Illinois grounding techniques

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goldstar

goldstar

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New Jersey
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Electrical Contractor
I was visiting my son this past week and while puttering around in the basement I noticed this grounding method :


Is this a typical water main grounding method for housing in Illinois ?

Later on I was changing out some older duplex receptacles for TR's and found this :


Is this a typical or atypical installation ? Seems to me that an EMT fitting should be on the opposite side of the JB and a lock nut on the inside. Am I missing something ?

BTW, for those of you who do not know, all wiring in most of IL is done in EMT.
 
I would say the grounding is not typical but it is hard to see what is going on there, and I am not from Illinois. As far as the emt entering the box, there should be a locknut on the inside.
 
Dennis Alwon said:
I would say the grounding is not typical but it is hard to see what is going on there, and I am not from Illinois. As far as the emt entering the box, there should be a locknut on the inside.
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As far as I can tell there is a # 8 wire inside the conduit attached to a grounding device. There is some sort of strap on the grounding device and the other end is connected to a water pipe with a ground clamp (sorry that portion is not in the photo). Also, the EMT fitting looks like it is soldered or sweated onto the pipe and a threaded coupling attached to the end. The same goes for the fitting inside the JB in the other photo.
 
If there is no set screw or compression gland on the EMT connector then it may be an indenter type which is crimped onto the EMT.
 
Though I can't recall seeing that model, it looks like it is a fitting designed to do both tasks of bonding the GEC to the raceway it is contained in and bond to the pipe. You are zoomed in just a little too close to see the bond to the pipe (I think) but I think that is what you have there.

As far as the EMT fitting look real close at the picture - there is a box on the back side of the one in the main view - someone didn't have a chase nipple that day.

AFAIK it is Chicago that requires metal raceways for nearly every installation, not the entire state of Illinois.
 
kwired said:
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AFAIK it is Chicago that requires metal raceways for nearly every installation, not the entire state of Illinois.
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Chicago and most of the Chicago area suburbs...well over 1/2 of the state's population is covered by "pipe" codes.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
It does look like an indenter connector.
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I've never seen one of those before and I don't understand the logic in using one "inside" a JB. In the first photo I also don't understand the use of the fitting on the end of the conduit along with a threaded coupling.
 
kwired said:
Though I can't recall seeing that model, it looks like it is a fitting designed to do both tasks of bonding the GEC to the raceway it is contained in and bond to the pipe. You are zoomed in just a little too close to see the bond to the pipe (I think) but I think that is what you have there.
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I'm going back out again next month. I'll take a better photo and post it.
As far as the EMT fitting look real close at the picture - there is a box on the back side of the one in the main view - someone didn't have a chase nipple that day.
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That doesn't make any sense. If you already have the connector why wouldn't you use a lock nut ? Using it the way it is shown would require a threaded hub on the back side. ASFIK the house was piped in EMT and not threaded RMC.
 
goldstar said:
That doesn't make any sense. If you already have the connector why wouldn't you use a lock nut ? Using it the way it is shown would require a threaded hub on the back side. ASFIK the house was piped in EMT and not threaded RMC.
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What kwired was suggesting is that there are back to back boxes and the connector was used as a chase bushing. I do not think that is the case here but I won't deny I have done things like that.
 
iwire said:
What kwired was suggesting is that there are back to back boxes and the connector was used as a chase bushing. I do not think that is the case here but I won't deny I have done things like that.
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OK. That makes sense now. Thanks for the clarification.
 
goldstar said:
I've never seen one of those before and I don't understand the logic in using one "inside" a JB.
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I do not think they are saying it makes sense, just that is looks like an indenter connector

http://www.homedepot.com/p/EMT-1-2-in-Indenter-Connector-50-Pack-1992/203637533

f017b7ce-883a-407a-a25f-4d8687e1fab4_1000.jpg
 
goldstar said:
Doing some research I found this indenter connector crimp tool :

http://www.hubbell-rtb.com/p-115-emt-indenter-couplings-and-tools

Is there any advantage in using these types of connectors versus set screw type ? Seems like a lot more work to use the tool.
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The use of the indenter couplings and connectors makes for a very clean looking installation as compared to set screw or compression fittings. As far as the work, the crimp of the connector does not take any longer than tightening a set screw does. I have not seen any used in many years.
 
iwire said:
What kwired was suggesting is that there are back to back boxes and the connector was used as a chase bushing. I do not think that is the case here but I won't deny I have done things like that.
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Look carefully at the mounting holes in the back of the box. One of them happens to line up with a hole in something. My guess is another box's ground screw hole. If that is the case someone didn't have a chase nipple at the time of installation or they would have used it instead.
 
kwired said:
Look carefully at the mounting holes in the back of the box. One of them happens to line up with a hole in something. My guess is another box's ground screw hole. If that is the case someone didn't have a chase nipple at the time of installation or they would have used it instead.
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Yes, Iwire pointed that out and it then made sense.
 
The fitting for the water pipe clamp, check out some of the fittings here. It is probably a type designed to bond the metal raceway containing the GEC to the GEC as well as bond the water pipe all in one fitting.

If you run a GEC through a ferrous raceway you must bond the GEC to each end of the raceway, this is one method of doing that on the water pipe end of the run.

There are some in there that look very much like the one posted in OP, the picture just is zoomed in too much to see all of it.
 
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