Two Services, One Grounding Electrode System, in Camas, WA

Two electrical services on one property is more common than people think: a house and an ADU, a shop with its own meter, a legacy second service nobody ever removed. It is also one of the most commonly mis-grounded arrangements out there. This property in Camas, Clark County got both problems fixed at once, and permanently labeled so nobody has to guess again.

Two services still means one grounding electrode system

This is the part that surprises people. Where a building or structure is supplied by more than one service, the grounding electrodes are bonded together into a single grounding electrode system. They are not kept separate.

The reasoning is straightforward once you see it:

• Separate electrodes can sit at different potentials. Two grounded systems in the same building that are not bonded means metal parts fed from one service can be at a different voltage from metal parts fed from the other.
• A person is the bridge. Somebody touching an appliance on Service A while leaning on a pipe bonded to Service B is the failure mode.
• Fault clearing depends on a low-impedance path. Two half-systems clear faults less reliably than one properly bonded one.

So new rods were driven and the new electrode was tied to the existing house electrode with a split bolt, which is the accepted mechanical connector for that job and is listed for direct burial when used correctly.

Phenolic labels, not a marker pen

Every piece of service equipment came away with an engraved phenolic label: SERVICE A on one meter, disconnect and panel; SERVICE B on the other.

Phenolic is the layered plastic that gets engraved through a black face into a white core, so the lettering is part of the material rather than printed on it. It does not fade in sun, wash off in rain, or peel like an adhesive label.

Two services on a property is exactly where that matters. In an emergency, somebody needs to kill the right supply on the first try, and a handwritten note taped to a meter in 2011 will not still be legible when that day comes. Permanent identification is required on service equipment for precisely this reason, and it is a routine part of service equipment work.

The kind of job nobody asks for

Nothing on this property worked better afterwards. No new circuit, no new fixture, nothing the owner can see from the kitchen.

That is worth saying plainly, because grounding and identification are the two things most likely to be skipped by whoever is cheapest, and the two things most likely to be flagged by an inspector, an insurer or the next buyer’s home inspection. They are also the two that matter most on the day something goes wrong.

Property in Camas or Washougal with two meters, an ADU, or a shop on its own service? Call 360-828-7143 or get the grounding checked before somebody else finds it.