How's to ground for the dedicated line?

They way i understand it is by code you need to have a common ground for the entire system at the main box. That being said some people use a seperate star ground direct from the outlets, which i think i get but not enough to discuss it..I'll leave that one for the experts. I had used a seperate ground rod driven through the basement slab as an additional ground. My dedicated line sub box was tied to the main box and thus shared a common ground there. IT sounded really good in that configuration. However some helpful guys over at audio asylum illustrated how a difference in potential between the two grounds could cause a lightning strike to choose a path of least resistance through my system. I live in the midwest so needless to say I removed the second ground. I did suffer a near lightning hit last spring and got away with some fuses and a few power amp tubes, I don't want to think what the damage could have been. I have also heard that a secondary ground can cause ground loops.

All grounds terminate at the main AC neutral. It is in the first means of disconect for your service entrance. Everything is bonded together here. From this point out, neutrals and grounds are seperate. Isolated grounds run back to this point without bonding to anything else. All made grounding electrodes bond here. The water service entrance, verticle steel, well casings, concrete encased rebar and your driven ground rods. You will get a lot of conflicting advice on this subject. Do your research and know what you want. Not all electricians are created equal. Some will do what ever you want, even if it is wrong. Call your local inspection agency for an inspection after any work is done. Grounding and bonding are the most misunderstood parts of the NEC.

Call your local Building Department and talk to an Electrical Inspector. Never have work done without, first checking weather a permit and inspections are required. Improperly installed/grounded electrical equipment can be hazardous to you or someone you love. Only hire licensed and bonded contractors.

Good Luck in your quest,
Happy New Year

Grounding is a very tricky venture. There are many ways to ground with some not working very well. A copper 10 ft. ground rod works well if you don't have sandy dry soil. If the soil is dense and moist, it will work well. Rebar into a cement foundation will work well if your house has that type of set-up. Many are already setup that way and little is needed to add to that. Making sure connections are good and clean is paramount. Try to have your dedicated line run underground in electrical pipe. Our local code requires an 18" depth. The previous advice is all good and I would add that most electricians are skeptical of a dedicated line making any difference and they may want to run stranded wire because it is easier to pull, but stick to solid core 12 gauge and preferably 10 gauge, but this will not be popular with the electrician. If you have ever worked with it, you will know why. I installed my two dedicated lines and they are very quiet. I used 12 gauge because my run is only 25ft. I also used hospital grade ac outlets as I am sure you are using. Buy them for the electrician because they will probably use what is in the truck and that could be a cheesy model which uses the clip type of ac outlet which is just a fire hazard. They cost about .60 cents and not worth that. Spend the 15.00 and get a good one. My dad is an electrician so that is how I could install mine. You need a contractor to be legal. If you do it yourself and have an electrical fire, homeowners insurance may not be real helpful if they know you did the work. Happy listening, Jallen

If you are after sonic improvements, simply have the electrician hook up the romex as he would to meet code. Then after he's done, disconnect the ground at the wall outlet. Then, when you move, you can simply reconnect to meet code. For whatever reason, the ground has a way of introducing A/C noise into your lines and into your sonics. Not to mention ground loop hums, etc. The ground usually is connected to the same service panel bus as the neutral anyway.

You might want to ask the electrician to connect the new dedicated circuits so that they are on the same phase of 115 volts (You should have 2 seperate lines/phases of 115 volts going from the pole to your service panel). I moved my amp circuit from the opposing phase of my other dedicated audio circuits to the same phase and my amplifier's transformer hum went away immediately. AC noise affects much when it comes to grounds and audio equipment running on opposing phases.

Some will advise against grounding spikes, others against grounding to drain or cold water pipes, etc., etc.. Some reading materials and white papers on these subjects can be found at equitech.com and psaudio.com.

-John