dtv installer says grounded...i am not sure

[kruseb]

I had dtv come out and remount my dish and re-route me cables after a room addition required the dish be moved a few feet. We had to remove the previous house ground and main elec panel to a new location. The ground cable from the dish was cut at that time from the original ground.
I checked the work after he had told me that he had re-grounded it again. However, all he did was connect the cable to the original ground pipe that is hanging in midair in the crawl space. The pipe is no longer stuck into the ground as it is no longer used by our home for grounding.
I don't want to call to have him come back if I am not correct. Is this actually grounded or should have he grounded it a different way?

 

[xman111]

I would say that probably isn't an approved ground but will let someone else
comment.

 

[Jimbo]

I would say NO, if you know if just hanging in the crawl.
Did the installer know that it is just hanging in the crawl not connected to anything ?

 

[kruseb]

yes, i told him that it needed to be grounded again as the cable was disconnected from any ground before he came, he just connected it again to the same device it was connected to before

 

[Jimbo]

yes, i told him that it needed to be grounded again as the cable was disconnected from any ground before he came, he just connected it again to the same device it was connected to before

I would say either call them back out or reattach it yourself.

 

[leonreno]

That is not a good ground. Actually, to be in code, if you ground a Dish to its own grounding rod apart from the house ground you must bond the two grounds together with a 6 gauge wire. So not only is your ground bad, the ground needs to be in the dirt, it also needs to be bonded to the house main ground.

 

[kruseb]

ok - i found our new house ground and i will do it myself or call them back
thanks

 

[skyviewmark]

I would say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Grounding does nothing but satisfy a code.. It's a liability issue and has NOTHING to do with how your system works. Of course am sure someone who has been indoctrinated with silly company policy is going to disagree..

 

[Jimbo]

I would say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Grounding does nothing but satisfy a code.. It's a liability issue and has NOTHING to do with how your system works. Of course am sure someone who has been indoctrinated with silly company policy is going to disagree..

Unless a STORM should roll thru your area ....

 

[VinceT3]

itll just try the boxes, lnbs, switchs, etc if lightning hits it..

 

[cfb]

I would say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Grounding does nothing but satisfy a code.. It's a liability issue and has NOTHING to do with how your system works. Of course am sure someone who has been indoctrinated with silly company policy is going to disagree..

I'm sadly indoctrinated with actual electrical engineering knowledge.

The ground draws off built up static electricity that can develop during windy dry air periods, and provides a discharge point for nearby lightning strikes.

Static buildup on the dish can cause all sorts of problems that are intermittent and quirky. The lightning ground prevents a discharge from being drawn to your dish with nowhere to go but your house frame and anything connected to the dish.

The code happens to be there for a reason, and the stipulation for a ground happens to be pretty important to how the system works and safety of the homeowner.

OP, your dish and cable grounding should be tied to the homes ground rod or as is the code in many areas, to the frame of your main or satellite electrical boxes. If you have a 220v air conditioner near the dish, the 220 box for the a/c is usually a valid grounding point. I wouldnt connect it to a rod in the crawl space under your house, grounded or not, since thats where the electricity is going to go in the event of a discharge.

 

[Jimbo]

I'm sadly indoctrinated with actual electrical engineering knowledge.

The ground draws off built up static electricity that can develop during windy dry air periods, and provides a discharge point for nearby lightning strikes.

Static buildup on the dish can cause all sorts of problems that are intermittent and quirky. The lightning ground prevents a discharge from being drawn to your dish with nowhere to go but your house frame and anything connected to the dish.

The code happens to be there for a reason, and the stipulation for a ground happens to be pretty important to how the system works and safety of the homeowner.

OP, your dish and cable grounding should be tied to the homes ground rod or as is the code in many areas, to the frame of your main or satellite electrical boxes. If you have a 220v air conditioner near the dish, the 220 box for the a/c is usually a valid grounding point. I wouldnt connect it to a rod in the crawl space under your house, grounded or not, since thats where the electricity is going to go in the event of a discharge.

If the ground under his home is the main house ground he should have no problems at all.

 

[cfb]

I've never seen any building code that allowed a ground rod in a crawl space under a home and can see why that might be a bad idea. But I dont know all of the codes everywhere.

Usually the house main ground is co-located with the main electrical service panel and meter, which is usually on the side of the house, not under it.

 

[Jimbo]

I've never seen any building code that allowed a ground rod in a crawl space under a home and can see why that might be a bad idea. But I dont know all of the codes everywhere.

Usually the house main ground is co-located with the main electrical service panel and meter, which is usually on the side of the house, not under it.

I didn't realize he was talking about a ground rod under the house, I thought it started out he had a water line that was being used.

 

[cfb]

From reading the OP, he says his dish is currently tied to a piece of pipe under his house that used to be grounded, but isnt.

Even when it was, a piece of pipe under the house isnt that good of an idea, unless you're interested in seeing what happens when a lot of amperage follows a path and then has nowhere to go, and its under your house.

I dont think grounding to a water pipe is a good idea either, for a variety of reasons. For one, in my area the code calls for line bonding the hot, cold and gas lines together. A momentary short from 15A 110V hitting my grounded gas line isnt that big of a deal. 70-80A from a satellite dish that just got a near lightning hit might be another matter.

 

[Jimbo]

From reading the OP, he says his dish is currently tied to a piece of pipe under his house that used to be grounded, but isnt.

Even when it was, a piece of pipe under the house isnt that good of an idea, unless you're interested in seeing what happens when a lot of amperage follows a path and then has nowhere to go, and its under your house.

I dont think grounding to a water pipe is a good idea either, for a variety of reasons. For one, in my area the code calls for line bonding the hot, cold and gas lines together. A momentary short from 15A 110V hitting my grounded gas line isnt that big of a deal. 70-80A from a satellite dish that just got a near lightning hit might be another matter.

Again, I thought he meant it was tied to his water line.

 

[cfb]

Again, reading the OP, which is handy when making applicable comments...

all he did was connect the cable to the original ground pipe that is hanging in midair in the crawl space. The pipe is no longer stuck into the ground as it is no longer used by our home for grounding.

 

[Jimbo]

Again, reading the OP, which is handy when making applicable comments...

So where did the ground go that they were using ?
Did it decide to leave ?

edit:

You realize this is going no where and the person that asked about it has not been on the forum today.
Were actually wasting our time trying to decide what to do here.

 

[cfb]

Some people only visit a forum once a day or every couple of days. Even if he doesnt come back, its good practice to make sure we know what someone is asking and we give a good answer. "It doesnt matter" isnt a good answer. Connecting it to a water pipe isnt either. Hooking it up to a pipe hanging from the floorboards under the house definitely isnt!

According to his original post, the pipe in the crawl space used to go into the ground and was used as a grounding point, if not THE grounding point for the house, but its no longer attached to the ground as a proper ground and is just a pipe hanging under the house.

Which is about the worst place I'd want to connect the lightning rod to.

 

[Jimbo]

Some people only visit a forum once a day or every couple of days. Even if he doesnt come back, its good practice to make sure we know what someone is asking and we give a good answer. "It doesnt matter" isnt a good answer. Connecting it to a water pipe isnt either. Hooking it up to a pipe hanging from the floorboards under the house definitely isnt!

According to his original post, the pipe in the crawl space used to go into the ground and was used as a grounding point, if not THE grounding point for the house, but its no longer attached to the ground as a proper ground and is just a pipe hanging under the house.

Which is about the worst place I'd want to connect the lightning rod to.

Maybe not a good choice in this application, but people have connected grounds to the water pipes for many years.