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Posted By: godfather OPX question - protection and grounding - 01/17/14 03:29 PM
I know that this topic has been discussed in depth on this forum...but...

I have a small detatched garage (shed really) about 30' from my house. I have an old Western Electric type 570 phone set that I would like to mount on the outside of the garage and connect back to the house with a ringdown module. There are two possibilities on how I might do this: 1) connect the other end of the ringdown line to a stand alone phone (a 2500 set) or 2) connect the other end into my Avaya Merlin Legend system (which may be replaced by a newer system this year.)

My main concern is grounding and safety. I have a 5 pair buried (Copper shield, icky-pic filled) cable between the garage and house which is not terminated at the moment. Would it be sufficient to use a Porta Systems 504PX2 type protector on the house end as a primary protector? What about the extension/garage end? The type 570 set has a type 123 1A1 carbon block protector in it, but I somehow doubt this would be sufficient if I wanted to tie this connection into the house phone system.

I was thinking on using ITW modules for the seconary protection (also Sandman offers something similar on his web site.)

Maybe this project is more trouble than it's worth...thoughts?
Posted By: justbill Re: OPX question - protection and grounding - 01/17/14 04:28 PM
If you're already using 66 blocks I like these use them at each end. You'll have to select the clamping voltage that meets your needs and you'll also need the grounding bar. I'd use them on each end as long as they are both indoor or use a standard outdoor protector at your garage end.

Make sure all grounds are bonded.
Posted By: Rcaman Re: OPX question - protection and grounding - 01/17/14 04:31 PM
Any gas tube or solid state protection at both ends is all that is required. If you are using only one pair, just get a one pair protector and tie all the other pairs together and ground them.

The most important thing you can do to insure safety is to provide a rock-solid ground. Even an old carbon protector will dissipate a fair amount of energy if you have a proper ground. Use the same gas tube or solid state protectors on both ends to keep it simple.

Rcaman
Thanks for the responses.

I used Ditek products when I installed alarm systems and had pretty good luck with them.

My only other concern was grounding the cable shield on both ends. The garage end has a ground rod pounded into the ground. On the house end the cable enters in a utility room where the cold water pipe comes in from the street (and yes it is all copper no plastic.)
Posted By: justbill Re: OPX question - protection and grounding - 01/17/14 08:43 PM
Yes bond the cable sheath also. If you have power to the garage make sure your ground rod and the power ground are bonded, same in the house. The last thing you want is to be the best ground.
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