NEC in the Facility, April 12, 2011

April 12, 2011
Suppose your broadband service provider has run cables to an interface box on your building exterior and has run a small ground wire from the cable shields or connector sleeves to a local ground rod

Suppose your broadband service provider has run cables to an interface box on your building exterior and has run a small ground wire from the cable shields or connector sleeves to a local ground rod. This setup violates the requirements of Art. 250 Part V because those cable shields are at a different potential from the other metallic objects. The ground rod itself isn't a bonding jumper and neither is the soil in which it’s buried.

To fix this, you have two options:

  1. Remove the ground rod. Using the proper clamps, bond the broadband cabling shields/connectors to a nearby equipment grounding (bonding) jumper so the cabling is at equipotential to the other metallic objects.
  2. Leave the ground rod in place, but ensure the grounding wire is adequate and proper clamps are used. Then run a bonding jumper from that rod to a nearby equipment grounding (bonding) jumper (again, using the proper clamps). This makes the rod a supplemental rod instead of a useless rod.
This fixes only the exterior bonding problem. You should also ensure the interior cabling is bonded to this same system.

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