Finally decided to run my ground wire before the coax instead of after

I always used to run the coax first and then deal with the ground wire as an afterthought. Yesterday on a job in Arlington I tried doing the bonding wire first, getting it clamped to the water pipe and grounded at the meter before I even unrolled the RG6. Took maybe 10 extra minutes upfront but saved me from having to crawl back under the porch to fix a ground block I buried. Has anyone else had better luck swapping that order around?

3 comments

3 Comments

ninaowens1mo ago

Back in 2019 I had a job out near Lake Worth where I ran the coax first like always and ended up having to pull the whole run because the ground block ended up behind a support beam. Since then Ive been doing it your way and honestly I think you might be overthinking it a little. Running the ground first makes sense on paper but in practice I find it can lock you into a layout before you see where the cable naturally wants to go. Coax is more flexible about where you terminate it than the bond wire is in my experience. Ive had to redo a few ground runs because the coax path changed after I already clamped the ground wire to the pipe. Your mileage may vary of course, but for me the extra 10 minutes upfront turns into 20 minutes of rework half the time.

williams.sage1mo ago

Oh man, I've definitely been that guy.

knight.dylan1mo agoMost Upvoted

Has that happened to you too @williams.sage?