Would you please clarify the last statement in you article Grounding vs Bonding which reads:
"Finally, remember, the grounding rod isn’t what actually “grounds” your RV. That’s the job of the ground wire (the EGC or Equipment Grounding Conductor) in your shore power cord, and that green ground wire must connect back to the service panel’s neutral bonding point."
Shouldn't the green wire connect to the service panel's ground bus, not the neutral bus?
It does connect back to the service panel's ground bus, but the neutral bus is "bonded" to the ground bus, which forms the return path for any fault currents. I believe I showed that in the diagram, but perhaps I need to clarify the graphics a bit.
When I was younger I was interested in ham radio and read an article about grounding for ham radio and the recommendation for a poor grounding was to use a mix of salt and water and pour it around the ground rod and let it percolate over many applications to improve the conductive of the ground rod to the earth ground. The article said that it worked. Any thoughts?
It does work. In the ‘80s I worked for a military subcontractor and needed to measure guidance system components down to 1ppm. So we had a ground rod pit in the middle of the building to keep our meters isolated from building ground. One of my jobs was to dump a few gallons of a special electrolyte solution in the ground rod pit each month and inspect all ground connections.
Mike, Thank you for the article on grounding.
Would you please clarify the last statement in you article Grounding vs Bonding which reads:
"Finally, remember, the grounding rod isn’t what actually “grounds” your RV. That’s the job of the ground wire (the EGC or Equipment Grounding Conductor) in your shore power cord, and that green ground wire must connect back to the service panel’s neutral bonding point."
Shouldn't the green wire connect to the service panel's ground bus, not the neutral bus?
Thank you, Don
It does connect back to the service panel's ground bus, but the neutral bus is "bonded" to the ground bus, which forms the return path for any fault currents. I believe I showed that in the diagram, but perhaps I need to clarify the graphics a bit.
Mike
When I was younger I was interested in ham radio and read an article about grounding for ham radio and the recommendation for a poor grounding was to use a mix of salt and water and pour it around the ground rod and let it percolate over many applications to improve the conductive of the ground rod to the earth ground. The article said that it worked. Any thoughts?
It does work. In the ‘80s I worked for a military subcontractor and needed to measure guidance system components down to 1ppm. So we had a ground rod pit in the middle of the building to keep our meters isolated from building ground. One of my jobs was to dump a few gallons of a special electrolyte solution in the ground rod pit each month and inspect all ground connections.
Holy moly, Mike… is there anything you don’t know about electricity? 🤣
I’ve worked on a lot of electrical and mechanical projects over the last 60 years. It’s a lot of fun to teach electricity!!!