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Can the ground wire pass through the same conduit as feed wires from panel to meter?
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
If you are asking simply a technical question the answer is no, because ground wires do not exist from the panel to the meter.
My advice to you is this: If you have an inspector telling you to do something a certain way, do it his way unless in your professional opinion you believe to do so would be unsafe.
What is properly called a ground wire, or what the NEC calls a groundING conductor (as opposed to the groundED conductor) does not run from the meter to the panel. From the meter to the panel you will have the groundED conductor, which is the neutral, and possibly a bonding jumper. The bonding jumper is probably what you are referring to as the ground wire.
The code requires that all components of a service be bonded together. The components for a common home are just the meter and panel, but may also include a separate disconnect, junction box, or CT box. Typically the bonding jumper is run in the same raceways as the service conductors, but since the NEC prohibits any other conductors in a raceway that carries service conductors some jurisdictions do not allow the jumper to be inside the raceway or conduit. Technically the bonding jumper is not a conductor even if it is a wire.
Grounding and Bonding are 2 of the largest sections of the NEC and the most misunderstood. To the untrained eye they look alike as they both often use green or bare wires to accomplish their tasks. Understanding the difference, the proper difference, between grounding and bonding is a step in the right direction but many professional electricians use the terms improperly and cannot make a reasonable explanation of what is the purpose for each.
I invite answers from other electricians as I'm sure my explanation is much more complicated than the questioner wanted or needed.
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
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How do you make floating ground in 100 amp sub panel Sub panel 30' from main panel and is grded to 2nd 10' rod wired to 1st 10' rod at the main panel. GFCI bkrs are nuisance tripping in bsmt location?
If the sub panel is in the same building remove the bonding screw that bonds the neutral bar to the panels enclosure. Remove the ground from the second ground rod. The sub panel is grounded by the ground wire from the sub panel's feeder. If the panel is separate from the main building treat the sub panel as a separate service. It will need its own ground rods and ground wire from the rods to the neutral bar of the sub panel. Leave the bonding screw in. There will be no ground wire in the conduit between the two services.
Where do you ground on 100 amp panel?
A typical panel has three large wires entering the main panel from the electric meter and a bare ground wire. Two of the large wires are hot and go to the busses where the breakers are mounted. The third wire is common and is connected to one or more common bus locations. It will usually be silver in color with a screw on top to connect white wires from branch circuits. The ground is the metal of the panel itself and there will be one or more ground busses usually copper colored that are connected to the metal of the panel by screws there by "bonding" these ground busses to the metal of the panel. You should also see a copper wire coming from a ground rod connected to the metal of the panel. At the main panel you need to bond the common to the ground. There is usually a screw that allows this bonding to occur. If you have subpanels ground and common are NOT connected at the subpanels.
Can branch circuits from a panel be pulled in the same conduit if not exeeding the conduit fill requirements?
Yes. The thing that has to be closely watched is the load on the conductors. The conductors will have to be de-rated as the code only gives amperage rating for three conductors in a raceway. So watch the connected amperage to each load and fill the conduit accordingly. This supersedes the conduit fill requirements rule.
What is the distance needed from an electrical panel to the edge of a roof?
There is no specific distance specified in the code book. The meter stack has to be on the outside of the building and some times this means bringing it through the eave end of the roof line. The connection point has to be 15 feet high as a minimum. The utility meter has to be at head height on the outside wall for the meter reader to see and read it. On the lower end of the meter stack is the electrical panel. As you can see the distances will change in every circumstance depending on where the electrical panel is placed. The electrical panel can not be placed any further in the building from the outside wall than ten feet.
How do you tell the meter amperage of your homes electric meter?
Your main breaker should tell you the amps of your panel.
What size grounding wire do you use as the 4th wire running in your conduit from your 200 amp meter box to your 200amp service panel this is the ground wire from box to box?
You do not use a ground wire in the connection from the meter base to the distribution panel. A bonding wire may be required if the service is using PVC conduit.
How do you ground your meter box to your breaker box?
The grounding is done through the metal nipple that connects out of the back of the meter base and into the back of the breaker panel.
200 amp electric service Do you ground the meter pan and the circuit panel?
Ground the meter base only if it's a duplex. Otherwise, ground at the main switch or panel.
Does the ground wire on a 200 amp panel need to be looped through both ground rods?
Not looped but connected to both ground rods and then connected to the meter base.
Does the white and ground wire connect to same ground bar in a meter base?
There should be no ground wire in the meter stack from the mast head to the meter base. If the meter base to distribution panel conduit is PVC, then a green grounding conductor must be pulled into the conduit. This green wire is independent and isolated from the neutral wire and should never be terminated together at this point. Only the line service conductors and the neutral wire go through the meter base. The neutral goes through a lay in lug. This type of lug requires the insulation to be stripped of of the wire where it passes over the lug. This stripped wire is then laid into the lug and is secured to the meter base by the removable top piece of the lug. The neutral wire remains unbroken from the mast head to the distribution panel's neutral buss bar. Using this lay in lug the watt meter picks up the neutral wire for the plug in meters operation. If your terminology is not correct and you mean the "distribution panel" instead of "meter base" then the answer is no. There are two individual buss bars in the distribution panel. In some panels there may not be an actual "ground buss bar" but ground screws lined up in a row in the back of the distribution panel's enclosure. In all distribution panels there is a neutral buss bar where all of the neutral conductors from the branch circuits connect. Do not mix the bare ground wires and the white neutral circuit wires under this neutral buss bar.
Electricity is measured where?
Your electrical consumption is measured at the meter that is located on the outside of most residential homes. This meter is located at the bottom of the meter stack at eye level for the meter reader to take the readings. Usually just after the meter base the conduit enters the house and ends at the distribution panel.
Can the bare grounded neutral conductor of a service be buried directly in the ground?
A bare grounded neutral should never get close to the ground if it is wired properly. When the neutral leaves the meter base it is in conduit and should enter into the distribution panel where it connects to the neutral buss. It is at this junction that the copper ground wire is connected after coming from the outside ground rod or ground plate which ever grounding system was used.
How do you make floating ground in 100 amp sub panel Sub panel 30' from main panel and is grded to 2nd 10' rod wired to 1st 10' rod at the main panel. GFCI bkrs are nuisance tripping in bsmt location?
If the sub panel is in the same building remove the bonding screw that bonds the neutral bar to the panels enclosure. Remove the ground from the second ground rod. The sub panel is grounded by the ground wire from the sub panel's feeder. If the panel is separate from the main building treat the sub panel as a separate service. It will need its own ground rods and ground wire from the rods to the neutral bar of the sub panel. Leave the bonding screw in. There will be no ground wire in the conduit between the two services.
Why would your electric meter to house turn slow if you have the main turned off?
If your main breaker is open and the utility meter is still measuring current, you probably have another circuit tapped ahead of the main. Usually there will be some sort of junction box with a breaker or fuse in it that is located close to the main panel and probably connected to the main panel with conduit. If you do not see a junction box in close proximity to the main panel then carefully remove the front cover of the main panel and look for a couple smaller wires that are tightened into the cable side of the main breaker. Either that, or check for a few wires that run out of the panel through the same conduit that runs to the meter. Those would be the two most likely terminations used by somebody (previous owner) trying to add a circuit to a full panel. If you can locate that tap, you should be able to follow the wire to determine what the load is. Although I've never heard of a meter measuring current when there is no load on it, you will need to call the utility company if you cannot find a circuit tapped ahead of the main breaker. They own the meter.
Do you have to break the ground wire at a pull box and bond it to the box?
When you refer to a pull box you have to be talking about a conduit system. In a metallic system, no don't have to ground pull boxes. By the fact that it is a metallic system the conduit and associated boxes are already grounded by the connection to the distribution panel. In a PVC conduit system a ground wire has to be pulled so that the load device has a return ground wire to trip the breaker on a ground fault. Pull boxes in a PVC system don't have to be grounded just the last junction box at the load.
How is a new single phase electric watt meter installed?
A single phase watt meter is installed in series with the meter stack. It should be installed by an electrician. A permit has to be taken out for this type of installation and the electrician is the only one that can draw a permit on the job. The wires come from the weather head down the meter stack conduit and terminate into the top lugs of the meter base. From the bottom of the meter base the wires, in conduit, continue to the distribution panel where they are terminated into the main breaker's lugs. Once the installation is completed, a declaration is sent by the electrician to the electrical inspector. Once the inspector confirms that the installation is safe, he sends a declaration to the utility company stating the service is safe for connection. The utility company connects and you have power to your distribution panel.
Why are two ground bars required in a breaker box?
They are not required in a breaker box. NEC code requires that you have one 8' ground rod outside under the meter and another 8' ground rod around 6' to either side. Reason is safety.There are two ground bars in a distribution panel because the feeders to the load can come out of each side of the panel. The bar on the right side of the panel services the feeders that leave the right side of the panel. The bar on the left side of the panel services the feeders that leave the left side of the panel. This saves congestion of ground wires passing from one side of the panel to the other side, which is what would happen if just one ground bar was installed.
