air conditioner w/ 12/3 w/G and Neutral/Ground connected

[bmense]

Need some input on the following installation I ran across. The 220 volt air conditioner is connected via 12/3 w/G from a panel. The neutral (white) is connected to the neutral in the panel and runs through a disconnect and to the air conditioner. At the air conditioner the neutral and bare copper wire are connected and attached to the equipment ground. The neutral and equip. ground are bonded in the service disconnect outside.

My question, isn't this wrong? Shouldn't this have been done with 12/2 w/G and simply used the white and black as ungrounded conductors and the bare as the equipment ground.

If so, shouldn't I remove the white from the picture for safety?

Thanks,
Brian

 

[iwire]

Re: air conditioner w/ 12/3 w/G and Neutral/Ground connected

Yes separate the white, the grounded conductor can not be bonded to a grounding conductor beyond the service disconnect except for a few locations, this is not one of them.