After all that, my question is, since my house wasn't grounded can that point at why I lost so many electronics in the six years I've been in this house?

It could be a factor.
Lightning has to go somewhere, and directly to the Earth is the best place if you want to protect your stuff.

 

The theory is probably going to be tested later this afternoon.

 

Yeah, I think the grounding is key. Where I grew up we did not have proper grounding. It was not uncommon to see fireballs in the house during storms - we would all huddle away from any plumbing fixtures. When my dad finally had the ground fixed that was the end of the fireballs.

In our house now, we are yet to lose any electronics (that I do not unplug) due to an electric storm, and I do not have the TV and other non-computer electronics on surge protectors. And we are grounded properly. Still, I unplug every computer before an electric storm - have not lost one yet. A surge protector is not sufficient protection against the power of a bolt of lightning - see https://stormhighway.com/surge_protectors_ups_lightning_protection_myth.php

 

... After all that, my question is, since my house wasn't grounded can that point at why I lost so many electronics in the six years I've been in this house?

When I built our house, I installed three grounding rods in the basement. They are all wired together using heavy guage grounding strap.

Our phone company provides a modem, their modems seem to burn out between every 6 months and once a year. Voltage spikes from lightning strikes do this.

In 2015 power spikes killed my stereo and our refrigerator.

I have not kept track of how many UPS units we have burned through.

Yes, they work fine, ONCE.

We could get six voltage spikes in an hour. The filters may be fine during the first spike, and they might last through the second or even the third spike. But they will die, and once they die, you get no warning.

 

................The folks who built Victorian homes with tall roofs had enough sense to install lightening systems along the high peaks of their roofs ! It's actuallyVERY simple to put a system IN ..........there's about 5 pieces that you need ! Ground rods , #6 solid copper wire , pointed spikes 8 to 12 inches long , insulated mounting brackets for the spikes and brackets to hold the wire above the roof !
................ The spikes are VERY sharp and pointed to attract a bolt to them AND they also Dissipate any Static electricial charge that may try to build up around the house or barn . Most likely all the parts are available from electricial suppliers and I'm sure Utube has vids showing a DIY'er how to install the system ! , fordy

 

I'm not an electrician by any means, but my question is, if you don't have a ground wire connected, how do your lights and appliances work? And wouldn't there be greater risk of fire or electrocution? Just asking..;..

geo

 

I'm not an electrician by any means, but my question is, if you don't have a ground wire connected, how do your lights and appliances work?

They don't have to have a separate ground wire to run.
All they need is current flow.

 

Higher chance of electrocution.

Lightning rods won't help me, it's not hitting the house but is hitting trees or ground nearby.

 

............................................................................
......................If it's hitting your tree's , it'll damn sure hit your home...................! , fordy

 

The neutral side makes things operate, the ground is for protecting humans and equipment.

 

I thought a neutral was a ground ?

 

It's not.

 

IF* you discovered the ground rod and pieces of the clamp it's likely lightning had its way with it, maybe not the first partial-strike but it likely chewed it up so weathering and a follow up could finish it. They are a nuisance and a hazard but keeping the wire/clamp/rod where its visible stops the guessing. In very rocky ground sometimes they will lay the rod horizontally as deep as they can get it but there are codes to follow to do so...

There are things the powerco can add to the last pole before your service that will better protect you - I know some polite questions got my great uncles place in Missouri armored up nicely...

 

I wasn't sure what had happened to it. It felt like pot metal, where I bought the brass replacement the guy suggested it was probably aluminum. It wasn't melted at all, it was shattered.

I have no idea why it was buried but it isn't anymore. I can walk by and see if things are still snuggly connected.

 

I once lost a great amateur transceiver due to a ground spike from a very nearby lightning strike. Antenna was disconnected but the radio remained grounded via heavy cable and several earth-laid ground rods. Nearest that can be figured, the power from the lightning strike made it's way to the transceiver via the ground cable and still managed to cook something. Lightning is strange stuff.

 

Neutral wires tie into the grounding side of the service panel as do grounding wires. Neutral wires are grounded conductors.

 

You should have 2 8' rods to ground.

 

Don't know if all companies do the same, biut the transformer poles around here have a ground wire running down them and a coil of that wire stapled to the bottom of the pole. My house and shop are grounded to copper clad rods driven eight ft into the ground with a copper clamp connecting the ground wire to the rod. Rods close to the drip line to assure damp earth, clamps just above ground.

 

So much misinformation. The secondary winding on the transformer is set up with three outputs from the windings this is referred to a center tap. The two outside taps are the ends of the secondary windings, between these two wires when measured it will read 240 vac, normal supply to most North American homes. The middle tap is neutral, when measured between either end it measures 120 vac. This center tap is also grounded. The only places this is grounded is at the center tap of supply transformer and the first point at the house connect with disconnect. After that point neutral and ground become separate wires, not to interconnect again. Now, what is the purpose of the neutral, it allows any imbalance of current to return to the supply via the center tap. In a perfectly balanced system there is no current on the neutral. But we live in the real world and imbalances exist. The ground wire as we know it is used for fault protection. This becomes the separate circuit that allows current to return to the center tap. Without this anything conductive will become the return path to the center tap. This means you if your between the two. That should settle the neutral / ground circuit questions. The ground rod itself is used for lightning protection. On a lightning strike and doesn’t have to your house hit. Miles away the transmission line or phone could get hit. This ground rod gives the current a place to drain safely. Without it the strike will find a way to dissipate through your possessions. Ground wire is fault protection to insure fuses / circuit breakers operate correctly, ground rod lightning protection.
The diagram below shows how it should be done but once again in reality many changes happen without knowledge applied. I hope this helps. Not trying to start a battle here.

 

Where or when did this two ground rods start? I don't think I've ever lived anywhere that two were used. I know when we built our house in GA there was only one.

 

NEC 250.56

 

The electric company sends out electricity on the wires that run along the road at a higher voltage than your house uses. This is because higher voltage electricity transmits with less loss than lower voltage electricity and you can use smaller wires. A transformer, located on the power pole just before your house, drops the voltage down to what your house uses.

The electric company uses the earth itself as the return path for the electricity to complete the circuit. If you look at the wires coming into your house there are 2 hot wires with electricity wrapped around a steel cable. The cable provides support but is grounded at the pole and it provides the return path to complete the circuit. It's called the neutral wire. Can't call it the ground wire because that is a different wire.

Back in the old days this is how everything was wired. My 1898 house and my 1950 mobile home have 2 pronged outlets with no ground. Later installations added a ground wire for safety and the outlets have a third round hole. Each home's ground circuit is attached to one or more grounding rods driven into the earth at the house. The rods need to make good contact with the earth so you may need more than one depending on your soil type. Yes, the neutral wire and the ground wire eventually go to the same place, the earth, but they do different things. Neutral completes the electrical circuit and ground is for your protection.

In new construction, metal boxes and conduit are connected to ground. In my old house with no ground circuit someone decided to add a switch to a ceiling light so they could put in a light fixture without a pull chain. They put in a metal ceiling box and a rectangular switch box and connected them with flexible metal conduit and ran the wires between them. They just knocked out one of the holes in the ceiling box and ran the hot and neutral wires through the hole. Over the decades the sharp edge of the box rubbed it's way through the insulation on the hot wire. Both boxes and the conduit were then hot. When I had to replace the switch I got zapped as soon as I touched the switch box. Fortunately I wasn't well grounded so just a wake up call. If the boxes and conduit had been hooked to a ground wire the fuse would have blown as soon as the box contacted the hot wire. Even if there wasn't a good enough contact between the wire and the box to blow the fuse, The electricity would have been drained off via the ground wire and I wouldn't have been zapped.

 

The ground rod is where the excess electricity bleeds off, so likely it had a lot to do with your problems. In fact, I don’t think your sure protectors did -anything- for you, without that ground hooked up. They had no place to surge to? I’m surprised the whole house deal didn’t error out on you without the ground connected.

Many years ago our farm was the last house on the electrical rea lines. I lost several modems and computers over the years. All the junk came in on the line and had no where to go. It was not a good deal. We were the end of the line.... then they put in a new main lines and ran the wires differently, we were now in the middle lines went on to others. And I’ve had very little trouble since. So, are you at or near the end of the line?

Paul

 

That's probably the surge protectors never blew when all of the hits kept coming.

I have no clue where I stand on the line. It's not anything I ever gave any thought to.

 

If you are willing to check, verify your neutral connection going all the way back to the transformer. Your provider will do some of it but after the meter the job is yours. A bad neutral can cause a worm load of strange problems. Surges, high voltage (240 vac) applied to 120 vac lines, low voltage. The sky is the limit once one starts playing with transformers. Lots of fun.

 

Yeah, I'm not going to do that.

I never gave a thought to installing outlets, switches, light fixtures but I've gotten to an age now that I don't quite trust myself so I hire someone to do that stuff.