How's my box look?

[Killer]

Sorry. That sounded funny when I was typing it so I went with it... I can hear my wife groaning from across the room... lol

Anyway. Running new power to my barn. Neighbor came over to check the progress and said.. "Chris (guy we bought the place from) fancied himself an electrician. I've had to fix some stuff he did for neighbors so you better check yours.." Sweet.

Got the new wires ran to the panel and started checking things out. Came across a couple things that I'd like to ask about.

But first. As much info as I can think of.

QO load center. 200 amp. Powered by 4 wires. Main disconnect is outside under the meter. It looks like the neutral and ground are bonded. Separate bus for grounds, not sure if panel came that way or if it was added.

Now my questions.

#1. In the pics you will see that all the neutrals go to the bonded neutral/ground bar. All the grounds go to the ground bar that looks to be added (left side middle of box). Is this an acceptable way for the panel to be wired? I've never seen one one this way but I'm no electrician. I play hot rod builder during the week.

question 2. I have 2 circuits. One for the spa (not there anymore. circuit breaker off) and the other for the heat pump. Both fed by 3 wires. I was under the assumption that the 2 wires were power and the third would be ground. He has them both wired into the neutral bar. Should those be be moved to the ground bar? I ask about this because the a/c will dim the lights considerably when it kicks in.

pics attached.

Thanks a bunch,
Jason

 

[pattenp]

If there is a main disconnect at the meter then the panel should have the neutrals isolated from the grounds. In other words the grounds go to a bar that's bonded to the panel case and the neutrals go to a separate bar that is insulated from the panel case. The ground and neutral should only be bonded at the first main disconnect.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

yes the added ground bar is correct since theres a 4-wire feed and a disconnect ahead of the panel. This is considered a subpanel.

Remove the bonding screw on the neutral bar and move any ground wires currently on the neutral bar over to the ground bar.

Move any neutral wires on the ground bar over to the neutral bar.

the lights dimming on AC startup can be normal. Motors use 4-8x FLC on startup. This is called in-rush current.

How long is the service drop to the transformer?

the other thing it could be is the transformer is going out or u have a bad connection on the drop somewhere. Ive seen that happen before....

 

[Cmreschke]

My question is, is the meter and disco attached to the barn or attached to a seperate structure? If attached to barn then it's ok. If not, and this is fed from another building and this building is considered a seperate outbuilding, the. You need a disconnect ar the building. Whether you change the panel to one with a main breaker, or add a disco next to the panel and move your feeder to it, then refers panel from disco. You also need ground rods if you don't have them.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Man, that was a loaded question

 

[bad_idea]

What a let down. Was hoping to see a sloppy box.

 

[Cmreschke]

Man, that was a loaded question

Sorry.

 

[softailgarage]

I just saw Tampa walking away with a tear in his eye.

 

[Killer]

Thanks for taking the time to reply fellas, its much appreciated.

Wires moved. I left the grounds on the added bus bar. Moved the neutrals to the neutral bar. A couple grounds were left on the original ground bar.

New wires ran to the barn subpanel.

Next question: ground rods. Since this panel is in the house, what type of grounding do I need? We are on a well so I'm not sure grounding to a water pipe is good enough. How should I go about this?

I will be adding ground rods at the barn. Where should the wire attach? The case of the panel or the ground bar or?

Again, the help is much appreciated. If you find yourself rear Richmond VA, stop by and I'll fill ya full booze!

Jason

 

[Cmreschke]

Ok is this panel to panel in the barn or the house?
2 ground rods are sufficient. If you don't have a metal water main coming into the house then it is not considered a grounding electrode. In that instance (mostly wells) you only need to bond your plumbing to the ground bar. Your just getting the plumbing pipes to the same potential as ground. You only need to bond to the closest cold water pipe with a 6. Assuming coming into house is plastic and everything else is copper.

 

[Killer]

The panel in the pics is in the house. The meter and main disconnect are also on the house.

I ran 2224 ser from the house panel to the end of the deck. Buried 2224 mobile home feed (in 2in conduit) under the driveway. This is attached to the sub panel in the barn. Total length is just under 100 ft. 90 amp fuse in the house. 100 in the panel in the barn.

Everything from the well is plastic. Copper pipes.

Nothing metal attaches the house to the barn... except the wires. And they're aluminum! hahahaha!

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Thanks for taking the time to reply fellas, its much appreciated.

Wires moved. I left the grounds on the added bus bar. Moved the neutrals to the neutral bar. A couple grounds were left on the original ground bar.

New wires ran to the barn subpanel.

Next question: ground rods. Since this panel is in the house, what type of grounding do I need? We are on a well so I'm not sure grounding to a water pipe is good enough. How should I go about this?

I will be adding ground rods at the barn. Where should the wire attach? The case of the panel or the ground bar or?

Again, the help is much appreciated. If you find yourself rear Richmond VA, stop by and I'll fill ya full booze!

Jason

The panel in the pics is in the house. The meter and main disconnect are also on the house.

I ran 2224 ser from the house panel to the end of the deck. Buried 2224 mobile home feed (in 2in conduit) under the driveway. This is attached to the sub panel in the barn. Total length is just under 100 ft. 90 amp fuse in the house. 100 in the panel in the barn.

Everything from the well is plastic. Copper pipes.

Nothing metal attaches the house to the barn... except the wires. And they're aluminum! hahahaha!

u need 2 ground rods separated at least 6' apart. use bare solid #6 cu wire by itself(no conduit; as long as its not subject to damage ie weed whacker) to connect them together.

Also, did u make sure to isolate the neutral bar in the barn subpanel?

 

[Killer]

Ok. 2 ground rods at the barn and a ground wire to the copper pipes in the house and I should be good??

I did isolate the ground and neutral in the barn.

Thanks again!
J