So tired of seeing people wire grounds in daisy chains on the bench

I was at a shop in Orlando last Tuesday and watched a guy run a single ground screw for three different boxes in a panel. In my experience that always comes back as noise issues or a complete failure in the field. Why are so many techs skipping separate ground points? Has anyone else had to fix a mess like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

hollym8217d ago

People keep talking about noise and failures, but nobody mentions what happens when that daisy chain ground gets a nick or a loose connection inside the wall or ceiling. I've pulled apart more than a few of these where the wire looked fine from the outside, but a staple or a drywall screw had barely split the copper, leaving a high resistance path. That single ground wire becomes a resistor instead of a conductor, and suddenly you've got voltage floating on all your equipment enclosures. It can be a real shock hazard for the next guy that sticks a screwdriver in there, and it's a nightmare to troubleshoot because a multimeter will show continuity but fail under load. A good solid separate ground for each box is cheap insurance and makes life easier for everyone down the road.

dylanh9717d ago

DUDE I literally had to fix a job two weeks ago where some guy ran a single ground wire to like four different lights in a drop ceiling. It was a MESS. Took me an hour just to figure out what was even going on because the whole thing was buzzing like crazy. I swear people think grounds are optional or something. My old boss used to say a daisy chain ground is just a ground for YOUR problems, not the equipment.