Today’s main and sub panel inspection was interesting.
The 1st and 2nd photos are the main panel outside, then the other photos are of the sub panel in the garage.
I would like confirmation of what I am seeing.
Main panel has neutral bonded to the box but the ground is not bonded to the box.
The sub panel has neutral bonded to ground but they aren’t bonded to the box.
This is incorrect, right or am I missing something? Shouldn’t the main have the neutral and ground bonded to the box and in the sub panel, the neutral is to separated from ground and should NOT be bonded to box?
This looks like it’s backwards :shock:
In the main you state that the neutral is bonded to the box. I do not see where.
Also, FYI… the guts in the main panel were installed upside down.
Jeff
The subpanel has a 4 wire feeder but there should be a separate EGC bar for the EGC’s. I see no bonding of the neutral in the disconnect and no grounding electrodes conductors in the disconnect either.
Thanks for the guts being installed upside down. It looks like the lugs on the each side of the breaker are screwed into the bracket behind the breaker. This is why I thought it was bonded
I only see the 3 wires in the subpanel, the 2 at the top and 1 on the right side. Where is the 4th one?
The main panel has grounding rod that needs replacement. It’s connected with the conductor that you see at the top left of the 2nd photo
If you look close in the last picture you can see the EGC on the neutral bus bar. It does not seem to be connected to the panel.
So the question is, Where is it coming from and what is it connected to?
Here are a few more photos that might be clearer. This is a mystery to me, the neutral looks like it’s connected to the ground… :ack!:
In any case, there are ground conductors on the neutral bus bar.
There are 4 conductors in the raceway feeding this panel.
I see it now. Thanks! I’m still confused with these two panels. I have enough deficiencies with the grounding rod and the other GFCI’s no functioning that I’m going to recommend having the system evaluated and repaired as needed by a licensed electrician (I might ask sparky if I can ride along so he can explain these panels to me). Thanks for all the input!
[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana]Will,
In the same panel where the service disconnect is located, the main as some call it but the one that will kill all power to the building and leave nothing energized but the conductors coming out of the meter, is where the grounding electrode conductor, the neutral, and the metal enclosure must be bonded together.
In any panel downstream from this service disconnect the neutral must be isolated from the metal enclosure and the equipment grounding conductors. The bar that the equipment grounding conductors attach to must be bonded to the metal enclosure.
What you have is a code violation and is unsafe.
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Joseph, thanks for the input! That is what I thought but this whole installation looked different from what I usually see around this neighborhood that I needed to have confirmation. I am glad I asked as other issues where pointed out.