

BTW, I got my Network Interface Device upgraded too. No work outside, just inside. I explained where the GEC was, but the Telco Guy split bolted to the #4 conductor going from the service disconnect to the panelbox. After he left, I switched it to the GEC.

Thanks for your advice.

['nuther Bob]

Typical telco move. I think they tell these guys to do that. All the ones I see are done that way. My own isn't even clamped to the conductor, just to the armored shield.

Bob

[Mike O.]

As someone else mentioned, 4/0 Aluminum and 2/0 Copper are minimums by the NEC. However, check with the electrical inspector. A few months ago I did a panel replacement/upgrade. During the planning stage, I talked to the inspector about wire size and Aluminum vs Copper. His answer was that even though the NEC said 2/0 Cu was enough, the local city rules used more restrictive guidelines and required 3/0 or larger copper, or 4/0 Al. Unfortunately 3/0 SE cable was not common locally, so I would have had to use 4/0 copper. Due to the cost and weight (it is overhead feed), I went with 4/0 Al.

Your electrican contact should know the local code, but ultimately it's your house the inspector is going to fail if you don't meet their rules, so you need to check. At least in my case the inspector was very helpful and answered several questions during the planning process.

- Mike O.