# Cable System Grounding



## threephi (Mar 9, 2011)

A contractor for my cable provider came out to repair my cable connection and told me that he had added a ground to protect the televisions from lighting strikes.

The problem is that he grounded the cable connection to the gas meter. . . Is that legit? It seems to me that massive sparks i.e. lightning plus natural gas would lead to more troubles than blown out televisions?


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

I would call the gas company, sounds a little funny to me.

BG


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

I don't know about the US safety codes, but it's standard practice, here in the UK - The power is also earthed (grounded) through the water-pipes and a 'Ground-spike' too (Triple redundancy)


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

Codes change based upon when it was built. Not all water/gas lines in the US are metal. The underground lines can be like PCV.

BG


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## SABL (Jul 4, 2008)

Most newer gas lines are plastic.....I was installing gas lines back in the early 70's and they were plastic back then. There will be an anode attached to the meter riser which will help as a ground and should be sufficient. The question is, where did they attach the ground wire?? If it is not on the riser it may be worthless unless the whole gas piping system in the house is metal (even the newer flex lines are metal) and depends, again, on where the connection is made.

When it comes to grounding an electric system, the same thing applies.....most water supplies are going to be plastic. The days of galvanized pipe or copper are gone.....just too expensive and plastic will have a longer life. Grounding to the water meter or interior copper pipe is moot......an 8' ground rod (driven vertically into the ground) is required.


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## threephi (Mar 9, 2011)

The cable is grounded to the metal pipe leading into the house after the meter. It's all metal including the pipe coming up from the ground.

My concern is not "does it function as a ground." I'm sure that it does. What about the possibility of an explosion should the cable drop get hit with lightning? Is it really okay to direct that current into the meter?


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## SABL (Jul 4, 2008)

The best people to ask will be your gas supplier. Grounding to a gas meter/line is something I would never do......

Researched:

The gas line is not a suitable ground according to the National Electric Code regarding communications grounding (it is not listed as a ground). Grounding wire shall be 20' or less and minimum of 14guage. 

I'm surprised that the cable was not dropped near your electric service entrance. Would be too easy to tap into the main ground system for the house. 

How old is the house and is the electric system fairly current with today's codes?? Do you have a ground system for the electric?? Copper water lines are acceptable if the ground is attached within 5' of the point of entrance.


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

Like I said post #2 - CALL the gas company, it does not sound right.

BG


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

The idea of it being used as a ground assuming metal pipes is sound. As a former cable installer we'd always ground directly to the ground rod or the meter box. If we couldn't then no cable was installed.


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## threephi (Mar 9, 2011)

I contacted the gas company they said that the gas meter is not an acceptable place to ground ANYTHING.

What are my options? The house was built in the 1980s and none of the infrastructure has changed since then. The meter is far away from the cable drop so attaching the ground directly to the grounding spike isn't an option.

There is a hose faucet near the cable drop (4ft) could I clamp onto that? Would it make more sense to just drive another ground spike?


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## jaythorpe522 (Sep 7, 2010)

Get it in writing from the gas company and then tell the cable company they (or their contractor) have to fix it. Don't touch it yourself.


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

If they installed the drop at a location other than the meter then it was done improperly. I like Jay's suggestion to get a letter from the gas co. to present to the cable company.


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## BenHolliday (Jul 23, 2011)

I've installed cable and satellite for many years from coast to coast and we've always had to follow NEC rules or the local building code if it was more strict than NEC.

Whenever you run a drop from pole or pedestal, you run it to power (electric meter). Depending on the location rule, you place your groundblock 12" to 24" from center of power box, then you run your in house runs from your block/switch/splitter. From your ground though, you run a #10 solid copper with green jacket to the copper ground that the power is grounded to the ground rod put in by power company. OR if you have no access to the copper ground, you can use something like a corner clamp, pipe strap, or etc and ground to the power box itself or the conduit that runs to ground or to the weatherhead... IF it's metal and not plastic.


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## threephi (Mar 9, 2011)

I contacted the gas company and got it in writing that the cable system cannot be grounded to the gas meter. I also got the cable company to come back out and fix the problem. They just left, here's what they did.

They moved the cable drop to a location closer to the electrical meter and grounded the cable system directly to the ground spike used by the electrical meter. This seems much more reasonable to me.


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## jaythorpe522 (Sep 7, 2010)

threephi said:


> This seems much more reasonable to me.


I gotta agree with that sentiment!:4-zap:


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