Overheard an electrician ragging on split bolts yesterday

I was on a job over in Arlington picking up some coax and this older electrician was telling a homeowner that split bolts are junk for grounding. Said he's seen three houses with loose bonds from them in the last year alone. I've always used split bolts for my grounding connections so it got me thinking. He was pushing acorn clamps instead as a permanent fix. Has anyone else switched away from split bolts on their installs or am I overthinking this?

3 comments

3 Comments

lilya761mo ago

Woah, wait, three houses with loose bonds?! That's wild! I've been using split bolts for years and never had a call back from one going bad. Maybe that guy just had bad luck or something with the installation.

quinna891mo ago

Laughing at the idea of "bad luck" with split bolts. Like copper just decides to wiggle loose on its own for no reason. Nah man, that's just a bad install or the guy wasn't cranking down hard enough. Three houses in a row means it's a pattern, not a curse.

hugoj121mo ago

I swapped to acorn clamps after finding loose split bolts on two service calls and never looked back.