tshirt
Premium
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA
| reply to SparkChaser
Re: Need tech help from Cable tech, current coming from coax
BTW ~ A ground to a water pipe is not legal or safe, In most cases the pipe is plastic from the house to the watermain, and even if it's metal is not a reliable ground.
It sounds like the ground at the tap is incorrect or failed also.
2 amps is enough to damage any electronics attached to the cable.
I would leave it disconnected, and imedietely call comcast, insist on an emergency call as this is a life safety issue (mentioning that it is a safety issue in your call should get a pretty quick response). |
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NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
 ·Pacific Bell - SBC
| said by tshirt  :BTW ~ A ground to a water pipe is not legal or safe, In most cases the pipe is plastic from the house to the watermain, and even if it's metal is not a reliable ground. Per an electrician, who upgraded our premises from 100 A service to 200 A service, at the time the cold water grounding bond was installed on our premises, it was legal, and perfectly safe because the cold water feed was buried, galvanized steel.
It wasn't up to current code so he installed a proper ground rod. Still, the cold water ground remains in place; as a backup.
It isn't clear, to me, that bringing an outdated grounding arrangement up to current code would fix this issue.
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Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
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tshirt
Premium
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA
edit:
May 12th, @12:48PM
| said by NormanS :said by tshirt :BTW ~ A ground to a water pipe is not legal or safe, In most cases the pipe is plastic from the house to the watermain, and even if it's metal is not a reliable ground. It wasn't up to current code so he installed a proper ground rod. Still, the cold water ground remains in place; as a backup. It is legal until you do some upgrade (such as you did)then the liecensed electrician is REQUIRED to bring it up to current code (most areas "grandfather" older buildings, until they are worked on.
However, given the frequentcy of lightning in the greater Philadelphia area. (where the OP lives, and very old homes commonly have ancient mechanicals)it is advisable to upgrade this ASAP.
said by NormanS :It isn't clear, to me, that bringing an outdated grounding arrangement up to current code would fix this issue. It won't solve the problem , the A/C is from/being passed through the ComCast plant, however the ground could save the OP's electronics/ from a potential fire/ perhaps his life. The point being CC should prompt repair the fault on their system, and the OP should protect himself from future faults/errors/accidents. |
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SparkChaser
OBAMA 2008
Premium
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA
clubs:
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Comcast
| said by tshirt : However, given the frequentcy of lightning in the greater Philadelphia area. (where the OP lives, and very old homes commonly have ancient mechanicals)it is advisable to upgrade this ASAP. We don't all live in Independence Hall 
The system is about 30 years old the water pipe is bonded to the the electrical neutral and ground which is bonded to 2 ground rods. In this case the water pipe would not work anyway since it is plastic to the street.
The ground is fine the problem is CC but what?
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"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." - Aldous Huxley
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein |
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tshirt
Premium
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA
edit:
May 12th, @04:35PM
| said by SparkChaser :said by tshirt : However, given the frequentcy of lightning in the greater Philadelphia area. (where the OP lives, and very old homes commonly have ancient mechanicals)it is advisable to upgrade this ASAP. We don't all live in Independence Hall The ground is fine the problem is CC but what? It could be a miss wired power supply or more likely voltage being feed back from one of your neighbors electronics (QC of discount tv's/VCR's/etc. manufactered in the third/2.5 world is terrible, and this is becoming a common problem)or perhaps they have a defective ground.
A tech should be able to trackdown and repair/disconnect the problem very quickly.
BTW with the million$ the park service spent on refurbishing and protecting Independence Hall it probably has among the safest lightning protection and electrical systems ............But Ben Franklin always said the internet service sucked 
also BTW My parents lived in the Philadelphia area (Swarthmore) until 2000, in the '90's a PECO contractor dropped a live 15KV line on a cable run near their house which cooked alot of TV's/etc. and started several house fires. (my parents were spared because they were to cheap to have cable) some of the neighbors were in court for several years in order to recieve full compansation.
Your pipe really should not be within the ground system, in a major short/lightning event the surge will follow ALL paths to ground, so if you are touching say a fauct and also touching an independant ground like a drain pipe/metal sink you may become a fuse in the ground path even though it is not the shortest, most direct, lowest resistance path to ground. |
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SparkChaser
OBAMA 2008
Premium
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA
clubs:
·Verizon FIOS
·Comcast
| said by tshirt :also BTW My parents lived in the Philadelphia area (Swarthmore) until 2000, in the '90's a PECO contractor dropped a live 15KV line on a cable run near their house which cooked alot of TV's/etc. and started several house fires. (my parents were spared because they were to cheap to have cable) some of the neighbors were in court for several years in order to recieve full compansation. totally off topic but my parents probably lived a mile from yours  I spent the early 60's hanging around Swarthmore being cool 
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"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." - Aldous Huxley
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein |
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jplove71
IBEW 292 MPLS, MN
Premium
join:2001-03-16
Twin Cities
| reply to tshirt
said by tshirt :BTW ~ A ground to a water pipe is not legal or safe, In most cases the pipe is plastic from the house to the watermain, and even if it's metal is not a reliable ground. Per the NEC 2005 (NFPA 70), it is allowed to be used provided that the connection is within 5' of the entrance to the building/facility.
Article 250.52(A)(1) - Metal Underground Water Pipe. A metal underground water pipe in direct contact with the earth for 3.0m (10ft) or more (including any metal well casing effectively bonded to the pipe) and electrically continuous (or made electrically continuous by bonding around insulating joints or insulating pipe) to the points of connection of the grounding electrode conductor and the bonding conductors. Interior metal water piping located more than 1.52m (5ft) from the point of entrance to the building shall not be used as a part of the grounding electrode system or as a conductor to interconnect electrodes that are part of the grounding electrode system.
Article 800.100(B)(1)(2) - The grounded interior metal water piping system, within 1.5m (5ft) from its point of entrance to the building, as covered in 250.52
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Rakkasan! |
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