multiple services, how many electrodes?

J

JoeNorm

Senior Member
Location
WA
I have 2 outdoor services(meter/mains) bolted together back to back. I have a set of ground plates in the dirt below them.

Can I bring one stranded #6 from the last electrode to the first can, then jumper over to the second.....or......do I have to bring two separate #6 up from the ground, one to each can separately?
 
Imo, you need two runs down to the plate or you would need to connect the jumper to the grounding electrode conductor and make it irreversible. I am going to bet someone will disagree
 
Do you have two plate electrodes? They would need to be connected together. You could then run a single GEC to the first service disconnect and tap off of the GEC with a split bolt and a bonding jumper to the second service disconnect.
 
infinity said:
Do you have two plate electrodes? They would need to be connected together. You could then run a single GEC to the first service disconnect and tap off of the GEC with a split bolt and a bonding jumper to the second service disconnect.
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Yes, two plates. There are two ground lugs in the first can. I was thinking I would land the GEC on one of them, then continue to the second can off of the second one. This achieves the same thing as the split bolt, right?
 
JoeNorm said:
Yes, two plates. There are two ground lugs in the first can. I was thinking I would land the GEC on one of them, then continue to the second can off of the second one. This achieves the same thing as the split bolt, right?
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Yes but I don't think that you'll find it in the NEC where that is permitted. Taps to the GEC to feed additional service disconnects are permitted.
 
JoeNorm said:
This achieves the same thing as the split bolt, right?
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The difference between that and the common external GEC to jumpers to each enclosure is that if you want to disconnect the 2nd service disconnect's GEC, you'd have to open up the 1st service disconnect's enclosure. Which introduces an additional dependency on servicing. So I think that's why it's not one of the allowable methods listed in 250.64(D).

But you can run one GEC from one service disconnect to one grounding plate, and another GEC from the other service disconnect to the other grounding plate.

Cheers, Wayne
 
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