Grounding/Bonding Case

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hackman

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HVAC & Electrical Contractor
I have come across a residential home that has the meter & disconnect switch on one side of the house then the entrance cable goes up to the attic (single story home) then on across the attic (roof joists) then down to the basement into the load center/main breaker panel (100' total run). Due to the distances of the entrance cable there are ground rods at both the main outdoor disconnect switch (req. per NEC) & the load center/main breaker panel. The only point of bonding is at the main outdoor disconnect. Thoughts?
 
The meter/main outside is the service disconnect and the point where the GES connects and the main bonding occurs and that sounds like what you have. The GES you say is connected at the inside panel is OK but not required as long it is only connected to the ground bar and there is no bond to the neutral. What you are calling "entrance cable" is a feeder in this situation and should have 3 insulated conductors plus a ground conductor.
No idea why someone thought they needed a GES at the inside panel. Length of the feeder is not relevant. Makes one wonder what else may be wrong with the install.
Is the feeder cable of the correct type?
 
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Is there separate neutral from equipment ground run to the basement panel? Ground rods at the basement panel are not prohibited - must connect to the EGC and not the neutral if they are used, but are not required there either. In fact any required to be used electrode that is present such as a water pipe electrode would have to connect to the service disconnect and not the basement panel.
 
texie said:
The meter/main outside is the service disconnect and the point where the GES connects and the main bonding occurs and that sounds like what you have. The GES you say is connected at the inside panel is OK but not required as long it is only connected to the ground bar and there is no bond to the neutral. What you are calling "entrance cable" is a feeder in this situation and should have 3 insulated conductors plus a ground conductor.
No idea why someone thought they needed a GES at the inside panel. Length of the feeder is not relevant. Makes one wonder what else may be wrong with the install.
Is the feeder cable of the correct type?
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Yes, the feeder cables (since they are coming from outdoor service disconnect not directly out of meter) in which case the distance is irrelevant. They are of correctly size & type w/covered ground conductor. I assume the GES for the indoor panel was someone being extra cautious but it caught my attention thus I verified that indoor panel wasn't bonded. All per code but again, I couldn't think of any reason for what was done per extra GES other than someone being extra cautious.
 
kwired said:
Is there separate neutral from equipment ground run to the basement panel? Ground rods at the basement panel are not prohibited - must connect to the EGC and not the neutral if they are used, but are not required there either. In fact any required to be used electrode that is present such as a water pipe electrode would have to connect to the service disconnect and not the basement panel.
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Isn't that what I just said?
 
hackman said:
Yes, the feeder cables (since they are coming from outdoor service disconnect not directly out of meter) in which case the distance is irrelevant. They are of correctly size & type w/covered ground conductor. I assume the GES for the indoor panel was someone being extra cautious but it caught my attention thus I verified that indoor panel wasn't bonded. All per code but again, I couldn't think of any reason for what was done per extra GES other than someone being extra cautious.
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Just to be clear, are you saying the feeder cable has 3 insulated conductors (line, line, neutral) plus an EGC?
 
hackman said:
I have come across a residential home that has the meter & disconnect switch on one side of the house then the entrance cable goes up to the attic (single story home) then on across the attic (roof joists) then down to the basement into the load center/main breaker panel (100' total run). Due to the distances of the entrance cable there are ground rods at both the main outdoor disconnect switch (req. per NEC) & the load center/main breaker panel. The only point of bonding is at the main outdoor disconnect. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

The rod at the load center is unnecessary and arguably even dangerous. See long Mike Holt video:

Assuming that you have a proper EGC between panels as others have been asking to clarify, there are no other problems in what you've described.
 
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