CSST bonding poll

In a single-family house, what method should be used for additional bonding of the CSST?

Joe,

Even on older homes with csst, they have some bonding via the little green wire inside the furnace cabinet that gets some basic bonding through the metal cabinet to the gas valve/pipe.

The new requirements are called “additional bonding” since that is above and beyond that lame equipment ground wire bond that use to meet code.

If you install a seperate ground rod for the gas piping it is not equipotential with the electrical ground rod and not correct.

Some AHJ’s allow the gas pipe to be bonded inside the panel but most want it bonded to the electrical system ground rod or clamped onto the GEC a few feet from the actual rod.

Thanks Bruce. The little green wire isn’t included in this poll, which covers the “additional bonding” requirements.

It’s dependant on the LDZ of your area. . .

Can you change the thread title to indicate “additional bonding” ?

Many inspectors write up “no bonding on gas pipe” when in fact it has bonding via the furnace and should have been written up as missing the additional bonding.

I couldn’t change the title. I changed my language in the 1st post: “In a single-family house, what method should be used for additional bonding of the CSST?”

Did this house last week. Gas meter on the left side, electric panel on the right wall of the garage. Photo of the gas meter shows it bonded to a separate ground rod. New construction. Large regional builder: John Wieland.

073109 001.JPG 073109 013.JPG

Here is this http://72.3.135.7/include/languages/english/downloads/pdfs/TB2008_01.pdf from here http://www.gastite.com/homepage.php?pg=builders

Firstly, in the answers it says GEC which is not what it is. It is a Bonding Jumper and not a " Grounding Electrode Conductor" since it is not an electrode. Also, it the bonding is based on the Gas Code and State Codes. For example, in Virginia the Gas Code is used but then the VUSBC has a more restrictive practice where it says it ( CSST tubing ) must be bonded to the nearest point of entry of the gas piping system. It says the 6 AWG can run to the grounding electrode system…anywhere on the system. The Ground Rods, 5’ of entry of water pipe, UFER, In the panel grounded/grounding buss and so on as they are part of the grounding electrode system.

While I don’t really care either way about the practice , I do think the manufacturers of the CSST tubing products need to redesign the CSST tubing to be a bit more substantial but then again I just do what the code tells me to do and thats my job.

Paul, thanks for clearing up my mistaken terminology.

Paul, would you agree the example I included is incorrect: the gas meter bonded to a separate rod?

Joe, I believe that it needs to be bonded to the rest of the system for a reason.

It’s all good brother…I think they know what you were trying to say. I was just being the normal me…no worries fella

And the reason is?

Yes, I agree it is incorrect and should be tied to the existing grounding electrode system of the dwelling. This type of mistake is typical for Gas Installers, CATV Installers, DISH and Direct TV Installers and so on.

That in the event of a lightning strike on that side of the house the discharge will side flash from the Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing (CSST) to the houses electrical wiring. In the absence of both grounding electrodes being bonded to each other they will not behave as a single system and rise in voltage together so that there is no substantial difference of potential between them. Additionally the Equipment Grounding Conductor of the circuit supplying power to the gas appliance will become a high impedance grounding pathway for the rise in potential on the separate grounding electrode thus causing some current flow through the gas appliance and along the gas tubing. That cannot be a good thing. If the house has either a ground ring electrode or a concrete encased electrode it may be easier to bond the gas piping to one of those.

Tom Horne

Its called equipotential, a metal to metal bond provides this, metal to earth (rod) and another metal to some other earth (rod) on the opposite side of the house does not.

When adding the additional bonding, the price will vary greatly when the panel/meter is on the opposite side of the house.