Ground wire installed from Satellite Dish to Propane Tank!!!!!

[lindakay21]

When Hughes installed our system 3 years ago, the installer connected the ground wire from the dish directly to the propane tank wire. We did not discover this until a few weeks ago and always assumed that the installer would know what he was doing. We have spent several hours on the phone with Hughes and they refuse to waive the service fee for a technician to come out and correct their mistake because we didn't notice it within the first 3 months of service. If the dish had been struck by lightening, our home would have blown up since the propane tank is only about 40 feet away and holds 500 gallons of fuel. It seems to me that they would be very quick to correct such a hazard, but not without charging us for their mistake! We have had nothing but problems with them. The installer didn't have enough wire to install when he came out and we had to move the furniture around to make it accessible. He didn't tighten the dish down properly and the wind almost blew if off the roof. When you use up all your gigabytes, it's like having the old dial-up years ago. We are waiting for a new company to come out and install so that we can drop Hughes like a hot potato. HORRIBLE COMPANY AND AWFUL SERVICE. 

[BirdDog]

 If the dish had been struck by lightening, our home would have blown up since the propane tank is only about 40 feet away 

Um, no for several reasons, the main one being propane needs oxygen to ignite. A lightning strike alone will not make it ignite and blow up. The ground for your tank may actually be the best ground available. Any good earth ground should be at the same potential as your propane tank ground.

There are propane tank grounds connected to the house earth ground. So I guess they are possible explosions also.

Is there a rod in the ground for the propane tank? Without a visual inspection it is hard to tell what is a good ground.

All ground is is trying to find the lowest potential possible relative to negative or neutral. 

If lightning directly hits your tank then anything is possible. You lost the lottery.

PS: I was on the Inspector General team for the old SAC Air Force command back in the early 90's. I understand grounding.

[MzLiz]

lindakay--I know the milk is already spilled but, you really should have watched the installer like a hawk the moment he stepped foot on your property to make sure the job was properly done and not haphazardly done.

A good chunk of these installers really need more training and there should be stricter background checks on the part of Hughesnet..There's no amount of sugar-coating that can erase away a botched installation job..This one takes the cake smh..Let's see how the "official reps" respond to this case come Monday.

[Gwalk900]

Every installer must present pictures of key areas of the installation.

I'm sure that the "official reps" are going to review the pictures of this installation.

Hughes is required to have installations conform to Federal, State and Local codes.

As to if the grounding method in the this case is "botched" or not will come out after a review of those pictures.

Speaking as someone who has built several houses I have to say that one of the most complex areas of the NEC (upon which most local codes are based) are the sections dealing with grounding and bonding.

From an installers point (and that of the NEC) is that all equipment be tied to a common point. That common point being the electrical equivalent of the service entrance ground point.

For all we know the ground wire at the propane is not to code.

Ground loops are to be avoided at all costs.

As to purpose of said ground, it is to bleed off any static voltage the may be induced. As "protection" against a direct lightning strike to either the tank, the dish or the structure .... forget it. That tiny ground wired would be the worlds most short lived fusible link in history from a direct hit.

Don't make assumptions. Wait for the picture review and the scope of Federal, State and Local codes.

MzLiz,

I agree with you that better installer training is in order in many cases.

They (the bottom 50%)  weed themselves out pretty quickly as a rule. I have always seen Hughes make right any substandard installations once its been noted.

We always hear about the bad installers but on the end of that argument is Alan of Eldorado Satellite and GoKartGo:

https://community.myhughesnet.com/hughesnet/topics/has-many-of-you-know-calif-has-a-lot-of-wild-fire...

Remember, fully 50% of all Doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class.

Let the process work.

[Amanda]

Good morning Linda,

Thank you for reaching out to us with your concerns. I was able to locate your account and review the photos. The latest grounding photo I have is attached to a PVC pipe - is this correct? 

Nonetheless, this installer is actually from the same company who installs our very own President and CEO, so we would hope that they do quality work. I'll check in with our install group and see if they can do a site review.

Thanks
Amanda

[Amanda]

Hi Linda

We've reached out to the installations managers and they are sending a technician back out. They have already made the order and you should receive a call to schedule the visit. We have not made phone contact with their office, but when we do, they will be inquiring about the location of the grounding block and I will update you with that information when we receive it.

Thank you and we appreciate your patience

Amanda

[Amanda]

Hi Linda

I got a response last week from our install managers that a tech was scheduled to go out. Has this happened or have you been contacted by an installer?

Thanks
Amanda

[Amanda]

Hi Linda

I went back to follow up on your visit and see the tech did go out and re-do this installation. Can you let me know if you had a better experience this time and the install was satisfactory?

Thank you
Amanda