AMPS in the cold water pipe

[cschmid]

Been ther done that in Brainard MN. Made back in 1992 or 93 Nov1 after a record snow storm. Made a newb mistake and set my six pack on top of the snow rather than in the snow. Had to drink my beer with a fork and spoon. I really hated the snot freezing in my nose

lmao......wow beer abuse...

 

[M. D.]

I agree, but what constitutes a problem? Where is it defined? There is no NEC requirement. In my industry we have standard which basically is X% of the Service Grounded Conductor shall be investigated. :-?

No magic number but 250.6 comes to mind..

 

[M. D.]

.....MD ah you bring up a good topic and that is what the OP was actually reading is the amperage that is being introduced into the earth..now multiply that by hundreds of thousands of water main connection just in one city and how much have we introduced into the earth..I do believe AL was on the right track about having a way to record and track these readings would be beneficial to research..I love logistics..

Well the Electrical Power Research Institute, a think tank for the utlities,..has stated that as much as 40 to 60 percent of the return neutral current on multigrounded neutral electrical distribution system circuits returns over the earth.

Not all through the water lines I'm sure but in our life times there will be increased negative results if steps are not taken ..IMO
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[fletcher]

Fletcher current on the water pipe is normal, in fact cannot be avoided in most circumstances. The reason is very simple the water pipe forms a parallel path of the system grounded circuit conductor back to a common transformer shared between two or more services (houses).

To take it one step further you can find current on the CATV coax for the same exact reason.

I am hesitant to even ask these questions but here goes:

1. Did you clamp the service grounded conductor and measure the current, and compare it with what was measured on the water pipe?

2, Would you even know what the numbers mean or what it tells you?

I have no clue on this since it is far outside the protocal of an ASHI or NAHI home inspection. We test the plugs, test the GFCIs, smoke detectors, make sure the water meter is bonded, check the panel for good grounding.

Some home inspectors choose to do the test, but I do not.

I see that you are an EE. Do you think this is an important issue? Should I buy a meter, learn to use it, and do this test? Is it really a saftey issue?

One other question, would you get a reading on PEX or CPVC plumbing? In other words, it the current in the water, the pipe, both?

 

[steelersman]

I have no clue on this since it is far outside the protocal of an ASHI or NAHI home inspection. We test the plugs, test the GFCIs, smoke detectors, make sure the water meter is bonded, check the panel for good grounding.

Some home inspectors choose to do the test, but I do not.

I see that you are an EE. Do you think this is an important issue? Should I buy a meter, learn to use it, and do this test? Is it really a saftey issue?

One other question, would you get a reading on PEX or CPVC plumbing? In other words, it the current in the water, the pipe, both?

shouldn't be in the water as you can't bond to a plastic pipe

 

[Kevink]

I am a home inspector and one of my friends posted this photo on a home inspector board.

http://www.homeinspector.org/forum/forums/storage/8/5587/Amps.JPG

hope the link works.

If not, this is a photo of an amp meter (that encompasses the cold water pipe) showing a reading of 9.33

This is not a test that most home inspectors do so we don't know if this is a typical condition or not. Some guys claim some amps in the pipe is "normal" and some say there should be no amps at all.

The issue of "black copper" pipes were brought up. Some of us Home Inspectors think the black pipe means there is voltage running through the pipe causing the pipe to turn black.
I knew I could get the right answer here. Any thoughts?

This paper spells out what you are seeing on the amp meter.It also shows testing information for amps on cold water ground and emf levels in homes.
Check it out, it is informative.
http://infoventures.com/emf/bener/bu-paper/bu43ni01.html