Main panel grounding

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shaner

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Olathe, KS
Hello to all,

In a residential main panel, does the ground conductor from the ground rod have to land on the neutral/ground bar? Or, can it land on an individual lug screwed to the back of the can?

Everything was bonded, but I have just never seen the main ground conductor landed anywhere but on the n/g bar - until today.

Thanks
 
shaner said:
Hello to all,

In a residential main panel, does the ground conductor from the ground rod have to land on the neutral/ground bar? Or, can it land on an individual lug screwed to the back of the can?

Everything was bonded, but I have just never seen the main ground conductor landed anywhere but on the n/g bar - until today.

Thanks
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In my experience with residential, the ground wire from the ground rod ties into the lug connected to the neutral side of the meter base. Our POCO supplies the meter base which is normally a Milbank 200Amp.

I haven't seen them bond directly to the main panel.
 
if you run the grounding electrode conductor to a lug on the can of the Main panel, then you have to make sure that you use the bonding screw that came w/ the panel.

-- or was that already said?
 
If this is a grounding electrode conductor it must terminate at the grounded conductor terminal not the panel can.
 
stickboy1375 said:
Marc, do you remove the paint when you add a ground bar to a subpanel?
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I don't know what Marc does but I do make sure it meets 250.4(A)(5) and 250.12. I usually have a wire wheel in my cordless box for cleaning paint before installing foot lugs etc. (The picture shows a foot lug)

For a factory supplied grounding bar, being installed into factory holes I don't usually clean the paint. IMO that falls under "connected by fittings so as to make such removal unnecessary" in 250.12. The self threading screws IMO clean off the paint.
 
iwire said:
I don't know what Marc does but I do make sure it meets 250.4(A)(5) and 250.12. I usually have a wire wheel in my cordless box for cleaning paint before installing foot lugs etc. (The picture shows a foot lug)

For a factory supplied grounding bar, being installed into factory holes I don't usually clean the paint. IMO that falls under "connected by fittings so as to make such removal unnecessary" in 250.12. The self threading screws IMO clean off the paint.
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Yeah, when you read it, you really don't have a choice do you... Its a moot point for me most of the time, GE does not paint the TUB of the panelboard, just the cover.
 
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iwire said:
For a factory supplied grounding bar, being installed into factory holes I don't usually clean the paint. IMO that falls under "connected by fittings so as to make such removal unnecessary" in 250.12. The self threading screws IMO clean off the paint.
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I agree. If paint removal were required it should be in the instructions that came with the ground bar.
 
infinity said:
If paint removal were required it should be in the instructions that came with the ground bar.
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I agree, I will also point out that many bonding screws do the same thing, just a single 10-32 machine screw to carry all the fault current the utility can provide.
 
The opinions seem to vary with the inspectors I speak with. I usually land the exterior grounding in the meter socket with the utility grounded conductor and the interior grounding on the neutral bar. On a disconnect service both belong in the disconnect meter socket as the first disconnect.

Dave
 
i usually put the GEC inside the metersocket because the kind we buy have a place to put them. if you want to put the GEC inside i would put it to the neutral bar. if you want also you could run the GEC up the side of the house to the service point and ground the neutral up there. mike holt has a picture of it inside of the new 2008 grounding and bonding book. doesnt really matter where you ground the neutral just as long as its done at one point
 
stickboy1375 said:
Marc, do you remove the paint when you add a ground bar to a subpanel?
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Of course not. They're supplied with thread forming screws that grab a lot of material in the swaged holes in the back panel. When I add a lug, I have a little cone shaped stone that I chuck up in the cordless drill.
 
mdshunk said:
Of course not. They're supplied with thread forming screws that grab a lot of material in the swaged holes in the back panel. When I add a lug, I have a little cone shaped stone that I chuck up in the cordless drill.
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i dont think ive ever removed the paint when i installed a listed ground bar in the panel its made for. in my opinion the 2 screws that come with it is good enough for bonding. if i add a lug i remove the paint, drill an appropriate size hole, thread it, then throw a nut on the back and tighten it down. i just feel more comfortable if i thread a hole. i even thread the hole when attaching to building steel :D
 
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