Dish Not Grounded!?

[prix03gt]

Direct TV kid comes to install my dish few days ago. Attaches dish to roof and then runs the wire into the house. He spliced into an existing wire in the garage using a male to make screw adapter. Wire runs all the way to my TV.

I noticed yesterday that he took the ground wire from the RG6 and just stripped it back. He never connected this ground wire to anything! Also, where the wire comes from the dish, the ground wires are cut back and not connected together.

My question: Isn't the wire from the dish suppose to be grounded at the dish and then to a water pipe or something? I took the time to attach it to the cold water pipe, and where the cables are spliced, but is that enough?

Thanks for the help.

 

[JosephB]

There are some pretty strict rules on how it needs to be grounded. I'm not an installer nor an electrician, but from what I've read in the past the cable needs to be grounded where it enters the house. You can use a grounding block, which is basically a barrel connector with enough extra metal on it to attach the grounding wire. Then attach the grounding wire to a metal stake (or whatever the term is) that you drive X feet into the ground. You can alternatively ground it to the water pipe (cold water pipe only) as long as you're within 5 feet of where the pipe enters the home.

It's very important that it's grounded. Grounding doesn't just protect against lightning (and in some cases won't) but it also keeps the wiring all at a common ground and discharges any static buildup. Without proper grounding you run the risk of either electrocuting yourself if you touch the receiver or burning down your house.

To be honest, I'd call DirecTV or the installation company and have them come out and properly ground it. It's their job to properly ground it and that would also provide feedback to them on that particular installer so they can follow up with any other installs he's done.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Call them and say you're concerned that it was not done properly. Any COMPETENT installer will recognize the need for a properly grounded set up. Here's an example of what can happen if the setup is not properly grounded, as I can speak from personal experience:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-technical-discussions/162832-no-freaking-signal.html

 

[skyviewmark]

Not going to get into a pi**ing contest about grounding, but I don't care what anyone says. Grounding is done because there is a code that says it must be done, and to prevent liability. But as far as it affecting the operation of the system, it serves no purpose. None. Zilch. If the lack of ground causes any problems then there is a problem somewhere else in your system.

Proudly ungrounded for 12 years and going strong. And nobody is ever going to get their hands on my system and force a ground to it. I value my equipment to much..

 

[TheForce]

Proudly ungrounded for 12 years and going strong. And nobody is ever going to get their hands on my system and force a ground to it. I value my equipment to much..

I don't know how misinformed you are about electric wiring and electronics but unless you intentionally have gone to the trouble of cutting the ground wire out of your house wiring and lifting the ground wire from your meter and the pole where your house wiring connects to the transformer, your system IS GROUNDED. Now having said that your ground quality is just not as good as one that is properly designed to work in the most severe static environments. This is what the code defines. You are simply at higher risk of static buildup damage than others who have grounded their dishes as per the NEC and local building codes.
Here's another rude awakening for you. Even if you had gone to the trouble of snipping the ground prong of the power cord or used a cheater adapter, your equipment is still grounded by a longer path through the neutral wire of your house wiring. But this pathway is extremely poor and almost certain damage will happen first. I would call it a high resistance pathway to ground.

It all depends on your environmental conditions and the frequency of your electrical storms in your area. If you have them often and severe you are at greater risk. Grounding for static dissipation is not an exact science but rather a risk game. The least damage but most frequent caused by a poor ground is your electronics just fails when the static charge builds up and fries certain sensitive components on your circuits in your satellite receiver. If you take a direct hit, grounding will not prevent damage nor reduce the severity of that hit. However, Grounding properly done can and will increase the chance that hit from the big black cloud will strike elsewhere rather than your place. You are either quite ignorant of the science of lightening and how it works or you definitely do NOT value your equipment at all.
Grounding is like a burglar alarm where you are the only one in the neighborhood that has one. The burglar comes along and is looking for a house to break into. He sees your sign that you have an alarm and your neighbor doesn't. Which house will he choose to strike? Not saying the burglar won't try to break into your house, but the odds are he will choose the neighbor's before yours.

 

[JosephB]

Not going to get into a pi**ing contest about grounding, but I don't care what anyone says. Grounding is done because there is a code that says it must be done, and to prevent liability. But as far as it affecting the operation of the system, it serves no purpose. None. Zilch. If the lack of ground causes any problems then there is a problem somewhere else in your system.

Proudly ungrounded for 12 years and going strong. And nobody is ever going to get their hands on my system and force a ground to it. I value my equipment to much..

I really don't care what you do, it's your stuff, but why so hostile about grounding? Why do you think there is a code? Do you think it's a conspiracy to keep electricians in business?

When you touch your receiver and get electrocuted, tell me how your moral stand against grounding went.

 

[Joe Diamond]

A professional installer would say it is not possible to correctly ground the job and leave. The DTV kid just slapped it in and moved on. Aside from the note that grounding will not protect against lightning the rest of the comments are about as good as any in the many many grounding posts.

It should be grounded because the electrical code says it should; within ten feet of the cable entrance at the main ground bond.

Joe

 

[spaceghost]

Without proper grounding you run the risk of either electrocuting yourself if you touch the receiver or burning down your house.

Everything you said is fine and dandy except your chicken little scenarios. Please show me where any house has been burned down due to a dish not being grounded. If anyone gets electrocuted for touching a receiver, it certainly isn't due to grounding. I have been popped by 110 from a receiver before, and it was because it WAS grounded.

 

[JosephB]

Wow. I didn't know $.25 worth of copper wire could drum up such an emotional response.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Wow. I didn't know $.25 worth of copper wire could drum up such an emotional response.

It always does!

My best guess at the history is that there was a time when DTV would not pay for ungrounded systems. Techs began skipping the "ungroundable" jobs. Most apartment installations cannot be grounded, for example. The other thing that happened was, since most people are not idiots, they can look at am ungrounded job and the book the installer left and say......."NOT GROUNDED!".

Electric codes require it. No one looks. Nothing bad happens. The system works, Quality Control troops balance their budget by back charging the installer when they find it.

There really are a lot of threads on the subject.

Joe

 

[TheForce]

Wow. I didn't know $.25 worth of copper wire could drum up such an emotional response.

Unless you are still living in the 1930's I can assure you that it will cost more than $.25 worth of copper to properly ground an antenna system. LOL! It's not the copper that triggers the responses, Joe, it's the ignorance that needs to be countered on a credible website like satelliteguys.us. You'd never see a post on a gun website stand unchallenged recommending cleaning a gun while loaded either, but I have seen some idiots post such a claim that its OK.

Two years ago I changed Home owners insurance and the new company, Travelers, sent out an inspector and on his list was to verify all outside antennas were properly grounded.

Anyone that gets shocked by touching an appliance and thinks that is because it is grounded, needs to call an electrician right away. That statement indicates the house wiring is faulty and yes, with this condition electrical house fire is imminent.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Unless you are still living in the 1930's I can assure you that it will cost more than $.25 worth of copper to properly ground an antenna system. LOL! It's not the copper that triggers the responses, Joe, it's the ignorance that needs to be countered on a credible website like satelliteguys.us. You'd never see a post on a gun website stand unchallenged recommending cleaning a gun while loaded either, but I have seen some idiots post such a claim that its OK.

Two years ago I changed Home owners insurance and the new company, Travelers, sent out an inspector and on his list was to verify all outside antennas were properly grounded.

Anyone that gets shocked by touching an appliance and thinks that is because it is grounded, needs to call an electrician right away. That statement indicates the house wiring is faulty and yes, with this condition electrical house fire is imminent.

Don,

The homeowner insurance thing could do it. None of the other entities involved in a DTV installation have any stake in doing the job correctly.

I have encountered arcing when connecting the ground wire to the bond .....and the customer said to just leave it alone. "...might have reversed a neutral..." This is the situation where a fire is next. But it was there before the DTV installation and, as you pointed out, will be there until an electrician finds and fixes the fault.

My earliest exposure to the grounding issue was a talk arranged by a CATV company and given to all installers who planned to work in Prince George's County, MD.
The best quote was, ...you people don't have the certification to open any panels...just bond to the lug our code provides and you will be ok. Anything else will get you out of here and your work will be fixed by out department. You will pay..."

It got their attention.

Joe