My code requires an 8 foot depth copper rod, to ground the electrical box. As soon as the Inspector okayed that, I quick took that up and put in a 1 foot deep rod, instead. I did that, to make my place less inviting to lightning strikes. Now, in the past 5 years, all of my neighbors -with identical 8 foot deep grounding rods- have had their boxes struck by lightning. Some started fires, most of the lightning strikes burned up TVs, computers, washers, etc.
I wonder how many other people use this sort of simple, common sense. Appearing to comply with assinine govt regulations, and then going on to correct government idiocies, and to make their home safe?
Let me get this straight, all eight of your neighbors have been struck by lightning and you haven't. Where do you live, that you only have eight neighbors and all were struck by lightning. Do you have a lightning rod to direct the strike away from your home? Or, are you saying that the ground wire caused all the homes in the neighborhood to receive an indirect strike. In any case, I would worry a little about inadequate grounding. Are you grounded to water pipes? You would have some trouble collecting insurance for electrocution injury if it came out that you had violated building code. That could happen years later, even after you sold the home.
Dave
"MilkyWhy" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m29.wmconnect.com...
Thats good thinking. Years of experience and knowledge could certainly be wrong. And aren't you worried about that 1 foot ground rod still being a "lightning magnet"?
Hopefully, when/if you sell your house you'll put the 8 ft ground back in. Why pass your potential problem on to someone else. Code in my area requires two (2) 8 ft grounds--one before and one after the water meter--electrician gave me the reason but can't recall why. MLD
Your one of the reasons that the NEC has gotten so large and insurance companies are starting to investigate losses more often.
Your electrical system is not grounded properly. Can you please let me know your vital information so I can take out some life insurance on you and yours. This will be sure bet that something will go wrong sooner and then I can cash in and retire.
you're one selfish guy - all of your lightning strikes are going back out your wires & damaging the neighbors homes. I'd start a class action law suite if I were your neighbor.
Have you ever tried hammering in one of those plastic ground rods? It's almost impossible. Trust me; it's worth the extra couple of dollars to go with the tempered glass rods, or ceramic. Make sure you get the hard rubber "driving cap" before trying to hammer it in if you're using a metal hammer. (You can drive it without a cap if you're careful and use a wooden croquet mallet or an old shoe instead of a metal hammer)
Notice, over the years, George, that certain things happen in certain ways and in predictable circumstances. I have noticed that new houses with deep grounding for their electrical boxes seem to be more prone to lightning strikes than older setup's. If I had to dream up a theory to go along with this, I would say that the EMF potential in the sky instantaneously seeks the very least path of resistance. The better grounds take the shot, while the lesser ones often do not.
Earth to Milky way , Without the ground rod 8 feet down and grounding your netural and grounds of all you appliances. If for some strange reason you would loose the ground wire coming to your home. Every appliance Stove, ovens, light fixtures, gas and water lines, Plumbing fixtures, washers & driers, and Refrigerators & freezers will have 120 volts on all the metal parts of them. Every thing metal in your home will be electrified with 120 volts of electricity. The thought of grabing the refrigerator door in the morning to get something out of it and you being bare footed would surely be a surprise as you be electricuted in your kitchen.
Lightening can burn down my house and blow up every appliance i have before i kill any of my family members by not having a ground.
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Neutral wire failed inside the transformer. Normally not a problem. But they had an insufficient earth ground connection. Electricity therefore found another path back to transformer via the gas meter. Fortunately no one was home when it exploded. But MilkyWhy already knows all this.
Years of experience and knowledge - such as posted above - clearly are wrong. After all, MilkyWhy needs no experience and no electrical training to know those ground rods only create damage. Stupid government regulations only make MilkyWhy's life more expensive (even though those regulations are from non-government, non-profit organizations). Good thing that MilkyWhy never bothered wasting time first learning how electricity works or gaining years of experience. He has his junk science reasoning to prove we are fools - and only he can be right.
When you eventually learn enough to re>> Years of experience and knowledge could certainly be wrong.
Uh...right. In fact, in 50 plus years of intelligently managing my wiring and grounding, I have never had a fire and no one jolted by electricity. I have seen plenty of neighbors with problems from lightning. According the "the best advice" I am getting, I should either have died 50 years ago or can expect to be electrocuted tomorrow. Rubbish.
Demonstrated by example was a house explosion because ground rod was missing. Somehow, reality means nothing to MilkyWhy. Even without basic technical knowledge, Milky Why just knows. He must be a god.
MilkyWhy: Please feel free to explain why that house, missing the ground rod, did not explode. Please tell electrical engineers why the engineers are wrong and why you as so much more knowledgeable. Are the genius - who wants to kill innocent people? So please enlighten us with your wisdom. Why did that missing ground not result in the house that exploded?
Oh. Your house has not yet exploded? Therefore it will never happen?
Some joker always runs st> Uh...right. In fact, in 50 plus years of intelligently managing
Nobody has said anything of the kind - that you should have died already. You just know without understanding underlying principles and then call everyone else (ie the National Electrical Code) idiots. You are therefore a danger to others. Eventually someone will be killed somewhere sometime. We install that earth ground and other functions so that 10,000 homes without earth ground do not result in one death in one of those homes. Therefore after 50 years experience, you still don't know from experience if you are correct.
You also don't know why lightning damage does or does not happen. Again you demonstrate the classic logic that causes failures. You observe, declare (wildly speculate) only from observations (without any technical knowledge) that this is happening, and then declare yourself the expert. You immediately declare as idiots others with fundamental training and who instead have learned from same.
The ground rod is necessary for human safety. This from others who first learned basic facts - ie how electricity works. Earth ground is also the most critical function for lightning protection - as even Ben Franklin demonstrated in
1752. Why do some homes suffer damage and others not? Lightning strike damage is a function also of geology meaning that some homes in the same neighborhood are at greater risk. Those other homes with earth grounds and damage have additional wiring problems beyond this discussion. You, on the other hand, have created a serious human safety problem and don't even understand why. For example, you have set yourself up for a possible house explosion.
Does this say your house will definitely blow up? Of course not. But after 50 years, you should have learned logic of "I am still here" or "It has not happened to me yet" actually proves nothing. They used the same failed logic to murder seven Challenger astronauts and then murder seven Columbia astronauts. Your earth ground must be installed. And now that you have removed the eight foot ground rod, then it must be installed in a new hole.
For protection of lightning, additional facts must be learned.
Only one of so many reasons why that ground rod is required: your house could explode. Reinstall the ground rod because we are concerned for the lives of other innocent people. Then use that 50 years of experience to appreciate why you still have so much more to learn. Some 50+ year olds and teenagers both have a problem. They know enough and don't need no stink'in education.
The code is correct. You absolutely need that earth ground rod. But the code is not sufficient. For lightn>> According to "the best advice" I am getting, I should either
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