Bonding jumper across meter

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nickelec

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How to inspect his family today call me I needed to bond across this meter well give me what is removing the meter will not affect the bonding path am I wrong here?
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Several typos there let me correct myself. I had an expector fail me today for not having a bonding jumper across this meter. My argument was removing the meter will not affect the bonding path across the system. Thoughts?

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Sounds like a conversation with the inspector is required. I agree the bonding would be maintained if the meter were removed. Is it that expensive to make a new bond and get your inspection approved. Sometimes being correct can cost more in time than money. Just saying.
 
It's my house, it's not a point of the Money or time. The city of New York hires these guys off the street that don't know anything he was a 21-24 year old kid . NYC has the worst inspectors I have ever witnessed they know nothing and just look at a check list no Electrical experience at all

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Is it the intent to use the piping as a grounding electrode, in which case the connection needs to be made within five (5) feet of entering building. If it is not an electrode, does it really matter if the meter is installed or not, the rest of the piping system would be bonded. Are we concerned about the five (5) feet from the meter into the ground? I agreed the inspector needs to review the totality of the project, not just an items on a checklist.
 
Never saw a fitting like that, but then that's NYC for you. Some kind of bypass so they can remove and replace the meter. It looks like the thing can come apart with two unions on the two valves. Maybe there is some concern that the bypass itself would be removed which would open the bond to the house piping?

I agree with Dave.

-Hal
 
I’m in agreement with others here.
its not the actual meter itself but the entire assembly between the unions that can be removed.
thats what needs to be bonded.

actually kinda surprised the water company allows that. Does anything go through the meter?
 
Which side of the supply is the service grounded on? Upstream or downstream?
 
There is no "bypass" in that setup. it is just a fitting inserted into a line that allows inserting the meter. What looks like a 4 way tee is basically like two separate 90 degree elbows in one assembly.

Seen similar fitting for meters in gas piping.
 
The gec is connected before the meter on the street side. My rant was more towards the inspector him self then the question about the bond I agree with others there could be a lot of what ifs, but the point that the inspector has no idea y the jumper should even be there or not. He also tried telling me I need to put a receptacle where I have a caped drain for a future sink. Saying you need a GFCI by the sink. But there is no sink lol

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kwired said:
There is no "bypass" in that setup. it is just a fitting inserted into a line that allows inserting the meter. What looks like a 4 way tee is basically like two separate 90 degree elbows in one assembly.

Seen similar fitting for meters in gas piping.
Click to expand...

That makes sense. Most of NYC was unmetered until some politician got a bright idea that people should pay for the water they were actually using. I guess that fitting made it easy to install a meter by just cutting 6" out of the pipe.

-Hal
 
nickelec said:
He also tried telling me I need to put a receptacle where I have a caped drain for a future sink. Saying you need a GFCI by the sink. But there is no sink lol.
Click to expand...

Had that happen to me about 2 years ago. The inspector was wrong but I put the GFCI receptacle in to please him.
I did it while he was looking at the rest of the job. I could have argued more but time was more important than the price of a GFCI.
 
nickelec said:
The gec is connected before the meter on the street side. My rant was more towards the inspector him self then the question about the bond I agree with others there could be a lot of what ifs, but the point that the inspector has no idea y the jumper should even be there or not. He also tried telling me I need to put a receptacle where I have a caped drain for a future sink. Saying you need a GFCI by the sink. But there is no sink lol

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Click to expand...
GEC on street side?
that changes things. Install is fine IMO
 
We're still bonding across water meters AND water heaters here in NJ. I stopped trying to figure out why and I just do it to avoid the exact situation you had with an EI. It's a couple of $$ and 20 minutes of my time. Way back when I was trying to figure this out some of the reasons I came up with were :
  • All metal piping has to be grounded (isn't it already grounded in the street ?)
  • Years ago (when K&T was the basic wiring method) switch boxes didn't contain a neutral or a ground. So, if someone wanted to install a receptacle in their bathroom they acquired a ground from any method they could. Thus came the clamp on a water line. Now, imagine if that receptacle were in use (say a hair dryer or a light bulb) at the time a water company rep. was there removing the meter. Once that meter was removed the street side of the piping would be grounded but the house side would have the potential of 120V going through the appliance or bulb. If the water co. rep. touched the street and the house side of the piping there would be a shock hazard. (kind of far-fetched if you ask me).
  • AND the best one is that the wire used to bond to the water line and across the water heater has to be sized in accordance with the largest service entrance conductor. So, for a 200A residential service that wire has to be # 4 (BTW, years ago some rocket scientist decided we should be bonding gas lines as well - that didn't last long).
Now you know why I abandoned my quest to find the real reason we do this.
 
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