ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Ground Clamps at water main

Here on Long Island, quite a few homes have
excessive humidity build-up of moisture on the water main pipe that enters the home.
What I normally do during a service change
is to Scotch-Kote the clamp and surrounding
area of the pipe. Too many times have I seen
the clamps severly corrorded. With the scotch-kote on the corrorsion stops, and years later you can check the clamp like it was new. I would like to see this as part of the code, but I think the breathing of the fumes of the Scotch-kote might be an issue. Any ideas?
Steve T.

a similar idea i have used with split-bolt connections is to wrap them in a layer of dux seal before tapping them up.
the same theory applied....
(learned that one from an AHJ!)

Steve,

Welcome back!

I was thinking maybe clear lacquer.

Don't they scotch-kote furniture? I can't see how it could be that harmful (except maybe while spraying?) If you know the chemicals involved or a specific brand you can look up the MSDS info.

Try here:
http://www.hazard.com/

Bill

That would be scotch-guard...

Scotch Kote is an "electrical" sealer... Don't get it on your skin!

'66

OooooKay!
Hey, You don't know what kind of Furniture I've got!

That's what I get for makin fun about your "Coherent" threads

Steve,
Sorry about that!
Been puttin in some big hours here!


Bill

There seems to be quite a few different types.

If you go to the following page and enter "Scotch Kote" where it says Trade Name it will bring up a list of MSDS for the different types.

http://products.mmm.com/US/MSDS/msdsSearch.jhtml

To the best of my knowledge, oxides of copper are still excellant conductors, unlike aluminum oxide which is more of an insulator. If I was to pick a product to use, it would be "Copper Kote" by T&B, applied between the clamp & pipe.

WOW!

I never realized there were so many different types!

I'm going to look at a bottle at BGE tomorrow to see which type I usually buy when needed.

BTW the ScotchKote I use tends to weaken the jackets of SOW cable. Learned that one the hard way in a fountain light installation. (no one was hurt). I hardly have used it since then. My buddy (and fellow EC) Joe M. got some on his exposed (river shoes) foot (don't tell OSHA) and had an ulcer for about a month on the top of his foot. Nasty! (In his defense, he had to wade out in 1.5' of water to make the repair) I have used it to WP submersible pump connections since, however. The remainder of that bottle ended up as a 1/8" deep mess in the back of my truck... Got the lid on crooked... Remnants remain on some of my tools...

Uhhh.. So much for coherence!

[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 07-27-2001).]

I've found that ScotchKote may not be compatible with other brands of tape. Best if you apply it over other 3M products. When it works, it does a great job, when it doesn't it makes a mess.