On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 01:24:41 -0600, wrote:

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 15:36:27 GMT, "Joseph Meehan"
wrote:

The metal water pipe idea does not sound good. What if it is isolated?
I doubt if the OP is going to check that. Someone else or the OP may see
the ground wire and assume it is good and take a risk without knowing it.

It is all galvanized pipe, right to the well tank. There is a ground
rod in the basement floor that goes to the breaker box, and there is a
thick wire (#8 or #6) from that same ground rod clamped to the galv.
pipe right by the tank. The pipe to the well is black plastic. so I
would say that without that wire there would not be a good plumbing
ground. However, if I get it from that outlet to the basement, I will
go right to the breaker panel, since it's no more than 15 ft away.

I tend to wonder why they would make it a law that this is not legal.
Electrically, it does the same thing as if the wire was part of the
romex..... ????? Like others said, "common sense".

I think it was because the grounds were often disconnected during
plumbing repairs, etc. and not reconnected. Codes are written by
committees reviewing suggestions from the field. If you've ever
served on a committee, you can understand how sometimes something gets
put in just so a member will shut up and let them move on to something
more important. As I said in an earlier post, I would install the
best ground I could to protect the electronic equipment.

Dan