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Old timer told me to always pull an extra ground wire

Back in 2018, a 60 year old master electrician named Gene in Denver told me to always pull one extra ground wire on every run. I thought he was just being old school, but three years later I had a job where a ground broke inside the conduit and that spare wire saved me a whole day of pulling new cable. Has anyone else had a mentor give advice that felt outdated but actually paid off big time?
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3 Comments
parkerp80
parkerp805d ago
Can't say I've ever had a ground wire snap on me like that...
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simons28
simons285d ago
Hang on a second, I don't think it's that the ground wire itself snapped. More likely the issue is with a termination or a bad connection inside the box. I've seen plenty of ground wires get nicked or not landed right, but a solid copper wire breaking inside the conduit is pretty rare unless it's been damaged during the pull. The real benefit of that spare wire is probably for when you need to add a new device later or if something gets cut by accident. Still, Gene's advice is solid for the convenience alone.
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danielw88
danielw881d ago
I've snapped more ground wires than I care to admit... usually my own.
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