Electrical Question

[kkemp]

I have one . He told me to put them all on the same rod . Is that okay ?

 

[RI Chevy]

That's fine. It was code back before the 2 ground rods became code. Just be sure to have them all interconnect. Use burndys if you need to.
To add a 2nd ground rod is cheap insurance. Just gotta be sure no pipes are under the ground where you are installing it. Lol
We do several houses where there are no ground rods. Old, old houses.

 

[kkemp]

By interconnect do you mean all the ground wires need to be connected to each other?

 

[RI Chevy]

Yes as in one wire through both panels Ground Bar and connected to ground rod with an acorn nut.
Just to add another twist. If you have city water, you would also have to jump out the meter as well.

 

[blacksmith]

Wow. Very different electrical work. Good for you.
I work with a friend. If we ever meet up I'll fill you in. We do small commercial buildings and mostly residential. Don't make a lot, but it sure is steady. We turn some work away.

And Angelo is correct! Ball busting about 110 percent of the time. Awesome bunch of guys on here. Sometimes things get taken out of context when in text form. Once you get to meet and know guys at GTGs it is much more understandable.

Hopefully we can meet up at some point. I think I remember @Scotty Overkill saying that he met you at a GTG in New England somewhere, (Stinney's maybe)? He spoke very highly of you! If you didn't know me and Scotty both work at the same place and we also cut tree's together a lot. I was supposed to come with him on that trip but was not able to make it.

 

[blacksmith]

Couple old sayings,righty tighty ,lefty loosesy .Tight is tight too tight is broken .---and ground is ground the world around . Yes as matter of fact I am .Navy time 4 years as a submarine sonar technician ,20 years as a journeyman inside wireman,local #32 Lima Ohio .29 years journey man industrial electrician ,Lima engine plant Ford Motor Company

Hey Al how far are you from Bellevue Ohio? I travel for work and I think that I am going to be making a stop at Bellevue for a week at some pointthis year. If your not too far away maybe we can meet up!

 

[RI Chevy]

Hopefully we can meet up at some point. I think I remember @Scotty Overkill saying that he met you at a GTG in New England somewhere, (Stinney's maybe)? He spoke very highly of you! If you didn't know me and Scotty both work at the same place and we also cut tree's together a lot. I was supposed to come with him on that trip but was not able to make it.

Yessir. TY
NYGTG I believe. [emoji106]
Hopefully some time in the future we will meet up. [emoji482]

 

[blacksmith]

Yessir. TY
NYGTG I believe. [emoji106]
Hopefully some time in the future we will meet up. [emoji482]

Yup now that I think of it it was the New York GTG because I know that was an OPE GTG that he went to.

 

[kkemp]

Yes as in one wire through both panels Ground Bar and connected to ground rod with an acorn nut.
Just to add another twist. If you have city water, you would also have to jump out the meter as well.

not to sound more like a *pretty boy, but is the ground bar and nuetral bar the same thing here?
I know some panels have both but I'm just wanting to make sure I'm on the same page here .
Also my water meter is about 2200 ft away at the end of my driveway . Lol

 

[blacksmith]

not to sound more like a *pretty boy, but is the ground bar and nuetral bar the same thing here?
I know some panels have both but I'm just wanting to make sure I'm on the same page here .
Also my water meter is about 2200 ft away at the end of my driveway . Lol

Yes they are but when wiring up a panel being used as a sub panel you have to by a separate ground bar kit. When you do this you do not want to bond the panel with the green ground screw provided when the panel is being used as a sub panel. This way the the grounds and neutrals will be separated.

 

[JohnnyBlade]

Nuetral is to be bonded to ground at first means of disconnect/ main panel most likely.
Beyond that they should be separate.

Edit. Dang slow updates. Lol

 

[kkemp]

Yes they are but when wiring up a panel being used as a sub panel you have to by a separate ground bar kit. When you do this you do not want to bond the panel with the green ground screw provided when the panel is being used as a sub panel. This way the the grounds and neutrals will be separated.

ok . But in my situation are both of my panels main panels? One is hot from the generator and the other from the inverter. But when the generator is running the power bypasses the inverter . Excuse all the rambling please I'm just trying to learn . Lol

 

[RI Chevy]

Took the dog out for a walk. You got lots of good info. Lol
Your situation is kind of unique. You may be absolutely correct. 2 main panels. May not fall under the sub panel criteria.

 

[blacksmith]

As for jumping the water meter most houses have a water meter inside the home with a wire running outside to a remote box so the water company can read your meter. You could just to be safe run a separate ground wire to the main water line where it enters the house. That what I would do if my water meter inside my house.

 

[JohnnyBlade]

So is there utility power in this situation? Or is it just batteries and generator? This is starting to really interest me

 

[blacksmith]

ok . But in my situation are both of my panels main panels? One is hot from the generator and the other from the inverter. But when the generator is running the power bypasses the inverter . Excuse all the rambling please I'm just trying to learn . Lol

I do not have an updated code book or I'd look for you. But they always told us in my apprenticeship if there was a way to ground a bologna sandwich it would be in there. It's better to be safe and overkill the grounding than be sorry.

In my opinion I'd treat the panel for your generator as a sub-panel and ground it as such since it's not hooked up to the power grid. I could be wrong I am just throwing un my 2 cents. I've been out of that kind of work for 14 years so with me being a little rusty and the codes constantly changing I could be wrong.

 

[RI Chevy]

I agree. Can't go wrong with grounding both. Protects against getting struck by lightening and stuff.
If only one panel provides you with power at
1 time, then treat both as a main panel.
Ground both panels to ground rod.

 

[kkemp]

Ok. I'll ground both . Thanks a lot guys. I've learned more in this thread then all my other hours of research on the subject .

 

[RI Chevy]

LOL.

 

[kkemp]

So is there utility power in this situation? Or is it just batteries and generator? This is starting to really interest me

no utility power . I live a long way from the main road and the cost to get power back here is crazy .

Solar panels typically keep the batteries charged but when the sun don't shine for a couple days I have to use a generator.