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Author:
lookie4me (CA)
Our copper pipes have high EMF readings. We had an electrician bond the pipes. That did seem to help a little but the EMF readings are still high (above 30 in some places). We believe the current is coming from the city main. We are thinking of inserting a dielectric to separate our copper lines form the city lines. Is this safe for the pipes? Will electrolysis occur and cause a leak? Any recommendations on how to separate our copper from the city copper? Is it safe to use a pvc compression coupler in the main line?
Thank you in advance for any help.
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Author:
KCRoto (MO)
Generally the water meters around here have rubber washers between fittings where the lines connect. This would stop (or drastically limit) electrolysis, but not the current flowing across the pipe itself. If you want to stop the current flow, I would connect in a section of Pex, not cpvc, and have all the satellite boxes and whatever reconnected to a dedicated grounded circuit. I moved a grounding clamp off where satellite boxes were connected and it was carrying enough voltage to cause some small sparks (like static in the dark). I don't know if that was normal, or just that particular house. I suspect that your problem is not the water lines, but other improper grounds. Everything should be grounding back to the service panel from the house wiring, but anything coming through the phone, coaxial, or satellite is generally grounded to the water lines. Just keep in mind that even if you ground all these items, the excess power still travels through a conductor, and it still produces a magnetic field; so water pipes or dedicated ground is really irrelevant. If you want to lose the EMF, lose the electronics and hide in a Faraday cage.
Edited 1 times.
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Author:
Fixitangel (NC)
You are getting readings of 30? 30 VAC? Are you reading between the pipes and neutral or ground? I would get a second opinion from a licenced electrictian before I started cutting out copper pipe sections. You may have insufficient grounding at your service entrance or need additional grounding at remote service panels.
PS I've read about copper thieves stealing plumbing from houses, and some even hack off the ground wires from power poles, too. If they stripped enough poles, your closest POCO grounded pole may be quite a distance from you house.
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