Ground twice -- Good or bad?

mcsj

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
May 25, 2004
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My RG6 cable run about 50 feet between the dish and the entry point of my house. I have it grounded about 12 feet from the dish (with a ground rod), and I am thinking of grounding it again (to the ground wire of my house's electrical system) right before it enters my house. Should I do it?

Thanks in advance.
 
NO! Don't ground it in two different places. It should be connected to the house ground only. If you ground in more than one location you can create a "ground loop". This will create a hum bar in the picture.
 
The reason why I think of grounding it twice is that I can have a "second line of defense". Is it really unnecessary?
 
You can ground it twice, but you need to have a grounding connection between your two grounds so that there isn't a difference in ground voltage on the system.
 
bnaivar - I agree you should ground to common ground at power box,

but he asked -
I have it grounded about 12 feet from the dish (with a ground rod), and I am thinking of grounding it again (to the ground wire of my house's electrical system) right before it enters my house.

To be to code you have to back-bond the Ground rod to the common ground with #6 bare wire ( 20' max )

Sorry, I don't make the rules - I just follow them.
 
022266 said:
bnaivarTo be to code you have to back-bond the Ground rod to the common ground with #6 bare wire ( 20' max )

Sorry, I don't make the rules - I just follow them.
Not that I doubt you, but what is your source regarding 20' max? I knew about teh #6 wire bonding, but I've never seen any type of reference to a maximum distance, let alone 20'.
 
"The installer may use a #10 copper or a #8 Aluminum wire. The ground wire should be under 20 feet in length or attached to a ground rod and that rod connected to your electrical ground with a #6 copper wire. Since few, if any, installers carry #6 copper wire and 8 foot ground rods, your dish should be located on the same side of your house as your electrical service."

http://dbsinstall.com/Whatis/Whatisgood-5.htm
 
I know when you have two or more grounding rod's that they should be greater than six foot away from each other AND bonded together but I haven't heard of the 20' MAX rule either. Could they be referring to IF you use #10 AWG Copper for the ground since if you use a #6 it would have less resistance therefore you should be able to go further?

Do you have any URL's to provide more reading in relation to the 20' rule?
 

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