Grounding the Garn Shell

[nrog2005]

I will be hooking up my Garn shortly and am wondering how everybody has their boilers grounded. The manual says be sure to ground the unit to avoid electrolytic corrosion but they don't give any info other than that.

also, anybody out there see a problem with a bronze boiler drain cock attached to the steel shell?

thanks
Nate

 

[bpirger]

I ran a conduit through the concrete out to a ground rod I drove in the ground, under the garn barn eve, but I haven't actually installed the copper wire yet. I have the same question...where do people actually tie this ground line too?

 

[nrog2005]

I was thinking of filing some paint off the return line to the boiler and fastining the ground wire with a clamp. Then a coat of rustoleum and she should be set. Will this work?

 

[heaterman]

We either use a pipe type ground clamp and attach to the supply or return or (preferred) drill a hole in one of the "ears" on the front or back and bolt a ground lug directly to the Garn. Make sure that you sink your ground rod in an area that has a good probability of staying damp. It's a good idea to bond any piece of equipment to the main ground in the electrical system some way or another.

 

[Jim K in PA]

I used the threaded mounting stud for the electrical element enclosure to attach the ground wire to the GARN. The other end went to a ground rod already in place for the electrical service to my garage. Drilling a hole in one of the "ears" is just as good if the mounting stud does not work for you.

 

[nrog2005]

i ended up drilling a hole in the wing near the exhaust end of the unit. Mounted a ground clamp and some 12 gauge wire to a driven ground rod 2' outside the building. Just to be safe I also ran some 12ga to the garn controller panel to the ground. Everything Ohmed out correct and checked the resistance between the neutral and ground just for kicks and found it to be zero ohms.

 

[schoppy]

To be in compliance with the national electrical code (N.E.C.) the ground needs to be tied back into the nuetral/ground of the electrical entrance feeding the piece of equipment. You need to use a conductor equal to or larger than the one feeding the equipment. Using a ground rod not tied into the grounding of the electrical entrance sets up a second grounding plane with the potential to have a voltage difference between both grounding systems and is not in compliance with the N.E.C. just in case you have picky building inspectors. Any solid point on the garn not insolated from the frame can be used as the attachment point.

 

[Kemer]

I did the drilling thing and the tied it to the ground rod on my backup generator which is tied into my home electric panel.Hope that meets code

 

[Jeff S]

Should other boilers be grounded like this also ?

 

[heaterman]

Should other boilers be grounded like this also ?

It's never a bad idea to ground any major piece of equipment like that. Especially those that may not have the electrical components installed on them separately from the equipment itself. In the case of the Garn, what you want to do it ground the unit itself. The electrical control panel on the Garn carries its own ground.

 

[Ecky]

Stupid question - but is there any reason to silicone the connector tying the ground wire to the grounding rod in an effort to limit long-term corrosion? I suspect not since I never heard of it but since it is underground....

 

[Como]

Copper to copper?

I would not have thought so.

 

[Ecky]

Hi again David. I should just deal with you. :^) It would be copper to ? - whatever a grounding rod is made of - definitely not copper. I was not thinking of dissimilar metals but rather metal and moisture.

 

[Como]

I always thought that copper was the choice, perhaps copper clad now bearing in mind the cost of copper?

 

[Ecky]

I hear you on the price of copper - but any grounding rods I've seen (Ontario) have always seemed to be galvanized. I can not speak to the fact that there may be an element of copper but for the most part they appear to be galvanized iron or steel.