Both. I do have a bond/jump across the water meter (don't want any dead
plumbers on my conscience!), and can just slip the amprobe over the copper
going into the street.
IOW, f'sure I'm measuring the right current, and all of it.
Yes, the load balance affects it.

A cupla electricians around here say they see this all the time, and indeed
a few plumbers got *really* jolted around town. And, the goddamm poles
around here are older than Moses.

Yeah, I know it would be *better* to have zero current going thru the cold
water supply, but if it's the nature of the beast around here, I can live
with it.
As I said, if I break this cold water pipe circuit, doesn't seem to have
noticeable effect, so mebbe it is just a matter of resistance.
Mebbe I just have a superlative cold-water connection!!

I may just check the connections at my weatherhead, and at the pole--when
the wind dies down, and the rain stops.
--
Mr. P.V.'d (formerly Droll Troll), Yonkers, NY
Stop Corruption in Congress & Send the Ultimate Message:
Absolutely Vote, for *Anyone BUT* a Democrat or a Republican
Ending Corruption in Congress is the Single Best Way
to Materially Improve Your Life
entropic3.14decay at optonline2.718 dot net; remove pi and e to reply--ie,
all d'numbuhs
"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
et...
Proctologically Violated©® wrote:

Awl--

How much is acceptable?
An amp-probe reveals between 2 and 6 amps, depending on how balanced the
load is on each leg of the main panel.

How did you use that amp-probe? Was it a clamp-on type placed around the
pipe or around the ground conductor attached to the pipe?

I think I understand your query, you are asking about copper and perhaps
wondering about relative resistances of the two different metals.

Despite what others here said about there requiring NO current in the
ground lead connected to the water pipe.....

If there's a significant imbalance in the loading of the 240 volt supply,
there will be a hefty current in the neutral supply feed from the street
and the drop that current creates in that feed will try and raise the
potential of of the neutral and ground busses in your service panel higher
than earth ground (likely by only a couple of volts). That potential could
create a current flow in the grounding lead connected to the water pipe in
your home.

The situation gets more complicated to analyze when you have neighbors
connected to the same line transformer's secondary. Then, their neutral
feeds and their earth grounds can get involved in the whole current
sharing network.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.