"Ed B" wrote in message
...
Situation is:
A residential home with a detached garage has a sub panel which is
serviced from a 50A breaker located in the main breaker box. This service
feed is approximately 20'.
The house has a meter pan/disconnect where the 200A service enters the
house.
The breaker box is approximately 30' from the meter pan. There is a
grounding rod, earthed at the meter pan entrance which goes to the breaker
panel.
The water lines are bonded.
My main question is should the sub panel in the garage be earthed or do I
use the ground wire from the main to act as my safety ground like to carry
currents from a lightning strike to the original earthed point all the way
across the house by the meter pan.

Since the garage is detached, wouldn't I want to provide a path for
lightning to the closest point?

Any advice will be appreciated. :-)
Thank you

If the feeder to the garage is 4 wire, the grounds and neutrals at the
garage should be on separate busses, and a ground rod or two should be
driven at the garage and attached to the grounding detail.
If there is only three conductors in the feeder from the house, the neutral
and ground busses should be bonded together in the garage panel, and a
ground rod or two should be driven and attached to the neutral - ground
detail