Bonding CSST Gas Line feeding a furnace

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madpenguin

Member
Hope this is the right area for this. "Grounding vs Bonding" doesn't make a whole lot of sense for a forum title. Makes me think that area is just to discuss the differences between grounding and bonding and not actual grounding and bonding applications. Sorry if I'm being overly dense about that.

Anyway, please feel free to move it if it belongs in that forum.

As the title suggests, what is the proper way to bond this stuff? I have only worked with Cast iron gas pipes that feed a furnace, not CSST..... My girlfriends friend just bought a condo and the HI said this needed to be done which I fully agree with.

Is this the stuff that has the outer yellow plastic jacket but is flexible metal underneath? Can you just use a standard brass grounding clamp like you would to jumper your water meter? One would think that would crush the gas line so I'm not going to do that.

Any and all help would be most appreciated. I'm assuming you would still want to use #4 just like you would for copper water pipes.

This is my girlfriends best friend so I won't be charging her anything (except for materials). I want to make sure she has a primary and secondary grounding system and that everything is bonded properly but this CSST stuff is new to me.

I'm just not sure how your supposed to bond this stuff if it's soft and flexible along with possibly being sheathed with a plastic outer finish....

As always, thanks for any and all help! This forum is truly a great resource.
 
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MichaelJ

Member
Location
Georgia
Check 250.104(b) It may not need additional bonding, But if you do bond at steel nipple or the brass fitting and DO NOT bond to the tubing itself
 
Cavie

Cavie

Senior Member
Location
SW Florida
It does need bonding as per the manufacturer install instructions. Install clamp on to the brass fitting or black iron pipe as previously suggested.
 
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madpenguin

Member
Thanks guys. That's pretty much what I thought. Treat it as any other gas pipe, but.... The pdf linked to above says:

For single and multi-family structures, a single bond connection shall be made
downstream of the individual gas meter for each housing unit and upstream
of any CSST connection. The bonding conductor shall be no smaller than a
6 AWG copper wire or equivalent.
Click to expand...

That tells me I can't bond to the brass fittings at the furnace itself (or ANY CSST fitting) but pretty much load side of the gas meter, no?

So..... Just your standard brass bonding clamp with #6 bare heading back to the main disco's grounded bus bar will meet all requirements and ground the CSST as well, correct?

Thanks again for all your help guys. Just dealing with some new material here and I want to make sure things are safe and correct.
 
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augie47

augie47

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee
Occupation
State Electrical Inspector (Retired)
My opinion is from the NEC standpoint, 250.104(B) recognizes the branch circuit equipment ground to be your bonding means. The picture gets more fuzzy due to requirements by CSST manufacturers and some jurisdictions for better bonding (usu sally to the gas manifold). The responsibility for this CSST bond is something local AHJ must deal with.
Who should install the bond (an correspondingly who pays) is, to me, a local Code issue.

You might be interested in this article:
http://phcc.files.cms-plus.com/PDFs/BondingCSSTUpdate.pdf
 
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madpenguin

Member
Yes, your right Gus. The NEC does say table 250.122 is sufficient via the branch circuit's grounding conductor. Wouldn't/Doesn't individual manufacturers instructions (eg. CSST) typically override the NEC as long as they are going a "step beyond"?

Thanks for the link. I'll read it in the AM. Been a long day. Not sure why this is even an issue in the first place. This crap should have been taken care of before she bought the house as a condition of sale. I'm just trying to put her mind at ease because the HI said it needed to be done and now she is worried about it.

Thanks again everyone for all your help. I'll be heading out Saturday to look things over.
 
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