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About Robert Wilber
Expertise
Licensed Philadelphia electrician serving Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia County in Pennsylvania. I install and repair residential, commercial and industrial wiring and lighting. Troubleshooting and repair of problems that stump other people is my favorite. I am willing to help people figure out why things don`t work. I understand motor controls, transformers and machine wiring.
I am not willing to teach novices to do installations of advanced work or replace basic personal research.
Experience
Experience in the area
I have 35 years experience in residential, commercial and industrial electrical construction and repair, 480 volts and below. Organizations
Electrical Association of Philadelphia, Independent Electrical Contractors Association, International Association of Electrical Inspectors
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You are here: Experts > Home/Garden > Home Improvement/Repair > Electrical Wiring in the Home > Electrical
Expert: Robert Wilber - 10/24/2009
Question
Robert, another person asked Don, about his planned 400' electric run out to his dock, Don gave him the proper wire size for the job, but what i'm unsure about is, Don said that instead of running 400' of ground wire it is possible to drive down a 8' copper ground rod near the sub-panel using only a short wire from the ground rod to the sub panel. Does this work in all applications? Thanks
Answer
According to the NEC 250.4 and 250.32, as I understand it in this circumstance, it is required to install a grounding conductor and also isolate the grounded circuit conductor [neutral].
Since you foolishly mentioned "dock" Article 555.15 also has to be considered, which states: "Where a feeder supplies a remote panelboard, an insulated equipment grounding conductor shall [my note here-shall means mandatory in the NEC] extend from a grounding terminal in the service equipment to a grounding terminal in the remote panelboard."
It is possible that it may also be required to install a ground rod or other grounding electrode at the remote panel, depending on installation conditions. If this is the case, I doubt an 8-foot rod would be adequate as an auxiliary.
Contact the local "Authority Having Jurisdiction" and get an official opinion. Four hundred feet is a long lousy run. Digging it up and doing it twice because you were wrong would be upsetting, to put it mildly.
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