marty potokar
Member
As an independent building inspector/consultant, I must admit that many of the code violations and amateur wiring I've come across over the years never ceases to amaze me. In fact what amazes me the most is what people actually get away with without suffering the consequences. The most recent case involves what appears to be a home owner installed 30A 120/240V single-phase subpanel. Only thing is, the person who installed it decided to use it as a 120V subpanel by jumpering the line side lugs. The panel is essentially supplied by 2-#10 AWG copper conductors in conduit, i.e., one ungrounded and one grounded conductor. I have to admit that the person/s were at least smart enough not to use multi-wire branch circuits since each branch circuit consists of one ungrounded and one grounded conductor. Regardless, my contention is that this still remains an unorthodox, improper and potentially unsafe installation since another amateur done the road could easily add multi-wire branch circuits without realizing that this is an accident looking for a place to happen. I should also add that the person/s who installed this panel bonded the neutral busbar to the enclosure (not allowed) not to mention that there are a total of (6) 15A 120V circuits being supplied by this 30A 120V subpanel.
All said, am I wrong in flagging this installation? I've also added a photo for further clarification. All comments and feedback regarding this matter are appreciated.