Ed B wrote:
jamesgangnc wrote:
On Jun 16, 9:41 am, wrote:
On Jun 16, 8:43 am, jamesgangnc wrote:





On Jun 15, 10:14 pm, Ed B wrote:
RBM wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:37:46 -0400, "RBM" wrote:
"Ed B" wrote in message
...
Situation is:
A residential home with a detached garage has a sub panel which is
serviced from a 50A breaker located in the main breaker box. This
service
feed is approximately 20'.
The house has a meter pan/disconnect where the 200A service
enters the
house.
The breaker box is approximately 30' from the meter pan. There
is a
grounding rod, earthed at the meter pan entrance which goes to the
breaker
panel.
The water lines are bonded.
My main question is should the sub panel in the garage be
earthed or do
I
use the ground wire from the main to act as my safety ground
like to
carry
currents from a lightning strike to the original earthed point
all the
way
across the house by the meter pan.
Since the garage is detached, wouldn't I want to provide a path
for
lightning to the closest point?
Any advice will be appreciated. :-)
Thank you
If the feeder to the garage is 4 wire, the grounds and neutrals
at the
garage should be on separate busses, and a ground rod or two
should be
driven at the garage and attached to the grounding detail.
If there is only three conductors in the feeder from the house, the
neutral
and ground busses should be bonded together in the garage panel,
and a
ground rod or two should be driven and attached to the neutral -
ground
detail
The 2008 code eliminated the 3 wire feeder entirely. You have to go
the 4 wire route described above.
This is not a new installation. It's existing, and the op doesn't
say if
it's 3 or 4 wire. He didn't ask how a new installation should be
done.
Thanks to all who responded, your advice is greatly appreciated
It is existing, using a three wire feed. I am installing additional
electrical circuits off of this sub in the garage need to get it
inspected. Once the inspector opens the panel I am afraid he will
make
me comply with the 2008 rule change. I am not sure if it is
grand-fathered.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
Best solution is to cal him now and explain what you have. Ask him
what he'll accept. It should not have passed inspection before but
that's not your fault. How's the wire run between the house and
garage now, overhead? Or buried? If it's buried maybe you should ask
him out to look at it and that might help your case if he sees it will
be a pain to change.
Boy things must work differently where some of you are from. My
experience has been that as a homeowner you can get an inspector to
answer some questions, but even then, it better be a direct code
related question, not an open ended, what;s the best way to do this
one. And as for a field visit, forget that without a permit and
then only for inspection.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That might be. If he's not willing to come out then take a few
pictures and go visit him. He's eventually going to have to inspect
it. It's actually in his interest for you to ask enough questions so
that what you do satisfies him. Otherwise he's just going to have to
make repeat visits and possibly going to **** you off. While you're
not likely to win any actual concessions from his management they
still do not like to hear from complaining citizens. At the end of
the day they do work for you. I don't see a downside to trying to
work with the guy up front to avoid problems later. If he blows you
off and then decides he has problems with your job you really do have
a valid complain then.
Very true. I just want to educate myself on what to expect so I could
intelligently talk to the inspector about the potential problems we
might encounter. As suggested, I am going to visit him tomorrow with
some photos. I'll keep the group updated.

Again, thanks for all the valuable insight and wisdom provided.
Update, spoke with the inspector. He has told me the panel and feed is
grandfathered therefore no rod required. Thanks again for all the sound
advice