Grounding water and gas and rod

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kbrandt

Member
Location
arizona
I am moving a service to another location and need to ground to rod, water and gas.

Can I take one GEC to rod and then to panel and another from water and gas to panel and land both on ground bar. Or does it have to be one continous wire. They are far apart and it would work better for the job to come from 2 directions.

I can't find anything in the code that says you can't have 2 GEC coming into panel to make the grounding system.

Thanks for any input.
 

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
You need to make a grounding electrode system it could end up looking something like this or some variation of this:

1113918256_2.jpg
 

dana1028

Senior Member
I am moving a service to another location and need to ground to rod, water and gas.

Can I take one GEC to rod and then to panel and another from water and gas to panel and land both on ground bar. Or does it have to be one continous wire. They are far apart and it would work better for the job to come from 2 directions.

I can't find anything in the code that says you can't have 2 GEC coming into panel to make the grounding system.

Thanks for any input.

250.64(F)(2) allows what you describe.
 

A/A Fuel GTX

Senior Member
Location
WI & AZ
Occupation
Electrician
Keep in mind that the gas pipe is not an electrode but it is just being bonded via the GEC of the system. Is it a local ordinance that requires the gas pipe to be bonded to the GEC?
 

dwellselectric

Inactive, Email Never Verified
In my town we are only required to use one ground rod also but only if driven in a basement. If it is driven outside you must use two. I really don't understand the thinking behind this. Perhaps someone else does?
 

A/A Fuel GTX

Senior Member
Location
WI & AZ
Occupation
Electrician
In my town we are only required to use one ground rod also but only if driven in a basement. If it is driven outside you must use two. I really don't understand the thinking behind this. Perhaps someone else does?

If it's a full basement, that would put the ground rod at a depth of 16' and perhaps the earth is a better conductor at that depth resulting in less resistance.
 

jumper

Senior Member
In my town we are only required to use one ground rod also but only if driven in a basement. If it is driven outside you must use two. I really don't understand the thinking behind this. Perhaps someone else does?

I looked in the MEC and I did not see an amendment for this. Does MA allow local amendments or is the inspector just assuming a rod driven in the basement is 25 ohms or less?
 

Little Bill

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
I looked in the MEC and I did not see an amendment for this. Does MA allow local amendments or is the inspector just assuming a rod driven in the basement is 25 ohms or less?

Probably a stupid question, but how would you drive a rod in a basement with a concrete floor? What if you hit rock or something that required changing the driving angle? Are you required to cut a large enough chunk out of the floor to allow room for this? I have never heard of this, but you must understand, I don't get out much!:)
 

jumper

Senior Member
Probably a stupid question, but how would you drive a rod in a basement with a concrete floor? What if you hit rock or something that required changing the driving angle? Are you required to cut a large enough chunk out of the floor to allow room for this? I have never heard of this, but you must understand, I don't get out much!:)

I have never driven a rod in a basement; ask the guy from MA, he is the one who brought it up.
 

Dennis Alwon

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
Didn't mean it directly at anyone, just hoping someone would enlighten me. Ok, guy from MA, how do you drive a rod in a basement?

You drill a hole and then drive the rod. I have not done it either. There is no code that requires the rod be driven outdoors. One of he reason for 8' is so the rod hopefully reach an area with moisture. I am sure contact with the earth is part of it.
 

marti smith

Senior Member
Milwaukee hammer drill with a) 3/4 bit for 5/8 rod then, b) ground rod attatchment for installing ground rod. One particular home had an open basement upon starting, so those rods went in straight; however, on another, the basement was rather small and those rods went in at a 45 degree angle.
 

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Many moons ago, in one of Mike Holt 's newsletters he posted a story about a situation (I believe it was in San Antonio, TX) where bonding to gas lines resulted in corrosion of those lines throughout the town. I wish I had access to the article.

We've had many discussions on this topic here in the forum and, for the most part, I think bonding the gas line is a waste. Out here in NJ when the gas company comes in to replace corroded gas lines they ususlly use some portion of the existing gas line and snake thru a neoprene coated line to the house. How do you bond to that ?
 

hotwire1955

Senior Member
Location
nj
Many moons ago, in one of Mike Holt 's newsletters he posted a story about a situation (I believe it was in San Antonio, TX) where bonding to gas lines resulted in corrosion of those lines throughout the town. I wish I had access to the article.

We've had many discussions on this topic here in the forum and, for the most part, I think bonding the gas line is a waste. Out here in NJ when the gas company comes in to replace corroded gas lines they ususlly use some portion of the existing gas line and snake thru a neoprene coated line to the house. How do you bond to that ?

In NJ you bond to the load side of the gas meter only if CSST gas line is used
 
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