# PEX & Electric Grounding



## brass plumbing (Jul 30, 2008)

i hate to ask this...if there's no grounding for the electrical panel with pex, what's to ground to?
should i have a electrical contractor included in the repipe charge to install the 2-grounding rods & new ground wire from the box?
we also need ground wires from H & C to the gas at the water heater, whats roll does pex & the electrician play?
adding that onto the price of the job i may be better off staying with copper?
should i take on electrical vocation?
my last pex job brought this about by lights & appliances acting up after i cut the ground to the panel.


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

In the case of a repipe you can leave the old metallic pipe installed but not pressurized so that it can continue to serve it's purpose as the building's grounding electrode. If you are going to be cutting out a significant portion of the grounded pipe then you will need to subcontract a licensed electrician to install ground rods or a grounding ring or some other NFPA 70 approved grounding electrode.

When we repipe houses it's usually slab on grade construction. We leave the ground clamp intact on the old metallic lines and pipe new PEX in without removing the old underground metallic lines. We do not cut into any lines so as to keep as much of the pipes acting as grounding electrodes boded to the rest of the grounding electrode system.

On a separate note (not that it's the plumber's concern) the HO needs to have the neutral conductor checked for continuity and resistance buildup back to the transformer. That is what is causing the dimming of the lights. Have the electrician check it out.


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