I am going to wire a shed. I have uf 3 wire with no ground buried from the main to the shed. I am not going to be able to drive a ground rod in the ground because is virtually a rock. The electric company pole is located approximately 10' from the shed. Could I use the pole ground... i.e.. Run #6 bare copper in conduit to the ground rod and clamp it. Would that be safe? Would that be legal? My only other option would be to use a grounding plate of some size and run the ground from the sub panel in the shed to the grounding plate with#6 bare copper. San Diego, Duval, Texas, retired, age 71

Well, it depends on what you are doing.
If you intend to install a sub-panel then you need 3-wires plus a ground.
If this is just for a circuit then you'd have to use one of the wires as a ground (still not code compliant though) and have one 120V circuit. No ground rod required.

Can you tell us more about this project? What size is the wire? Why does it not have a ground?

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Originally Posted by stanfortyman

Well, it depends on what you are doing.
If you intend to install a sub-panel then you need 3-wires plus a ground.
If this is just for a circuit then you'd have to use one of the wires as a ground (still not code compliant though) and have one 120V circuit. No ground rod required.

Can you tell us more about this project? What size is the wire? Why does it not have a ground?

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Since I have already buried the uf ( #8 stranded) in order to comply nec 2008 I would have to dig up and ground from the main. Yes, I want a sub panel with a dble 20 amp 1 circuit for the a/c and the other for lights and outlets with a gfci on the first run. What about using the utility pole ground?

If you have a sub-panel you do need a grounding electrode of some sort. This does not take the place of the (now required) equipment ground. You need both.

You could do a 120V sub-panel, but that would still not be completely code complaint because you'd have to use a black or red for the ground.

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Originally Posted by stanfortyman

If you have a sub-panel you do need a grounding electrode of some sort. This does not take the place of the (now required) equipment ground. You need both.

You could do a 120V sub-panel, but that would still not be completely code complaint because you'd have to use a black or red for the ground.

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Ok, I guess I will just do a circuit like you said in the 1st answer. I am still curious about using the ground rod on the utility pole though.

I would not use a utility electrode for this.

If you are doing just a circuit then no electrode is required.

There are several methods you can use to ground the shed including a UFER. This is an EGC encased inside a concrete tube that is at least 10' long. All you have to do is lay it on the ground and connect the secondary panelboard to it,

Please note, the secondary panelboard must have the Neutral isolated from the ground on this panelboard.

Sorry for the delay... my son passed away from complications from diabetes. I need to get back to this project asap. I am going to have just a single circuit for the shed using one side of a dble 20amp breaker. I already have a #8 uf w/3 stranded wires... no bare ground... buried. It is not connected to the main or the shed. I have seen several wiring possibilities from the main... what is recommended?? I am not sure which is safe and code. Also in the shed I am going to use a heavy duty light switch for the disconnect and then transition from the light switch using #12 nm for the circuit to the outlets. So my question is the wiring the main... neutral (white) to neutral bar and ground to ground bar... the 3rd wire would be the hot. By the way.. I appreciate everybodies help on this... thx

Sorry for your loss.
I don't know how hard the ground around the shed is, but if you got some sort of rotary hammer you could probably drive a ground rod there. You could still install a sub panel and it would be safe, but this would not meet current code, so I won't advise you to do it.

I would not attempt to use the utility pole ground, the POCO could come along later and wonder what is going on. I would also be uncomfortable sharing the ground wire with high voltage lines... but that's just me.

Good luck with whatever decision you come to.

I am retired and have limited funds to wire my shed. The cost of rental and the sub-panel is ouf of my budget. I am going to go with a circuit instead of a sub panel. I will have a disconnect switch and run #12 romex for lights and outlets. Thx for your comments, Kyle_in_rure

At least with the number 8 wire you will have very little voltage drop.