Mobile homes and subpanels

[catfish500 mark]

I can only hope I've not made a major mistake.I have a mobile home which is from the factory a 4 wire system.The neutral and ground are not bonded at the exterior disconnect coming from the meter base.I assumed this is because a mobile home is a 4 wire vs site built homes being a 3 wire setup.I went ahead and kept the neutral and ground seperated to the subpanel in the shop.Is this correct or did I goof.Also the 200 amp panel inside the house is not bonded so I guess it would be easier to say nowhere is the neutral and ground bonded.Hope whoever reads this can make sense of what Im trying to say because it even confuses me (lol).

 

[C96]

I can only hope I've not made a major mistake.I have a mobile home which is from the factory a 4 wire system.The neutral and ground are not bonded at the exterior disconnect coming from the meter base.I assumed this is because a mobile home is a 4 wire vs site built homes being a 3 wire setup.I went ahead and kept the neutral and ground seperated to the subpanel in the shop.Is this correct or did I goof.Also the 200 amp panel inside the house is not bonded so I guess it would be easier to say nowhere is the neutral and ground bonded.Hope whoever reads this can make sense of what Im trying to say because it even confuses me (lol).

Good question

It's possible it has been done at the meter base itself

 

[Professur]

Neutral goes to the pole, ground goes to a grounding rod hammered into the ground.

 

[pattenp]

Is there a ground coming from the meter base to the disconnect or is it just 3 wires from meter to disconnect? Based on your statement about the ground to a rod I assume the ground is not to the meter. Normally it's 3 wire from pole to meter and meter to first disconnect. Then 4 wire leaving the first disconnect with the neutral and ground bonded at the first disconnect. Sounds to me you need to bond the neutral and ground at the disconnect.

 

[catfish500 mark]

From the ground rod the ground wire goes to the meter and then from the meter it has 2 hots a neutral and a ground but the ground and neutral are NOT bonded at the 200amp disconnect.I should clarify that the bare ground wire stops in the meter base.Then the utility co came out of the meter base with a coated ground wire.I dont know what type it is I.e. thhn or thnn or whatever, its just a copper insulated ground wire maybe a 4 or 6 guage.Thx

 

[catfish500 mark]

Neutral goes to the pole, ground goes to a grounding rod hammered into the ground.

Yes this is exactly how the utility hooked it up.They came with 2 hots and a neutral from the transformer and then picked up the ground from the ground rod.All of this goes into the meter base and from there its like I described above.Doggonit, this electrical stuff is enough to make me start drinking again. (lol)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[C96]

From the ground rod the ground wire goes to the meter and then from the meter it has 2 hots a neutral and a ground but the ground and neutral are NOT bonded at the 200amp disconnect.I should clarify that the bare ground wire stops in the meter base.Then the utility co came out of the meter base with a coated ground wire.I dont know what type it is I.e. thhn or thnn or whatever, its just a copper insulated ground wire maybe a 4 or 6 guage.Thx

↑↑↑ From this description, it has been done in the meter base itself. ↑↑↑

 

[pattenp]

↑↑↑ From this description, it has been done in the meter base itself. ↑↑↑

Agree. The bonding of the neutral and ground appears to be in the meter base. So every place after that the neutral should be isolated from the ground.

 

[sberry]

Is this all metal connections between the meter and first panel? If not or even if the bond screw should be installed making this one homogenous unit, if the main panel is isolated and the screw isn't in we have an ungrounded box and so is anything attatched via an extra ground bar if there should happen to be one. I really try not to use one at a service entrance panel.

 

[Aceman]

I think you need to take some pictures(covers off) starting from the meterbase all the way to the last panel in or on the mobile home.

It doesn't matter if the grounding electrode conductor is bonded to the neutral in the meterbase, their must still be a neutral to ground bond in the service disconnect aka, the main breaker panel.

But, pics will clear this up. This is one thing that you DON'T want wired incorrectly.

250.24(A)1 explains where the grounding electrode conductor can terminate.

250.24(B) requires the main bonding jumper in the service disconnect.

 

[catfish500 mark]

I think you need to take some pictures(covers off) starting from the meterbase all the way to the last panel in or on the mobile home.

It doesn't matter if the grounding electrode conductor is bonded to the neutral in the meterbase, their must still be a neutral to ground bond in the service disconnect aka, the main breaker panel.

But, pics will clear this up. This is one thing that you DON'T want wired incorrectly.

250.24(A)1 explains where the grounding electrode conductor can terminate.

250.24(B) requires the main bonding jumper in the service disconnect.

I went through my pix in my tablet to see if I might have some with me but as luck would have it I dont.I drive for a living and Im currently on the road but as soon as I get home tomorrow thats what I will do.I've been going through the process of a new compressor installation and I just want to be sure Im not fixing to burn something up or down depending on how one looks at it.Funny thing though, the head honcho from the utility dept came by my place while I was in the middle of this and I presented the same question to him and he seemed lost.Maybe from a legal aspect they aren't allowed to comment on such things.

 

[sberry]

Not all of them know. Here is something to help think his thru. There needs to be an unbroken wire from the case of any equipment or panel back to the neutral at main service entrance and the entrance equipment (box) needs to be bonded to this. Everything all hooked together at this one point.
The subs being fed 4 wire are connected via the ground wire which leaves the neutral bars in them insulated,, the goal here is 2 fold. 1 being to keep operating currents (white wires) insulated so the currents do not take an alternate pathway, they do not go down grounds or on any other metal cases or pathways. The second is to have a direct pathway from the case of the equipment in the event of a fault,, this prevents it from "holding" 120V potential and allows current to flow easily to open the breaker.
This also puts everything at the same potential, no voltage difference between any metal or machines in the place and to some extent no or reduced difference between it and the ground you are standing on.
This is why gfci is important. With 2 wire ungrounded appliances there is no wire to provide either of these functions,,, hence drop a toaster in the tub and not a grounded drill to electrocute.

 

[catfish500 mark]

First off I want to extend my gratitude and thanks to all who chimed in with their help.I found out that the neutral lug in the meter base and the ground wire from the ground rod to the meter base are bonded at the meter base via the meter box itself.This comes from our local electrical inspector.He came over and looked at everything and although he didnt approve of everything that I did he said it was all wired correctly.It always helps tremendously when your cousin is a big wheel for the utility company.I didnt want to ask him for that favor since we aren't that close but desperate times call for desperate measures.Trust me though I made it worth their time.Thanks again to everyone for their advice, I can rest easy now.Looking foward to learning more about electrical from this site and the people that make up this site.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Most PoCos dont allow bonding in the meter base beause they put seals on the doors. The best place is at the first disconnect. After the first disconnect, as others have said, u should have 4-wires - hot hot neutral and ground/EGC(which is different than the GEC which goes to grounding electrodes/rods). So in a new subpanel, u should have a solid #6 CU wire going to the ground bar as well...