I have a question about a subpanel setup that I don't see often. Home had a 200 Amp service with a detached garage approx. 100' away. There was no plumbing or other pipes or wiring b/w the home and the garage. The line to the detached garage is in plastic conduit.
The garage was built in 2010. The garage's subpanel was fed with 3 conductors (100 Amp) and had a separate ground rod driven just outside the subpanel's location. The neutral and grounding conductors were connected together at the terminal bars in the subpanel (the neutrals were not isolated).
I see one issue being that the detached garage's subpanel wasn't fed with 4 conductors (2 hots, neutral, and ground) but since there is only 1 non-hot conductor back to the main panel (and not a neutral AND ground), isn't the issue of objectionable currents a moot point (since there's only one non-hot path back to the main panel)?
Should the neutrals and grounding conductors still be isolated in this detached garage subpanel? If that's the case, there would be no grounding of this subpanel to the home's service... only the grounding conductors and panel enclosure connected to the ground rod.
The garage was built in 2010. The garage's subpanel was fed with 3 conductors (100 Amp) and had a separate ground rod driven just outside the subpanel's location. The neutral and grounding conductors were connected together at the terminal bars in the subpanel (the neutrals were not isolated).
I see one issue being that the detached garage's subpanel wasn't fed with 4 conductors (2 hots, neutral, and ground) but since there is only 1 non-hot conductor back to the main panel (and not a neutral AND ground), isn't the issue of objectionable currents a moot point (since there's only one non-hot path back to the main panel)?
Should the neutrals and grounding conductors still be isolated in this detached garage subpanel? If that's the case, there would be no grounding of this subpanel to the home's service... only the grounding conductors and panel enclosure connected to the ground rod.