Is grounding a splice trough necessary?

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iMavrick

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Massachusetts
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Electrician apprentice
Hey everyone,

I'm planning out upgrading my panel. Currently in my existing panel there's a few splices and in order to land everything on Arc faults I'm going to have to put a splice trough above my load center since a majority of the circuits will not be long enough. My question is if I need to ground the trough above the load center

Thanks,
Nick
 
Yes you need to bond any metal parts of the electrical system. But should you really be doing this job if you are an apprentice
 
Thanks for the reply, I have a licensed friend pulling the permit, helping me and making sure everything is up to code and proper.
 
It helps as you learn the trade to use the correct terms, especially in bonding and grounding. In your question, look up the Art 100 definition of Grounding. Installing a wireway for a panel is very common. I would suggest you install a bonding bus (ground bar) in the wireway, then run one common EGC to the panel, size the EGC per 250.122. This will eliminate many of the individual GECs in the panel, and of course bond the wireway. conduit nipples and locknuts will also provide the required bonding
 
tom baker said:
It helps as you learn the trade to use the correct terms, especially in bonding and grounding. In your question, look up the Art 100 definition of Grounding. Installing a wireway for a panel is very common. I would suggest you install a bonding bus (ground bar) in the wireway, then run one common EGC to the panel, size the EGC per 250.122. This will eliminate many of the individual GECs in the panel, and of course bond the wireway. conduit nipples and locknuts will also provide the required bonding
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Noted, thank you very much
 
And as a follow up, based on a lot of years instructing electrical classes, definitions are important, if you know what it is, then you can find the rules. In the index look up splice trough, and wireway. I understand what a spice trough is, and OK on the job, but using the correct term is really important when you take your electrical test.
 
iMavrick said:
My question is if I need to ground the trough above the load center
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The phrase "may become energized" shows up a lot, and the simple rule is if it "may", then bond it. In your case, even if the splices are insulated now, 20 years down the road some vibration might have worn through that insulation, and Bam!

It's also helpful to think of the "fault current path"- if a wire touches something it shouldn't, how do you get enough current flow ("fault current") to trip the breaker? If you imagine a portable power drill and the motor shorts to the metal case, that path is the ground wire ("equipment grounding conductor" or EGC). With a trough or gutter, that could be the metal conduit connecting it (there are rules here), but often it's a bonding wire.
 
tom baker said:
And as a follow up, based on a lot of years instructing electrical classes, definitions are important, if you know what it is, then you can find the rules. In the index look up splice trough, and wireway. I understand what a spice trough is, and OK on the job, but using the correct term is really important when you take your electrical test.
Click to expand...
I whole heartedly agree with you and appreciate your time
 
zbang said:
The phrase "may become energized" shows up a lot, and the simple rule is if it "may", then bond it. In your case, even if the splices are insulated now, 20 years down the road some vibration might have worn through that insulation, and Bam!

It's also helpful to think of the "fault current path"- if a wire touches something it shouldn't, how do you get enough current flow ("fault current") to trip the breaker? If you imagine a portable power drill and the motor shorts to the metal case, that path is the ground wire ("equipment grounding conductor" or EGC). With a trough or gutter, that could be the metal conduit connecting it (there are rules here), but often it's a bonding wire.
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Good point and explanation

Thank you!
 
If the conductors will just make it into the load center why not splice them there?
Forget about the trough
 
Hv&Lv said:
If the conductors will just make it into the load center why not splice them there?
Forget about the trough
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We just bought the house and the panel is completely full. There is a 100 amp breaker directly beneath the meter outside and inside of my panel all of the grounds and neutrals are landed together instead of separated. I'm going to need to add circuits for finishing our basement and since I'm replacing the panel I'm going under the assumption that I'm going to need to update the breakers to reflect the 2020 code for Arc Fault breakers. The neutrals are all landed on the top right of the panel and if I were to upgrade the panel to accommodate more circuits I will not be able to land the neutrals on the breaker. This can be said for a majority of the circuits so that is my main reason for inquiring about the wireway.
 
iMavrick said:
We just bought the house and the panel is completely full. There is a 100 amp breaker directly beneath the meter outside and inside of my panel all of the grounds and neutrals are landed together instead of separated. I'm going to need to add circuits for finishing our basement and since I'm replacing the panel I'm going under the assumption that I'm going to need to update the breakers to reflect the 2020 code for Arc Fault breakers. The neutrals are all landed on the top right of the panel and if I were to upgrade the panel to accommodate more circuits I will not be able to land the neutrals on the breaker. This can be said for a majority of the circuits so that is my main reason for inquiring about the wireway.
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See post #11
Only the circuits you are adding would require AFCI.
 
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