I want to run an isolated ground from a sub panel (which does not have the
ground and neutral bonded) to a receptacle for my computer. What is the
proper method. I won't be using a metal box, just a plastic old work box. I
have a book (Black and Decker Complete Guide to Home Wiring printed in 2001)
which shows 14/3 run to the circuit. It has the black to hot white to
neutral red to ground and marked as ground with green tape which hooks to
the ground bar in the panel where it is also marked with green tape. It
shows the bare ground (mind you this is just an illustration) just floating
away from the panel connected to the ground sign. The other bare ground is
just coiled up in the box. This seems strange to me and I haven't found
anything straight forward to show me exactly what to do. In the 2005
handbook I have it does show an insulated conductor that goes to the
receptacle and the panel for a ground, but they are also using a metal box
and say that the metal box and the emt or raceway must be grounded too. If I
recall all metal boxes and such must be grounded so it doesn't help me with
the plastic box.

Hope I made it clear enough.
TIA
Shane

Technically, you're not allowed to remark a 12 gauge conductor as you
describe. Why not use a metal box and MC cable which has an insulated ground
conductor. In your particular case, I don't know why 2 conductor romex
w/ground wouldn't be fine. The bare ground is isolated inside the cable and
insulated by the plastic box


"gorehound" wrote in message
...
I want to run an isolated ground from a sub panel (which does not have the
ground and neutral bonded) to a receptacle for my computer. What is the
proper method. I won't be using a metal box, just a plastic old work box. I
have a book (Black and Decker Complete Guide to Home Wiring printed in
2001) which shows 14/3 run to the circuit. It has the black to hot white to
neutral red to ground and marked as ground with green tape which hooks to
the ground bar in the panel where it is also marked with green tape. It
shows the bare ground (mind you this is just an illustration) just floating
away from the panel connected to the ground sign. The other bare ground is
just coiled up in the box. This seems strange to me and I haven't found
anything straight forward to show me exactly what to do. In the 2005
handbook I have it does show an insulated conductor that goes to the
receptacle and the panel for a ground, but they are also using a metal box
and say that the metal box and the emt or raceway must be grounded too. If
I recall all metal boxes and such must be grounded so it doesn't help me
with the plastic box.

Hope I made it clear enough.
TIA
Shane

"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
Technically, you're not allowed to remark a 12 gauge conductor as you
describe. Why not use a metal box and MC cable which has an insulated
ground conductor. In your particular case, I don't know why 2 conductor
romex w/ground wouldn't be fine. The bare ground is isolated inside the
cable and insulated by the plastic box


"gorehound" wrote in message
...
I want to run an isolated ground from a sub panel (which does not have the
ground and neutral bonded) to a receptacle for my computer. What is the
proper method. I won't be using a metal box, just a plastic old work box.
I have a book (Black and Decker Complete Guide to Home Wiring printed in
2001) which shows 14/3 run to the circuit. It has the black to hot white
to neutral red to ground and marked as ground with green tape which hooks
to the ground bar in the panel where it is also marked with green tape. It
shows the bare ground (mind you this is just an illustration) just
floating away from the panel connected to the ground sign. The other bare
ground is just coiled up in the box. This seems strange to me and I
haven't found anything straight forward to show me exactly what to do. In
the 2005 handbook I have it does show an insulated conductor that goes to
the receptacle and the panel for a ground, but they are also using a metal
box and say that the metal box and the emt or raceway must be grounded
too. If I recall all metal boxes and such must be grounded so it doesn't
help me with the plastic box.

Hope I made it clear enough.
TIA
Shane



I figured just plain old 12/2 on it's own circuit should suffice, but I was
stumped when I saw in that book that they used 14/3 and had the red marked
as ground and the bare ground coiled up in the plastic box. I was trying to
figure out if they were using the coiled ground to act as sort of an
antennae to attract any stray RF ore something to that effect. With that
being said, is it still a true isolated ground then if I just use 12/2 w/gnd
in a plastic box hooked to the ground bar of the subpanel? Will the bare
copper entering the subpanel after the sheathing is removed make it act like
an antennae?

Thanks
Shane

"gorehound" wrote in message
...

"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
Technically, you're not allowed to remark a 12 gauge conductor as you
describe. Why not use a metal box and MC cable which has an insulated
ground conductor. In your particular case, I don't know why 2 conductor
romex w/ground wouldn't be fine. The bare ground is isolated inside the
cable and insulated by the plastic box


"gorehound" wrote in message
...
I want to run an isolated ground from a sub panel (which does not have
the ground and neutral bonded) to a receptacle for my computer. What is
the proper method. I won't be using a metal box, just a plastic old work
box. I have a book (Black and Decker Complete Guide to Home Wiring
printed in 2001) which shows 14/3 run to the circuit. It has the black to
hot white to neutral red to ground and marked as ground with green tape
which hooks to the ground bar in the panel where it is also marked with
green tape. It shows the bare ground (mind you this is just an
illustration) just floating away from the panel connected to the ground
sign. The other bare ground is just coiled up in the box. This seems
strange to me and I haven't found anything straight forward to show me
exactly what to do. In the 2005 handbook I have it does show an insulated
conductor that goes to the receptacle and the panel for a ground, but
they are also using a metal box and say that the metal box and the emt or
raceway must be grounded too. If I recall all metal boxes and such must
be grounded so it doesn't help me with the plastic box.

Hope I made it clear enough.
TIA
Shane



I figured just plain old 12/2 on it's own circuit should suffice, but I
was stumped when I saw in that book that they used 14/3 and had the red
marked as ground and the bare ground coiled up in the plastic box. I was
trying to figure out if they were using the coiled ground to act as sort
of an antennae to attract any stray RF ore something to that effect. With
that being said, is it still a true isolated ground then if I just use
12/2 w/gnd in a plastic box hooked to the ground bar of the subpanel? Will
the bare copper entering the subpanel after the sheathing is removed make
it act like an antennae?

Thanks
Shane


After giving it some thought I can see why you suggestes MC and a metal box.
This would give me the insulated green conductor and the metal grounded
"jacket" to bond the box and eliminate the want for 12/3 with green tape on
the red wire. I think I'll still go with the 12/2 romex, because it's
cheaper and I have had my computer plugged in to a power strip with ground
pin cut off for so many years that even that would be an upgrade.

Thanks for your help.
Shane

Thanks

Once you're inside the sub panel, the box is part of the grounding system,
so it shouldn't matter. If it matters to you, insulate it inside the sub
panel


"gorehound" wrote in message
...

"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
Technically, you're not allowed to remark a 12 gauge conductor as you
describe. Why not use a metal box and MC cable which has an insulated
ground conductor. In your particular case, I don't know why 2 conductor
romex w/ground wouldn't be fine. The bare ground is isolated inside the
cable and insulated by the plastic box


"gorehound" wrote in message
...
I want to run an isolated ground from a sub panel (which does not have
the ground and neutral bonded) to a receptacle for my computer. What is
the proper method. I won't be using a metal box, just a plastic old work
box. I have a book (Black and Decker Complete Guide to Home Wiring
printed in 2001) which shows 14/3 run to the circuit. It has the black to
hot white to neutral red to ground and marked as ground with green tape
which hooks to the ground bar in the panel where it is also marked with
green tape. It shows the bare ground (mind you this is just an
illustration) just floating away from the panel connected to the ground
sign. The other bare ground is just coiled up in the box. This seems
strange to me and I haven't found anything straight forward to show me
exactly what to do. In the 2005 handbook I have it does show an insulated
conductor that goes to the receptacle and the panel for a ground, but
they are also using a metal box and say that the metal box and the emt or
raceway must be grounded too. If I recall all metal boxes and such must
be grounded so it doesn't help me with the plastic box.

Hope I made it clear enough.
TIA
Shane



I figured just plain old 12/2 on it's own circuit should suffice, but I
was stumped when I saw in that book that they used 14/3 and had the red
marked as ground and the bare ground coiled up in the plastic box. I was
trying to figure out if they were using the coiled ground to act as sort
of an antennae to attract any stray RF ore something to that effect. With
that being said, is it still a true isolated ground then if I just use
12/2 w/gnd in a plastic box hooked to the ground bar of the subpanel? Will
the bare copper entering the subpanel after the sheathing is removed make
it act like an antennae?

Thanks
Shane

You watch, just as soon as you finish this project, your mother board will
blow for some strange reason. I've got a pile of PC's here, all connected to
standard grounded outlets, but protected by separate UPS devices. Never had
a problem



"gorehound" wrote in message
...

"gorehound" wrote in message
...

"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
Technically, you're not allowed to remark a 12 gauge conductor as you
describe. Why not use a metal box and MC cable which has an insulated
ground conductor. In your particular case, I don't know why 2 conductor
romex w/ground wouldn't be fine. The bare ground is isolated inside the
cable and insulated by the plastic box


"gorehound" wrote in message
...
I want to run an isolated ground from a sub panel (which does not have
the ground and neutral bonded) to a receptacle for my computer. What is
the proper method. I won't be using a metal box, just a plastic old work
box. I have a book (Black and Decker Complete Guide to Home Wiring
printed in 2001) which shows 14/3 run to the circuit. It has the black
to hot white to neutral red to ground and marked as ground with green
tape which hooks to the ground bar in the panel where it is also marked
with green tape. It shows the bare ground (mind you this is just an
illustration) just floating away from the panel connected to the ground
sign. The other bare ground is just coiled up in the box. This seems
strange to me and I haven't found anything straight forward to show me
exactly what to do. In the 2005 handbook I have it does show an
insulated conductor that goes to the receptacle and the panel for a
ground, but they are also using a metal box and say that the metal box
and the emt or raceway must be grounded too. If I recall all metal boxes
and such must be grounded so it doesn't help me with the plastic box.

Hope I made it clear enough.
TIA
Shane



I figured just plain old 12/2 on it's own circuit should suffice, but I
was stumped when I saw in that book that they used 14/3 and had the red
marked as ground and the bare ground coiled up in the plastic box. I was
trying to figure out if they were using the coiled ground to act as sort
of an antennae to attract any stray RF ore something to that effect. With
that being said, is it still a true isolated ground then if I just use
12/2 w/gnd in a plastic box hooked to the ground bar of the subpanel?
Will the bare copper entering the subpanel after the sheathing is removed
make it act like an antennae?

Thanks
Shane


After giving it some thought I can see why you suggestes MC and a metal
box. This would give me the insulated green conductor and the metal
grounded "jacket" to bond the box and eliminate the want for 12/3 with
green tape on the red wire. I think I'll still go with the 12/2 romex,
because it's cheaper and I have had my computer plugged in to a power
strip with ground pin cut off for so many years that even that would be an
upgrade.

Thanks for your help.
Shane

Thanks

In article , "gorehound" wrote:
I want to run an isolated ground from a sub panel (which does not have the
ground and neutral bonded) to a receptacle for my computer.

Total waste of time and effort. Isolated grounds *may* be needed for sensitive
equipment such as certain mainframe computers, or medical equipment. There is
absolutely *no* benefit to you in having an isolated ground for a home PC.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

According to Doug Miller :
In article , "gorehound"
wrote:
I want to run an isolated ground from a sub panel (which does not have the
ground and neutral bonded) to a receptacle for my computer.

Total waste of time and effort. Isolated grounds *may* be needed for sensitive
equipment such as certain mainframe computers, or medical equipment. There is
absolutely *no* benefit to you in having an isolated ground for a home PC.

Indeed. Besides, there's nothing "isolated" about an insulated
wire connected to the ground bus in a subpanel, neutral-bonded or
otherwise. What exactly would it be isolated from then?
The box has to be grounded in any event. Through yet another wire?

True isolated grounding systems are totally separate from regular
grounding.

Except in industrial/medical circumstances, you'll probably be
making it _more_ "dangerous" (to whatever the concern is) than less.

You need nothing more than a regular grounding system and appropriate
surge protection.
--
Chris Lewis,

Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

wrote in message
...
On Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:11:47 -0000, (Chris
Lewis) wrote:

According to Doug Miller :
In article , "gorehound"
wrote:
I want to run an isolated ground from a sub panel (which does not have
the
ground and neutral bonded) to a receptacle for my computer.

Total waste of time and effort. Isolated grounds *may* be needed for
sensitive
equipment such as certain mainframe computers, or medical equipment.
There is
absolutely *no* benefit to you in having an isolated ground for a home
PC.

Indeed. Besides, there's nothing "isolated" about an insulated
wire connected to the ground bus in a subpanel, neutral-bonded or
otherwise. What exactly would it be isolated from then?
The box has to be grounded in any event. Through yet another wire?

True isolated grounding systems are totally separate from regular
grounding.

Except in industrial/medical circumstances, you'll probably be
making it _more_ "dangerous" (to whatever the concern is) than less.

You need nothing more than a regular grounding system and appropriate
surge protection.

The theory of IG is you have a star grounded system with everything
radiating from the ground bus in the main panel where the ground
electrode connects. You are supposed to pass through all subpanels
without connecting to their ground bus.
The reality is, modern line driver/receiver practices and internal
noise rejection make it unneccessary. I think it all came about during
the learning curve of silicon IC technology.

Thanks everyone for the help, and thank you gfretwell for the explaination
for the isolated ground. I just ran a dedicated circuit from the subpanel
for the computer.

Thanks,
Shane