Electrical Question: 230 volt GFI

[ron in sc]

I got a 230 volt 30 amp GFI circuit breaker. Question is can the white wire go to either the regular ground or to the neutral ground. On my new circuit break box there is a bar for each, but they are contected together by a bar.

On my other circuit breaker box, 25 years old, all the white wires and the ground wires go to just one bar.

I would like to connect white wire to ground strap in box because it is closer to the location of the breaker position in the box. As you can see the wire is pretty short.

 

[67 455 Bird ragtop]

I don't think it matters since the regular and neutral ground are connected to each other. But I'll wait for someone more knowledgable to chime in.

Also thanks for posting this. You just made me realize I need to have a GFI breaker on my compressor circuit since it's an outlet. Need to change that before my inspecttion next week.

 

[ron in sc]

All of the outlets in my garage are high up as required by code. All 110 outlets are GFI protected, althought not from the circuit breaker box.

None of my 230 outlets are GFI protected. The one I got is for the dryer. The electrician put it low, like they do in a house. I told the contractor it would have to be moved or he could pay reimburse me for the GFI unit which he elected to do.

The only reason I wanted the dryer to be GFI protected was so I would not get shocked if there was a flood with a foot or so of water in the garage. If the water were to get as high as the other outlets I'd be swimming.

 

[W-Cummins]

I got a 230 volt 30 amp GFI circuit breaker. Question is can the white wire go to either the regular ground or to the neutral ground. On my new circuit break box there is a bar for each, but they are contected together by a bar.


I would like to connect white wire to ground strap in box because it is closer to the location of the breaker position in the box. As you can see the wire is pretty short.

Well you can do any thing you want, to but the correct way is to connect it to the grounded conductor bus strip. I assume that this is the service entry point and your allowed to have them bonded there?

You just made me realize I need to have a GFI breaker on my compressor circuit since it's an outlet. Need to change that before my inspecttion next week.

What version of the code are you on that requires 240v outlets be on a GFCI?


William...

 

[bluesman2a]

What version of the code are you on that requires 240v outlets be on a GFCI?

X2, I recently went through inspection on this one, and the inspector specifically SAID "ALL 110 needs to be on GFI, but NOT 240."

 

[67 455 Bird ragtop]

Well you can do any thing you want, to but the correct way is to connect it to the grounded conductor bus strip. I assume that this is the service entry point and your allowed to have them bonded there?



What version of the code are you on that requires 240v outlets be on a GFCI?


William...

Actually I'm not. I mis-interpreted my electrician and inspector when they said each circuit with an outlet needed to be GFI protected. That only applied to my 110 circuits not my 240 oultets. My mistake...

 

[ron in sc]

the correct way is to connect it to the grounded conductor bus strip. I assume that this is the service entry point and your allowed to have them bonded there?

Below is a photo of the box. I circled the bar in yellow, but it's hard to see in the photo.

Is the bar I circle the buss bar?

 

[Aceman]

If the neutral and ground bars are connected together, it does not matter where you land the GFI breaker pigtail.

 

[tontruck]

If the neutral and ground bars are connected together, it does not matter where you land the GFI breaker pigtail.

It matters to the inspectors here in KY, they want all the grounds on one buss and the neutrals on another buss. It might be a local code becuase I couldn't find it in the code book when I tried to argue it with him.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

If your neutral and ground bars are isolated in the panel you should connect it to the neutral bar. If the ground and neutral bars are tied together then it really won't matter at all. It should be explained in the instructions that came with it.

Charles

 

[Aceman]

We have an inspector like that also, he doesn't give a code reference(because there isn't one!) but just likes to see it that way. "What if somebody removes that jumper?" He says.

I haven't personally had to deal with his "made up code" yet but I know it's coming...

 

[goodfellow]

I believe the code says that ground and neutral are bonded at the main panel, but certain local codes still require you to bond neutral and ground to the appropriate bars (even though a few inches farther up in the panel they are bonded together anyway).

If it's a subpanel, both neutral and ground will most certainly have to be isolated because according to code, they can only be bonded at the main.