[AT] OT: Thank you Farmer

Larry D. Goss rlgoss at evansville.net
Thu Aug 12 21:10:02 PDT 2004


I have given up trying to "do it right the first time" when it comes to
wiring.  When I built my shop a couple of years ago, I had the
distribution  wiring done by a colleague who is licensed in another
state and then did the service to the shop myself.  When the inspector
came out to look it over, the first question he asked was whether or not
there was another ground on the secondary box.  I told him no, it was
grounded back at the main service entry for the house.  He said that was
good, a second ground at the distance involved (around 100 feet) could
cause problems.  But I did have to add a bonding bar so that the grounds
(bare wires) all went to a different location than the returns (white
wires) in the box.  Never mind that there was a common ground from that
point.  Don't ask me to explain it.  I just made the "recommended"
changes so I could get on with the construction.

Larry 

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Bruce Fallon
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 10:03 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] OT: Thank you Farmer

When my garage was built 11 years ago we had to have a bare copper
ground
lead from the panel going to 2 separate rods at least 6 feet apart it
was a
continuous wire through the lug on the first rod and then to the second
rod.
I also have solid wire from the panel soldered to the copper water lines
both hot and cold which are copper all the way into the ground.

Bruce Fallon
Freeland WA. 98249
bfallon at whidbey.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "charlie hill" <chill8 at cox.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group"
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 5:39 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] OT: Thank you Farmer


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
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>


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