I have a sub panel that is wired with a 3-wire feeder and I need to ground it, how can I do it?
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Hello all.
I need help with something: I have a sub panel that is wired with a 3-wire feeder and I need to ground it, how can I do it?
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Hello. If your sub panel has 3 wires (2 hot wires and 1 neutral wire), you need to add a separate grounding pathway to make it safe. This is because the neutral wire carries current and also acts as a ground, which can be dangerous if something goes wrong.
Here's what you need to do:
- Install a ground rod near the sub-panel. Ground Rods are intended to be driven into earth to provide grounding for homes, buildings, and all other structures that contain electrical products or for applications to provide grounding against lightning. Check one of our top recommendations.
- Connect a grounding wire from the ground rod to the sub-panel. This wire should be the right size for the amperage of the panel and the distance between the rod and the panel.
- Add a new grounding bar to the sub-panel, and connect the grounding wire to it.
- Move all the green or bare wires from the circuits that will connect to the sub-panel to the new grounding bar.
- Make sure that the neutral and ground bars in the sub-panel are kept separate and not connected.
- Finally, check that the sub-panel is properly grounded and all the connections are tight.
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