I know that this has been asked before, but how serious is it to have a neutral (grounded conductor) and a ground (grounding wire) share the same lug on a main distribution panel.
The panel in this photo shows two of of this very scenario. What exactly is the hazard? Can the neutrals share a lug?
Also, I couldn’t get any information of of the panel.
Never mind. I found what I needed. 2002 NEC 110 and UL 67. I can’t figure out how to delete this thread, though.:shock:
Just curious… what was your conclusion?
If this is the main where the neutral is bonded than it’s ok for the neutral and grounds to be on the same “ground/neutral” bar however lug that the wires are under are not rated for 2 wires so it is still a code violation in that respect.
Also 2002 NEC is outdated by a few editions btw.
Try this
This doesn’t portray what’s found in the photos.
It’s never acceptable for a grounded (neutral) conductor to share a terminal (lug) with a grounding conductor.
I know that the 2002 NEC is outdated, it’s a living document. The 2008 NEC gave more credence to this scenario.
Obviously now its not allowed, but locally it was acceptable practice “approved by the inspector” to allow neutral and ground tapping.
I make a note of it personally but don’t make it out to be the end of the world. I just inform people that rules have changed and they should consider making improvements to meet current compliance.
I find this useful.
Its called a double tap regardless if it is two hot wire our a Ground/neutral combination .
With your question on your neutral/Ground combination they are two different sizes and consequently one has normal pressure on the wire and the other does not have a tight pressure and frequently is loose .
Not proper and not allowed .
Two neutrals sharing the same lug is also not allowed and the reason is if some tries to remove one wire then the other neutral could become loose when this is done .
You now could have a unbalanced hot wire with higher voltage in the circuit leading to damaged equipment … Roy