"Mark Wilson" wrote in message
...
Mark Wrote:
It is required to connect the GEC to the service equipment without any
splices between the service equipment and the electrode. Your service
equipment stops at the 100A disconnect. From that point on, neutral and
ground should always be kept separate and panels are no longer called
service rated panels.

Okay, so if I understand what you're saying, the 100A breaker box is what
the NEC would call my "service equipment" and therefore it is from this
box
that I should run the GEC.

Correct.


So hopefully your modern panel has the neutral bus
ISOLATED from the grounding bus and chassis. Hopefully, the #4 wire you
mentioned goes only to the grounding bus, which in turn must be bonded to
the chassis.

correctly described

Good! Someone knew what they were doing.


There is no problem sinking another ground rod at the modern
panel and connecting it to the grounding bus. This will just expand and
improve your grounding electrode system.

I'm not adding a second grounding rod. I'm just trying to replace my
current grounding rod and I intend to ground everything to that same
point.

But because this grounding bus is a
splice, the primary GEC can not be done this way -- but supplimental
bonding can.

I'm confused as to why I can't just run the GEC from the 100A breaker box
because to my understanding it would then NOT be a splice. Is it because
at
this point the ground and neutral are the same and have not yet separated?

Sorry, I wasn't clear when I said "panel". You must connect the mandatory
GEC at the 100A small disconnect box (or other connected service equipment).
You may NOT run the mandatory GEC from your modern panel, because it is not
part of your service equipment. It sounds like you want to ground from the
proper place, which is at the service equipment, which is where neutral and
ground are the same wire or bus.

In your other post, you mentioned a water pipe ground. We just went through
this in "Ground Rod Questions - summary". To summarize, if you have a metal
water pipe that is in contact with the earth for 10 feet or more, you MUST
use it as your primary grounding electrode. You must connect to it within 5'
from where the water pipe enters the house. This wire must be unspliced from
the water pipe to the service equipment neutral lug or wire. If you have a
water pipe ground, in most cases you must install a second electrode which
is usually a single rod. You shouldn't need two rods, but if you replace
your water pipe with plastic, then you do need two. Putting two in now
prepares you for the future and improves your grounding electrode system.
Additional rods must be at least 6' from any other rods in the same
grounding system. Alternatively, if you switch to plastic water service,
leave the old pipe buried in the ground and use that as your second
electrode (if you can get an unspliced wire to it).

Jumping around the meter means clamping a #4 wire between the input and
output sides of the meter. You can't be sure if a meter is conductive, so
you must put a jumper around it. This only applies if the meter at your
house between the buried water pipe and your inside pipes. My water meter is
at the street, and you don't jumper those.

--
Mark
Kent, WA