<html><head></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1450566502657_2731" dir="ltr">Thanks to all for your responses.This is very helpful information.<br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1450566502657_2668"><span></span></div> <div class="qtdSeparateBR"><br><br></div><div style="display: block;" class="yahoo_quoted"> <div style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div dir="ltr"><font face="Arial" size="2"> On Friday, December 18, 2015 7:14 PM, Gary Buhrmaster <gary.buhrmaster@gmail.com> wrote:<br></font></div> <br><br> <div class="y_msg_container">On Fri, Dec 18, 2015 at 4:04 PM, David Williams <<a shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:mythtv_david@yahoo.com" href="mailto:mythtv_david@yahoo.com">mythtv_david@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:<div class="yqt2077818353" id="yqtfd07809"><br clear="none">> ...While there he disconnected the ground lead which I had running from both the Comcast splitter and the OTA lead to a copper water pipe. Regrettably, he wasn't very forthcoming with information. So my question is this: Would I be well-served to reconnect the ground lead since the new splitter does have a connection for a ground lead?</div><br clear="none"><br clear="none">Grounds are good things. You can never have too much grounding,<br clear="none">but you have to understand how to do it properly (to avoid ground<br clear="none">loops, or the allusion of grounds (I have seen connections to copper<br clear="none">pipe that if you track it back one would find a plastic pipe in the line),<br clear="none">or even worse (if you trust a ground to a copper pipe, it might<br clear="none">send voltage to the handle you are holding in the bathtub....)).<br clear="none"><br clear="none">Comcast a few years ago issued new rules for their techs to follow<br clear="none">regarding grounding. To first approximation they are in concurrence<br clear="none">with the current NFPA-70 and SCTE standards, but specifically remove<br clear="none">most uses of ground rods and copper water pipe (because without<br clear="none">appropriate validation (which the techs cannot do), neither may<br clear="none">be properly "grounded").<br clear="none"><br clear="none">For example, one of the things many people do not realize that<br clear="none">even in NFPA-70 a copper water pipe connection is required to<br clear="none">be within 1.5M of the entrance point to even be considered a possible<br clear="none">valid ground.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">I would refer you to the appropriate standards for the right way to<br clear="none">ground your equipment, and check your local ordinances for<br clear="none">the variations your locality has applied.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">I will also point out that in most jurisdictions, Comcast is required<br clear="none">to properly ground their cable at the demark (which can be<br clear="none">outside your actual residence, details depending).. They have<br clear="none">gotten in a bit of hot water because they have failed to do it properly<br clear="none">in some locations. If you live in one of those jurisdictions, and<br clear="none">there is no ground, you can (and should) request them to do<br clear="none">what they are supposed to do.<br><br></div> </div> </div> </div></div></body></html>