[AT] OT: Thank you Farmer

[charlie hill]

Karl,  Farmers check the ground advice is always a good!  Glad you found
your problem.  I am curious about the new code requiring 2 grounds.  I'm not
arguing it because I don't know that much about electrical matters but I
wish someone on the list would explain the logic of that if they know it.

I have always been lead to believe that everything needed to go to a common
ground to prevent a situation where you have 2 different ground potentials.
It seems to me that 2 grounds 6 feet apart would be dangerous under the
right conditions.  If some one understands this please explain.   I might
need to hook a modem to my tractor some day.  grins.

Charlie Hill
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <HaliganBar at aol.com>
To: <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 9:10 PM
Subject: [AT] OT: Thank you Farmer


> Farmer, thank you for all your help while I was troubleshooting a phone
> problem in the house yesterday. Perhaps you are a little confused since
this is the
> first you've heard of any of this.
>
> Well, it all started when I tried to get online to check my ATIS mail. For
> some reason the 'puter had no dial tone. After a brief investigation I
found
> that the kitchen and upstairs phone had an open line and no dial tone but
the
> living room phone worked fine. But, if I had one of the "dead" phones off
the
> hook and picked up the living room phone then both phones would work.
Well, I
> checked all the wires in the basement, reseated all the connections at the
> network interface, and still hadn't fixed the problem. I managed to get
online and
> was chatting with fellow ATIS member Mike Maynard who jokingly reminded me
of
> Farmer's mantra "check the grounds."
>
> Knowing good advice when I hear it, I ran outside and inspected the
telephone
> ground connection...boy, what a disaster! The telephone ground was
attached
> to the aluminum ground from the meter box to the ground post and the
connection
> was VERY corroded. Further investigation revealed the aluminum ground wire
> was completely corroded through where it came in contact with the earth. I
> trimmed back the aluminum wire, cleaned all the connections and reattached
> everything. I also called an electrician friend to come and replace the
FOOLISH
> aluminum ground wire from the meter box. Interestingly, I will now need 2
separate
> grounds at least 6' apart to meet the new code.
>
> After all of this my phone problem still persisted. A call to the phone
> company revealed that there is a problem somewhere in the line between my
house and
> the local office. I'm still amazed that they can diagnose a line problem
from
> their computer. Thankfully everything was repaired today.
>
> So, a big thank you to Farmer..if it weren't for your consistent advice I
> never would have found the potentially dangerous condition of my house
ground.
>
> Regards,
> Karl
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