Happy New Year!!

[Leon Goldstein]

Bob Hemus wrote inter alia:

> When the power to the house went out I thew the main breakers.  When 
> the telephone company lifted all the wires off the road and my drive 
> way I thought I was good 'till PP&L turned on the juice to the town.. 
> They did and I turned my mains back on--MISTAKE!!!  The ground wire of 
> the service had broken when the  2 poles broke in half. 

Your utility may be liable for replacing what got fried.  There should 
be a heavy copper wire from your breaker panel to a real earth ground.  
My old house has copper plumbing, and there is a heavy copper wire 
clamped to the cold water pipe.  Since new houses now have plastic 
pipes, your code may not require an earth ground.  In any event, check 
with an electrician for code requirements.

Seversal years ago I noticed that the ground wire from the cable TV 
junction box was deteriorated.  I bought a new copper ground rod and 
clamp, and a few feet of heavy insulated copper wire to replace it.  
Some time later we had a nasty thunderstorm.  I noticed that the 
insulation on the cable TV ground wire was burned.  My neighbor had both 
of his TV's and VCR's fried.  While talking to him I looked at his cable 
TV junction box and pointed out that there was no ground cable on it.
To make a long story short, Time-Warner bought him two new TV's and 
VCR's, after installing a ground wire on their junction box.

-- 
Leon A. Goldstein

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