Check the grounding at your home, especially if it is an old home

We live in a home that was constructed in 1987 by a local contractor who is unlikely an engineer. Though we moved in during 1998, we started observing the grounding problem only in 2002, when we started using a computer. The computer used to give a solid shock, further check confirmed that the entire lighting circuit at home had no ground wire. The electrical contractor who was an idiot had gone for convenience than safety. Since all the wires are already hidden in the wall or ceiling, we arranged a competent contractor to take grounding wire to all the lighting switch sockets at home from the outside, thus we made operations of iron box, mixie grinder etc. safer at home, of course the home looked more cluttered with these wires hanging here and there.

Our AEH (All Electric Home, basically a separate circuit for higher ameprage, used for electric stove, grinder, heater etc.) had proper grounding, it could be more fatal to have the AEH circuit operating without grounding. While fixing the grounding for lighting wire, we got two earthing stations dug up, one for the lighting and one for the AEH. Everything was fine.

In 2017, our 15 years old Aqua Guard Water filter electronic circuit failed multiple times. We had annual contract, and the company people were very co-operative to fix it duly. But, upon multiple times failure, the services supervisor called us to check the grounding for the apparatus. We had no computer now as it was replaced by a laptop, so we had no way of knowing grounding issue with first hand experience of solid shock at hand, we were usually used to in the past.

So, called a local electrical contractor, who in no time confirmed that the lighting circuit grounding has not been working. When we checked the grounding station, the thick GI wire was rusted and broken off.  The contractor used an expensive copper wire this time, along with salt and charcoal to recharge the earthing station.

I just wondered what risks the lack of grounding could impose, especially on an AEH circuit which will have capacity for higher amperage before the fuses can blow off or the safety switch can trip.  So, in order not to take any risk further, I asked the contractor to connect the two groundings across AEH and the lighting circuit. Once that was done, we are now having an insurance against one grounding station becoming nonfunctional.

I was surprised that it is not a common practice to connect the multiple grounding stations together to act as an insurance against the failure of the other.  I am writing this note to bring to your attention that the earthing stations in your home to deserve to get interconnected, to minimise the risk of fatal shock to the residents, in case one grounding comes off due to rusting or for some other reason.

It is easy to connect the multiple grounding, there will be a switchboard in the kitchen or toilet where both the lighting and AEH switches could be housed together, inside this switchboard, you connect the two grounding together, that is all.

If you have an electrical contractor visiting your home to do this, please make sure that he tests both the groundings first, only then connects them together. This way, you will ensure that non-functional grounding also gets fixed.

This note is very important to those who have old houses, or got the initial work done through an idiot, or living in a highly corrosive place like coastal area where the salt in the wind and rain water can corrode the old GI wires easily.

This note is the minimum I should do for graduating from electrical engineering! Ha Ha!

Best wishes!