On Mon, 10 Jun 2019 13:06:50 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Sun, 09 Jun 2019 22:45:08 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 09 Jun 2019 21:37:01 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Sun, 9 Jun 2019 20:01:54 -0500, Terry Coombs
wrote:


Â* When is it necessary ? I've just replaced the panel out in the shop
(aluminum buss bars on the old one were giving problems) and I have a 3
wire service run out there . At this time the only place the neutral is
bonded to ground is in the meter box . It has been suggested to me to
bond them in the main panel too ... but that seems redundant to me ,
they're only the thickness of a piece of plywood apart . I have
considered installing a ground rod at the new panel but am concerned
about the potential for ground loop currents .
by cide the seb has to be "floating" - the neutral and ground bonded
pnly at one point DOWNSTREAM OF THE MAIN DISCONNECT. The main panel
gets "bonded" - nothuing else does - including a connected generator

You float the neutral if you have a 4 wire feeder but if you are still
working with that older 3 wire feeder, you need to reground the
neutral. That was only legal in a second building. In a single
building, all sub panels needed a 4 wire feeder and always have.

Generators will depend on what transfer equipment you are using. If
you switch the neutral, the generator is a separately derived system
and you bond the neutral since the main bonding jumper in the service
disconnect is not in the system anymore.
I was kinda ASS U ME ing that we were talking a 4 wire cable and we
were talking about bonding the neutral WIRE to the ground WIRE.

The only way anyone up here would have a 3 wire feed to an
outbuilding would be if it was origionally set up for a 120 volt panel
- and then one wire would be bare - - - unless it was over 50 years
old (at least).
The code changed here in 1996 and Canada usually mirrored the US code
pretty much. Maybe the war was over earlier up there ;-)


switched neutral transfer would be uncommon, i would
assume. Only REQUIRED for a bonded neutral generator equipped with a
GFI outlet.

Real transfer equipment usually switches the neutral. It is generally
breaker interlock systems that don't. I suppose the installer should
know what he is installing tho. The scary thing is how many licensed
electricians, particularly residential, who do not understand
separately derived systems.

On my generator I removed the bond jumper so I can connect it to the
house and made a "bonding plug" that allows me to bond the neutral by
simply putting the bonding plug into one of the 120 volt outlets. The
plug has a jumper from neutral tothe safety ground.

For most people, it is better to leave the jumper there if it is a
portable generator. The down side of not having it is worse than
having it. As long as the EGC in the connecting cable is the same size
as the circuit conductors, there is really no big issue. You do have a
parallel neutral conductor but babies are not going to die.