Grounding CableTV Service Entrance Line

[twominutedrill]

This is the condition at a house I was inspecting: a Cable TV feed from the utility pole comes to the house adjacent to the main power meter panel/SE and runs into a plastic box that houses the splitter prior to entering the house. A 12ga insulated ground wire runs from within the plastic CATV splitter box and connects to one of 2 ground wires from the SE panel. Specifically it connects to the ground wire that is bonded to the domestic water pipe (galvanized) and not to the wire that connects to the ground rod directly below the power SE panel. Shouldn't the cable ground connect to the ground wire going to the rod and not the wire bonding to the domestic water line? Is the 12ga wire adequate as a ground for the low voltage CATV feed?

 

[hbiss]

The wire that connects to the water line is the same ground wire as the one that connects to the ground rod. So either point is acceptable. 12ga is more than adequate for grounding an RG6 cable drop.

-Hal

 

[don_resqcapt19]

This is the condition at a house I was inspecting: a Cable TV feed from the utility pole comes to the house adjacent to the main power meter panel/SE and runs into a plastic box that houses the splitter prior to entering the house. A 12ga insulated ground wire runs from within the plastic CATV splitter box and connects to one of 2 ground wires from the SE panel. Specifically it connects to the ground wire that is bonded to the domestic water pipe (galvanized) and not to the wire that connects to the ground rod directly below the power SE panel. Shouldn't the cable ground connect to the ground wire going to the rod and not the wire bonding to the domestic water line? Is the 12ga wire adequate as a ground for the low voltage CATV feed?

Take a look at 820.100.

 

[egnlsn]

Is the 12ga wire adequate as a ground for the low voltage CATV feed?

Code calls for 14AWG, so, like Hal wrote, "12ga is more than adequate for grounding an RG6 cable drop."