Grounding the Direct dishes

[ds650]

When I got my first dish 4.5 years ago the installers ran the coax down the side of my house. The coax was then ran through a mounted block that was connected to another ground wire on the house. I now have my new setup. It's two seperate dishes (one at 72.5). The coax is different though. There seems to be a approx 14-16ga. ground wire ran with the coax. It's all coated together but peeled back some. My wires run into my attic where they are connected to a multiswitch. Neither of the ground wires (I'm guessing that's what they are) are connected to anything. What's the best way to hook them up? Can I just tie or solder them together & run them back down my house with an extended wire to my previous grounding spot? The multiswitch appears to have a ground wire screw on it. The multiswitch is mounted to the rafter so I doubt that would do much good there, but does the switch need to be grounded too? Or will it be OK, if I just connect the two small wires outside like before?

The other setups I've seen look like my old setup where the actually coax appeared to be grounded. These new small wires have me confused. Not really sure why the installer never did anything with them.
Thanks,

 

[twodutys]

The small wire that is attached to the coax should be your dish ground. If the installer hooked it up correctly. It and the coax's should be gounded at a point nearest the wire entry to the house. Not a good idea to ground after the wire is inside the house or too far from the entry on the outside. I have an interface box on the outside of my house just before the point where the wires lead into the house where the dish and the coax's are grounded to the house ground.

 

[deezoneezo]

The easy way to fix it is to get the installer to come back and do the job correctly. If they refuse just call directv and ask them to ground your system since the installer won't. I'm sure this will fix the problem in no time.

 

[PSB]

Deezoneezo is RIGHT, tell them you smell burning and they will be over there double quick to put it right, tell them you are a member here and over 16,000 members are backing you up!

Its just not fair to the companies that ground EVERY system to state and local code, this kind of shoddy DANGEROUS workman ship should be highlighted, no wonder these large satellite companies are making so much money, the least they can do is do the job right first time.

 

[sksatellite]

When you hear how much they pay the installers, then you will have the idea why these installation jobs are so crappy. $45 for a single then go fique how much there for the installer if he not cut the corner. The company who subs the jobs out making about 60% of what should the installation fee.

 

[twodutys]

The sad thing is that at least in the Denver area when I check with local code enforcement after an installer said they don't ground dishes, That they were letting these installers get away with just grounding the coax and not the dish. And on top of that twice I had installers try to get away without installing any ground at all. Someone really needs to fix this problem. That should never happen. I couldn't believe that code enforcement was and proubly still letting them get away without grounding the dish. They gave me a line of bull that gounding the coax is good enough!

 

[ds650]

I'll get ahold of Direct soon & explain things.

On my old setup the dish is on my tower (so is my new one) right next to the house. The dish is about 7 ft higher than my roof. They had run the coax down the side of my house to about 1 ft off the ground where it went into a grounding block on the side of my house. Both the coax & the wire were connected. The coax was then run back up my house & into the eve of the attic. The ground wire was clamped in the grounding block along with another wire that connected to a small line that ran off my gas meter & was buried in the ground & ran to my gas light about 50 ft away. My local gas guy saw it one day & said might be a good idea to move it since a lightning strike might burn a hole in the gas line.??? BTW, my phone service box is grounded to my water spicket close to the gas line.
Anyway the new installer mentioned something about my ground & moving it. ( I should have listened closer...) He cut the old coax & ground wires off the block which is still on the house now. He ran new coax off both dishes since I guess he had to use a multiswitch anyway. The thing is he never did ground it as far as I can see. I'm not sure why it was overlooked esp. after mentioning my old ground to me.

 

[PSB]

WOW! Grounded to a gas line, just as well you moved it! I am afraid to say I have seen this done way too many times, when ever I see a system grounded in this way I ALWAYS remove it even if its on someone elses property, its very very dangerous.

 

[ds650]

Actually I didn't disconnect the ground from the gasline. I later disconnected the gas line itself from the main meter. I had my driveway widen with more concrete so that line had to get dug up or instead I just smashed it & buried it in concrete. I figure that now it is a disconnected buried line it would make a good ground. Is that wrong?

 

[deezoneezo]

When you hear how much they pay the installers, then you will have the idea why these installation jobs are so crappy. $45 for a single then go fique how much there for the installer if he not cut the corner. The company who subs the jobs out making about 60% of what should the installation fee.

This is no excuse. I was an installer until I became a UNION electrician apprentice (IBEW). The customer did not agree to work for pennies, the installer did. Bottom line the install is wrong, incomplete, dangerous and not to code.

 

[PJS]

My system was never grounded as far as I can tell. I've just moved my dish to accomodate the new oval shape from my old round dish. I need to get it grounded. Please clarify the above comments.

Do I need to run a ground off of the coax and the body or base of the dish?

I already have a long run to the multiswitch in the attic from the dish, so will adding an in-line coax ground diminish the strentgh of the signal further?

I am also assuming that I only need to ground one of the four lines coming into the house or do I need to ground all 4?

Lastly, the dish is no where near the electrical house ground or water pipes. Can I simply by a grounding rod and pound it into the ground and attach the ground wires to this?

PJS

 

[twodutys]

All 4 coax's need to be grounded along with a separate ground wire to the dish base. This ground has to be placed at a point before the wires enter the house. The preferred method is to ground to your house ground. I read at one time that installing a second ground rod would cause a ground loop with voltage difference between the two ground points. I don't know if there is any truth to that statement. Regardless it has to be grounded. Can you run a ground wire around to the closest ground point to join with your house ground? I would go this way if possible. If not possible add a second ground rod.

 

[PJS]

Yes, I can run a ground around to the house ground. It's probaly about 50'. What guage wire do you recommend?

I need to ground all 4???. Can I run the 4 grounds and the dish ground together to one wire that goes to the house ground?

 

[colofan]

Well since most STB don't use the safety ground on them having a separate ground rod has not been an issue I have done my house and a friends and I have measured no voltage between the STB outside case or coax shield and the sat feed coming in with a different ground rod. Mind you I live in Colorado and the humidity is fairly low so I would have expected a greater voltage potential here than in a wetter climate.

Both times I had a 4 foot long ground I buried leaving about 3 inches above ground. I used 8 gauge aluminum wire for the ground. Oh and don't forget to ground your OTA as well since it is typically higher on a structure than the dish.

 

[colofan]

Oh a P.S. if you have cable coming into your stb sometimes they do have a different grounding potential and can cause hum on the audio. I just run ro balun back to back to isolate them.

 

[twodutys]

Yes, I can run a ground around to the house ground. It's probaly about 50'. What guage wire do you recommend?

I need to ground all 4???. Can I run the 4 grounds and the dish ground together to one wire that goes to the house ground?

Yes you tie them all together and run one to your Ground Rod. 8 gauge is great however some block's won't handle that thick of wire. Just go with the thickest single strand up to 8 gauge your block can handle. And like Colofan said get that OTA grounded too.