"chuck" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hello Todd,

From the way you've posed the question, I can't tell whether you
understand the basic electrical concepts involved.

You'll have to bear with me. I'm just a stupid mechanical engineer.

Let me just say that appliance ground faults are so common that a good
part of the National Electrical Code (NEC) is devoted to protecting people
from them. Breaking the ground connection exposes one to the very dangers
that the ground connection was installed to protect against.

So what you're saying is that there could be an existing ground fault that
is currently being sent to ground through the water pipe? I take that to
mean that the ground, and thus the copper pipe it's bonded to, is energized.

Taking a shower is just not equivalent to removing the protection against
appliance ground faults that the NEC requires.

I'm not sure if you're referring to removing the protection permanently or
long enough to put a proper clamp back on. I assumed the OP was talking
about removing the ground connection just long enough to get it attached
back to the pipe with a clamp. My assertion was that if there was enough
voltage present in the ground wire to kill you, that you probably had other
worries in addition. If that was the case, I wouldn't handle anything
connected to the plumbing fixtures until the situation was corrected.
Perhaps I'm wrong. Most of my work-related electrical experience was in a
slightly higher range of 15-500kV when I designed insulators for
distribution, sub-transmission, and transmission lines where the electrical
problems encountered were somewhat different.

By the way, for the OP, one thing I haven't seen mentioned is that, at least
around here, the ground is connected to the water line on just this side of
the meter. Then, another ground wire bridges the meter so that the ground
would still be in place in case the meter was removed.

todd