My main grounding wires from the breaker box has 2, one side of the panel goes outside to a grounding rod. The other side is a thick cable that runs about 60 feet to the in coming water line. But the water is copper but the line it connects to going through the wall is plastic is the really grounding anything? A friend said the water in the line is giving it a ground. So is it ok like this or should if have been done another way? The house is 2 years old.
Thanks
I think what's going in here is simply:
The rod is providing your system ground.
The bonding to the pipe system is simply a code requirement I _think_. The pipe connection isn't to benefit the electrical system, it may simply be making sure the copper piping system in your home is safe to touch and at 0V potential. That is, the pipes are earthed by way of your breaker panel on the way to the grounding rod.
A proper electrician of course will know much more on this subject. Hopefully one will chime in here.
Best Regards,
-- Todd H.
Oh, and yer friend can be made fun of if you wish. Tap water isn't gonna ground sh*t. There's not much in the way of ions in tap water to conduct electricity. 65kOhm/meter is the resistivity of the tap water in a 2cm pipe. So it might be a ground, but it's a really really bad one.
Best Regards,
-- Todd H.
Todd, I read your statement and doubted it enough to jump up and grab my ohmmeter and headed to the kitchen.
You are right in saying that tap water isn't gonna ground sh*t. My tap water is an extremely poor ground compared to your figures.
One meter of my tap water in a 1/4 in plastic tube is way over a meg.
I learn something every day.
Water!! isn't a good conducter???? Then why do they say don't stand in it when working with electricity?.
Pure water is virtually an insulator. I don't know why the amorphous "they" say "don't stand in it."
Because the water that you stand in isn't pure, and dirty water is a fairly good conductor, and wet feet and wet concrete are good conductors.
Ok, I'll take it that my ground is ok and the waterline is just got the ground wire to make it safe.
Thanks for the info
And very little current is required for electrocution, IIRC about 100mA. It is not too hard to get that thorugh relatively high resistance water. Even easier to get enough current for a good shock. GFCIs trip at 5mA.
Earthing a service could involve thousands of amps.
bud--
it when working with electricity?.
HomeOwnersHub 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.