Our House Construction

[intrepid]

18 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

And, the AEG instant water heaters I was talking about in another thread.  According to the manual, the heater must be grounded.  Mine has a ground wire coming in but I have no idea where it is grounded, as the rest of the house is not grounded.  Probably attached to a pipe somewhere.

Attached to a water pipe may be okay in older homes if all the pipe is metal.  Problem is after a few years there are leaks and someone now replaces the old metal pipe with new plastic pipe of some kind.  No problem, your feet will work good for a ground!.   Don, I'm not sure but I would be inclined to run a ground wire out the window to a earth ground rod if there were no other way.  Like I said above, I'm scared and respect electric!  Maybe talk to a local electrician and get some advise. Even here in the Philippines codes have changed.  Might not be as bad as you think.  Think safety first!

[robert k]

Agree with Intrepid above, drill a tiny hole for wire to go through and get an earth ground. In the US, a tank type water heater will have an anode that will take the beating of electrolysis and should be changed every few years. Long ago I had an electrician say he was going to ground to my pipes and I told him "no, you're not".

Side note, electricity likes me more than other people for some reason. Working in a hospital where the air was always dry, I would let someone else push buttons for the elevator or I would poke them with a tool.

[Gary D]

When the engineer from the local electricity company saw our ground rod he accussed us of stealing electricty.

[Gerald Glatt]

5 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

And, the AEG instant water heaters I was talking about in another thread.  According to the manual, the heater must be grounded.  Mine has a ground wire coming in but I have no idea where it is grounded, as the rest of the house is not grounded.  Probably attached to a pipe somewhere.

and plumbed in plastic          

[Jake]

7 hours ago, intrepid said:

In the past I have been shocked with 115 and 220 volts and one thing I can assure you is, I don't like it!  While on the safety subject, another lazy streak I had in my past was safety glasses.  Hated them and they were never available or where I could remember I last placed them.

Now I have safety glasses in several locations in my workshop that I try to put on over my glasses to protect them.  Seems silly, I would not put on safety glasses to protect my eyes. But I will put safety glasses on to protect my glasses. Never thought about that before.  Hmmm  

The 60 hertz dance from 115 or 220VAC is an unpleasant reminder that I was stupid again.  As far as the electrical grid within your home, I think it would be imperative to have that 2 meter grounding rod to capture any electrical spikes and shunt it to ground immediately.  For example, a lightning strike nearby could wipe out your critical electronics devices (TV, computers, stereo system) if you don't have earth ground.  Additionally, I would have this unit plugged in to feed those high ticket items:

  about 70 bucks from Amazon.  

https://www.amazon.com/ELC-TR-2000-Voltage-Regulator-Transformer/dp/B00MCWSYWA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489684374&sr=8-1&keywords=voltage+stabilizers

Regarding safety glasses, I use them all the time even while driving.  Those amber yellow ones really cuts down the intensity of approaching headlights.  They even have bifocals. 

 

[Tukaram (Tim)]

12 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

And, the AEG instant water heaters I was talking about in another thread.  According to the manual, the heater must be grounded.  Mine has a ground wire coming in but I have no idea where it is grounded, as the rest of the house is not grounded.  Probably attached to a pipe somewhere.

Unfortunately since all our piping is plastic... I bet the water heater grounding strap is not connected to anything.  Sucks, but such is life here.

...and I was so safety conscious in the US. Ear plugs, safety glasses, rubber gloves...

[i am bob]

Made me wonder...  There are a few outlets here that are made to be grounded so I checked the easiest one...  It has a ground wire leading off from the outlet and is clamped to a pipe...  A plastic pipe!!!

[Gerald Glatt]

 does it work?  

1 hour ago, i am bob said:

Made me wonder...  There are a few outlets here that are made to be grounded so I checked the easiest one...  It has a ground wire leading off from the outlet and is clamped to a pipe...  A plastic pipe!!!

 

[intrepid]

That is what I was saying,..don't you love them plastic pipes!

 

[Reboot]

12 hours ago, Jake said:

The 60 hertz dance from 115 or 220VAC is an unpleasant reminder that I was stupid again.  As far as the electrical grid within your home, I think it would be imperative to have that 2 meter grounding rod to capture any electrical spikes and shunt it to ground immediately.  For example, a lightning strike nearby could wipe out your critical electronics devices (TV, computers, stereo system) if you don't have earth ground.  Additionally, I would have this unit plugged in to feed those high ticket items:

  about 70 bucks from Amazon.  

https://www.amazon.com/ELC-TR-2000-Voltage-Regulator-Transformer/dp/B00MCWSYWA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489684374&sr=8-1&keywords=voltage+stabilizers

Regarding safety glasses, I use them all the time even while driving.  Those amber yellow ones really cuts down the intensity of approaching headlights.  They even have bifocals. 

 

Those yellow ones seem to be real popular here. And with the night driving in the country here being what it is, I can see why.