I finally caught a bootleg ground on a 200 amp panel before it bit me

It was a remodel in Austin where I'd been landing neutrals and grounds together like the old timer taught me for 12 years, then a homeowner with a cheap voltage tester pointed at a humming fridge line and said 'that's not right,' and I realized those bootlegs were feeding stray current back into every pipe in the house, so now I separate every single ground and neutral even if it adds 45 minutes, has anyone else had a customer catch a code violation you'd been blind to?

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the_kai17d ago

You ever watch those old Mike Holt videos where he talks about how bootleg grounds were standard practice back in the day? I mean, I get why the old timers did it, but that stray voltage thing is no joke. Seen a few houses where the water lines would give you a little tingle if you touched the faucet and the sink at the same time. Good on that homeowner for catching it before it turned into a real hazard.