Mobile Home Pedastal Ground

[jetlag]

The power co has underground service to the meter pedestals for a mobile home park. The 200 A disconnect is a combo meter dicconnect . There is no seperate ground rods or electrode conductors coming into the meter disconnect , it is just attached to the metal frame the power co has grounded. The mobile home park is old and after all these years a new inspector has decided he wants double ground rods and conductors for the disconnect in addition to power company ground rod and conductors on the metal frame. He is requiring this if I run a new feeder to connect a mobile home. My problem is this . When they call for a hook up there is no time to get the power co to come out and mark the underground conductors that can take days or weeks here.. I am afraid I will drive a ground rod into power co service.. I have been taking a chance. Since the power co grounded the pedestal shouldnt they be responsible to argue with inspector about more grounds needed.

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

Should not be hard to just go past the area they would have ran from meters to transformer. I sure would not be driving a rod if i thought there line is there. Can you not hire someone private to locate them or buy the equipment.

 

[growler]

My problem is this . When they call for a hook up there is no time to get the power co to come out and mark the underground conductors that can take days or weeks here..

Try explaining the problem to the inspector. It should be possible to hook up on a temp power pemit and then do the grounding and have the inspector sign off on permanent power. Or you could inform the mobile home park that they need to have the site marked as soon as a space becomes available and not wait until it's rented and someone moves in.

It's not your job to take chances just so the customer can have power. If it takes longer and cost more that's just the way it is but you can try to work something out.

 

[jetlag]

Should not be hard to just go past the area they would have ran from meters to transformer. I sure would not be driving a rod if i thought there line is there. Can you not hire someone private to locate them or buy the equipment.

Thats what Im doing now, guessing where it should have been ran, It is hard to tell , sometime they curve around to get to other side of pedestal and they continue on to another pedestal on the other end between the trailers, and thats where inspector wants ground rods , in line between the two pedestals. The service is min 3 ft deep and not easy to pin point. I can see running a #4 bare ground jumper from the disconnect to channel iron frame the power co has grounded. But adding ground rods to something the power co has grounded does not seem right to me.

 

[jetlag]

Should not be hard to just go past the area they would have ran from meters to transformer. I sure would not be driving a rod if i thought there line is there. Can you not hire someone private to locate them or buy the equipment.

There is another option, saw the ground rods in half and drive them on a 45 deg angle so they dont reach the 3 ft poco service . Thats still adding 8 ft of rod to the existing poco 8 ft rod. A short piece of pipe will bent the end of the ground rod back up straight ,, But a licensed electrician wouldnt do that would they? nah ? Electricians never saw a ground rod in half

 

[growler]

But adding ground rods to something the power co has grounded does not seem right to me.

From an earlier post it looks like you are in GA and deal with Georgia Power. I doubt if they ( POCO ) grounded the pedestal, installing a pedestal requires a permit and the electrician that installed the pedestal is responsible for grounding the service. At one time the parks could pull permits and do much of this work themselves ( red flag ).

One of the reasons the inspector may want the grounding brought up to code is that a lot of those earlier ground rods were cut in half when installed. Electrical work in mobile home parks is not known for being that great.

What does it matter anyway, you get paid for the extra ground rods.

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

There is another option, saw the ground rods in half and drive them on a 45 deg angle so they dont reach the 3 ft poco service . Thats still adding 8 ft of rod to the existing poco 8 ft rod. A short piece of pipe will bent the end of the ground rod back up straight ,, But a licensed electrician wouldnt do that would they? nah ? Electricians never saw a ground rod in half

An x partner of mine got caught once when he had sawed off the last 2 feet because he hit solid rock. He was stupid and left the piece laying there. Next time for fun he layed a short piece on the ground but had the full 8 feet in the ground. Inspector sees it and wants to tag it. Partner tells him it is full rod and if he doesn't believe him then pull it out of the ground and then put it back.

Seriously you do need to find a better solution because your luck will run out. I would try to get a meeting set up between this inspector ,the poco rep and yourself. Is this at just one mobile park or many with differant owners?

If they are that short of help at the poco then you need to become a real pain in the a to the head of that poco.

I don't know how much that locator costs or how many of these your doing. I do know that if you hit there line you will be charged for the damage. And you could end up dead. The problem is not yours it is the poco and perhaps the mobile home parks.

As to the inspector i think he sees a potential problem and only doing what he can on new connects. Really is not his problem to get the job done. Maybe he could give you a temp release for 30 days. This still is costly to you as your making 2 trips.

 

[jetlag]

poco is grounded

poco is grounded

From an earlier post it looks like you are in GA and deal with Georgia Power. I doubt if they ( POCO ) grounded the pedestal, installing a pedestal requires a permit and the electrician that installed the pedestal is responsible for grounding the service. At one time the parks could pull permits and do much of this work themselves ( red flag ).

One of the reasons the inspector may want the grounding brought up to code is that a lot of those earlier ground rods were cut in half when installed. Electrical work in mobile home parks is not known for being that great.

What does it matter anyway, you get paid for the extra ground rods.

I cut the seal to look , the poco has a 3/4 copper ground rod lugged to the 8" channel iron with at least a 1/0 copper EGC . Thats why I think this is all foolish , the pedestal has plenty of ground. I dont mind buying the rods you are missing the point, I dont want to drive them in the poco service conductors

 

[construct]

Around here (southwest Missouri), the Poco furnishes and installs the meter combo pedestals. Therefore, they maintain everything up to and including the pedestal. If this not your scenario, you may still have an issue with the inspector. Good luck to you.