Installing 240V Service To Your Shop - Price Breakdowns...

[MossRoad]

OK I got it. Thanks. Agreed on value of this thread, glad those who know were persistent in passing on this knowledge. It may be hard for others to find this off-topic info by a subject title search but I'm glad to have been privy to the discussion.

Ground is supposed to sit there, un-used, a safety conduit. But if tied together with the neutral, ground circuit will share some of the current carrying capacity. In other words whenever a light is on, or a welder is used, there will be measurable current flowing in the ground wire and that should never be. Because all the metal chassis' of all the other appliances are connected to the ground wire.

You want ALL of the neutral current flow to be in the neutral, not dividing off, energizing the ground circuit.

It's a little easier to understand when you think of these wires as sewer pipes, don't want multiple paths that can back up.

By Jove, I think you got it! :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

Since to original topic has faded... who cares! Keep discussing....
:laughing:

Here's another example:

When we bought our house, the power went pole to meter to main panel. The neutral and ground were bonded in the main panel.

The next year we had the house resided and moved the meter to a different side of the house. This made the length of the run from the meter to the main panel more than X feet (I don't remember the exact distance code states), so we had to put in a service disconnect below the meter and move the neutral/ground bond to that service disconnect box. The service disconnect is now considered the main panel, as it is now the first panel after the meter. Any panel after that would now be considered a sub-panel, and the neutral and ground has to be isolated in any sub panel. So the original main panel became a sub-panel. See the diagram below. I posted this in another wiring discussion a couple days ago. Its the schematic of my house...

 

[LD1]

I wonder what the rules are for the following...

My electric co switched to a new style meter base. It has main breakers in the base as well as a 20a gfci contractor plug. It allows them to only make one trip and be done as they don't have to come back out and pull the meter base to hook up permanent service as you can just kill the main breaker and tie in. These boxes also allow for more than 1 service as there is room for a few main breakers.

But...they still use only 3 wires to feed the house panel. Weather its overhead triplex or underground urd.

So...is that new base considered a disconnect now? I find it.hard to believe the power company would be doing something wrong.

 

[ThomasH]

Yes, the meter base is where the neutral and ground bond is now, a exterior disconnect at the meter, and requires 4 wires back to the main panel. Maybe they are retrofitting existing an existing house that already has a 3 wire service and bonding in the main box?

 

[LD1]

They do the same on new installs too

 

[buickanddeere]

They do the same on new installs too

They should not be. Four wire onwards from the one and only ground bond.

 

[hdmyers]

we went with direct burial...about 150+ feet, 3wire + ground. I believe #6, maybe #4 wire... was 6.50 a ft! (we paid 3.25.. my Dad seems to know everyone). I did by a big ground spade, but didn't hook it up. My Dad's the electrician, i'm the minion. Long run, so only have 60 amp (i believe, may be 50 amp) going from house to the panel in shed. Still haven't run my welder out there (idealarc 250) and have yet to finish setting up my T30..but i know i'll have to run them separately.

wiring my friends garage now... there is something zen about running wire and seeing the results of light and noise.
cheers
Hayes

 

[Mace Canute]

Well, this past Sunday we finalized the power hook up to my new shed on my buddy's acreage. It's about 220 feet from transformer pole to shed and awhile back I got to trench it with a Volvo EC35C mini excavator (a first for me) and we buried 2/0 copper cable to a 200 amp Square D QO panel. We finally got around to doing the terminations at each end and is it ever nice to have it all done! We would have been done sooner but other things needed doing as well.

 

[ThomasH]

Well, this past Sunday we finalized the power hook up to my new shed on my buddy's acreage. It's about 220 feet from transformer pole to shed and awhile back I got to trench it with a Volvo EC35C mini excavator (a first for me) and we buried 2/0 copper cable to a 200 amp Square D QO panel. We finally got around to doing the terminations at each end and is it ever nice to have it all done! We would have been done sooner but other things needed doing as well.

Wow, that sounds like a nice setup. I am sure he will enjoy it. How long did it take to do the work?

 

[Mace Canute]

Wow, that sounds like a nice setup. I am sure he will enjoy it. How long did it take to do the work?

On and off probably three or four days all added up but spread over quite a long time frame.