ground rod for garage 2-wire

[mvannevel]

Re: ground rod for garage 2-wire

You can only connect the EGC to the water pipe if it is done within 5 ft. from the point of entrance of the piping into the building. Beyond 5 ft. interior metal water piping is not considered as being part of the grounding electrode system. That having been said, you still need to be careful. If the water service enters the house in plastic pipe, as many of them do here, and then transitions to copper piping, this system is bonded but it's not actually a part of the grounding electrode system and cannot be used to connect an EGC.

 

[txsparky]

Re: ground rod for garage 2-wire

Originally posted by hurk27:


The other thing to think about is if this house is a ungrounded system it probley didnt have to follow the 2002 nec when it was manufactured which means that the gec is there just to bond the water pipes and does not have the 5' rule even in the nec of it's time so how could the nec require somthing that was not code back then? would this mean we would have to run a new gec? the nec is not retroactive as it says

The NEC is saying if you want to upgrade,do it by todays standards.If you don't wish to abide by the current code in your area,then leave the 2 wire receptacle alone.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Re: ground rod for garage 2-wire

The current code does not permit the connection of an EGC from a receptacle to the metal water pipe more that 5' from where the water pipe enters the building. Earlier codes did permit you to connect to the water pipe at any point. In this case, the connection to the water pipe at the garage, provided that the continuity of the water pipe is proved, would be a safer installation then just leaving the 2 wire outlet feeding the washer. Yes, it would be a code violation, but it still would be an improvement from the existing installation.
Don

 

[electricmanscott]

Re: ground rod for garage 2-wire

Don I am shocked! You are advocating a blatant disregard of the NEC. The ONLY correct answer here is run a new circuit for the washing machine.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Re: ground rod for garage 2-wire

Ok, scott, then lets do it another way. Just use a metallic flexible hose connection between the water pipe and the washer, or a bonding jumper between the pipe and the washer. These two solutions will provide a grounding path for the metallic parts of the washer and not involve any type of code violation.
Don