> >The neutral wire IS to be grounded to earth along with
the safety ground
> >at the service panel. Both are tied together and
connected to earth
> >ground at the main service panel. The power company also
grounds the
> >neutral connection at the transformer to earth ground.
>
> Not necessarily.. for the same reason as you have a single
interconnect
> between neutral and ground. You don't want neutral return
currents flowing
> back to the transformer via the ground path.
Code in Ohio and here in GA is that the service entrance
panel be grounded to earth ground. I've never seen a case
otherwise, and I can't imagine why they wouldn't bond the
neutral to the safety ground at the mains panel.
It would be a real safety issue to not ground the neutral
and safety at some point in the system.
I *think* code here says distribution panels should have the
safety ground from the main feed panel isolated and brought
to the distribution panels in my outbuildings. I don't do
that. I won't do that. I actually treat my distribution
panels in different buildings as new mains. Each building
has a service entrance ground that bonds to the neutral in
each building. The safety ground comes from there.
My house actually has the service entrance ground at the
light meter bonded to the halo around the house, and it is
tied back with flashing to the breaker box ground some 15
feet away with 4" flashing. That ground comes under the
crawl to my radio room entrance. The distribution panel in
this room bonds to that flashing, all the cables bond to it
also.
There really isn't a safe way to do otherwise for lightning.
I can't risk having panels floating from earth or not being
bonded to lightning grounds.
73 Tom
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