Looking back, the last time I nagged you about grounding was back in October 2022. So that’s on me. I try to mention it at least once a quarter because it’s so important. Here we are in June and I’m just getting around to it. But hey, the warm weather is here so you have no excuse to wait any longer.
The principle of grounding has been with us for a bit over 300 years, ever since the experiments that proved that lightning and electricity are the same thing. At that time it was proven that if you gave lightning an attractive place to strike, it would. And, if you took that attractive place and ran a wire down to the ground, the electricity would travel down that wire and dissipate harmlessly.
At least that’s the simple way of looking at it.
Lightning rods work. And they became popular because most buildings at the time were made of wood, which is not particularly good when it’s hit by lightning. Anything that stopped disaster was going to be a hit back in 1800.
But, that’s not how the routing grounding that you do today really works. You really don’t want lightning to hit your house. If it did, it would still cause damage even if you had a proper ground wire. The amount of electricity is so great that it would melt that ground wire.
No, you see, we do proper grounding because it lets electricity around your home dissipate safely all the time. It doesn’t build up and a lightning strike doesn’t happen. Any time there’s enough electricity to go through a metal bit on your house, it goes into the ground wire and down into the ground. It happens so commonly and you don’t even know it.
If there’s a thing made of metal on your roof, it should be grounded. Now, I can’t give you precise instructions that match up to your building codes. But I’ll tell you that doing something is better than doing nothing. So, here’s a very simple guide to what you need to do.
Use a ground block somewhere down the line. Then connect a ground wire to the green screw. Connect the other end of the ground wire to something that touches the actual ground. Depending on local building codes it could be a cold water pipe, house grounding system, or a ground rod.
Let’s say it’s an old antenna that has no wire attached anymore. Or let’s say it’s metal flashing around the house or something like that. It’s pretty much the same process, except you connect a ground wire straight to the thing. Depending on what the thing is, you could solder it, loop it through or clamp it on. Connect the other end of the ground wire to something that touches the actual ground. Depending on local building codes it could be a cold water pipe, house grounding system, or a ground rod.
The best source of grounding is the actual ground (in other words the dirt.) If your area uses metal cold water pipes that are exposed, that’s a pretty good thing too. If your home has a breaker box on the outside, you can connect the wire to the frame of the breaker box. Assuming it was properly installed, the breaker box is properly grounded itself.
In the end, as I said, even the worst attempt at grounding is better than no grounding at all. You really should contact a local person or your local government for the proper ordinances, but if you’re not going to do that, at least do something.
And of course, shop for grounding supplies at Solid Signal! You’ll find pro-quality supplies at the best prices. If you’re not sure what you need, call the experts! We’re here for you at 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. Reading this after hours? No problem. Just fill out the form below.
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Why you should ground your outdoor equipment
The principle of grounding has been with us for a bit over 300 years, ever since the experiments that proved that lightning and electricity are the same thing. At that time it was proven that if you gave lightning an attractive place to strike, it would. And, if you took that attractive place and ran a wire down to the ground, the electricity would travel down that wire and dissipate harmlessly.
At least that’s the simple way of looking at it.
Lightning rods work. And they became popular because most buildings at the time were made of wood, which is not particularly good when it’s hit by lightning. Anything that stopped disaster was going to be a hit back in 1800.
But, that’s not how the routing grounding that you do today really works. You really don’t want lightning to hit your house. If it did, it would still cause damage even if you had a proper ground wire. The amount of electricity is so great that it would melt that ground wire.
No, you see, we do proper grounding because it lets electricity around your home dissipate safely all the time. It doesn’t build up and a lightning strike doesn’t happen. Any time there’s enough electricity to go through a metal bit on your house, it goes into the ground wire and down into the ground. It happens so commonly and you don’t even know it.
How to ground something
If there’s a thing made of metal on your roof, it should be grounded. Now, I can’t give you precise instructions that match up to your building codes. But I’ll tell you that doing something is better than doing nothing. So, here’s a very simple guide to what you need to do.
If the thing has a coaxial cable coming from it:
Use a ground block somewhere down the line. Then connect a ground wire to the green screw. Connect the other end of the ground wire to something that touches the actual ground. Depending on local building codes it could be a cold water pipe, house grounding system, or a ground rod.
If the thing doesn’t have any wire coming from it:
Let’s say it’s an old antenna that has no wire attached anymore. Or let’s say it’s metal flashing around the house or something like that. It’s pretty much the same process, except you connect a ground wire straight to the thing. Depending on what the thing is, you could solder it, loop it through or clamp it on. Connect the other end of the ground wire to something that touches the actual ground. Depending on local building codes it could be a cold water pipe, house grounding system, or a ground rod.
What are good sources of grounding?
The best source of grounding is the actual ground (in other words the dirt.) If your area uses metal cold water pipes that are exposed, that’s a pretty good thing too. If your home has a breaker box on the outside, you can connect the wire to the frame of the breaker box. Assuming it was properly installed, the breaker box is properly grounded itself.
In the end, as I said, even the worst attempt at grounding is better than no grounding at all. You really should contact a local person or your local government for the proper ordinances, but if you’re not going to do that, at least do something.
And of course, shop for grounding supplies at Solid Signal! You’ll find pro-quality supplies at the best prices. If you’re not sure what you need, call the experts! We’re here for you at 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. Reading this after hours? No problem. Just fill out the form below.
The post For gosh sakes, ground your equipment appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
