jwardcomo
Member
- Location
- Waterford, Mi
Many years ago I ran a 240V line to my detached garage using 10/2 UF w/ground copper inside plastic conduit. It is attached to the main box with a 30 amp 2 pole breaker. The outlet breakers in the garage box have ground fault breakers. The bare copper was used as both ground and neutral in the box in the garage. The box in the garage was grounded with an 8 foot standard copper coated rod outside the garage.
I recently had a whole house generator installed and the electricians separated the neutrals from the ground bus in the main box. Since then, I have uneven voltages on the 2 legs of the main and my compressor(in the garage) will either blow the breaker or the internal switch under any load. When I turn off the breaker that feeds the garage, all voltages even out and return to normal. I am convinced the problem is the 240 circuit to the garage.
I know I need to separate the neutral from the ground in the box in the garage. Would it be ok to:
1) Add a separated neutral bar to the box in the garage and attach the copper ground wire to it after taping it white.
2) Use the existing bare copper ground wire as the neutral (taping it white), moving it in the main box to the other neutrals.
3) Use the existing rod outside the garage for grounding the box in the garage and the attached ground fault circuits.
I recently had a whole house generator installed and the electricians separated the neutrals from the ground bus in the main box. Since then, I have uneven voltages on the 2 legs of the main and my compressor(in the garage) will either blow the breaker or the internal switch under any load. When I turn off the breaker that feeds the garage, all voltages even out and return to normal. I am convinced the problem is the 240 circuit to the garage.
I know I need to separate the neutral from the ground in the box in the garage. Would it be ok to:
1) Add a separated neutral bar to the box in the garage and attach the copper ground wire to it after taping it white.
2) Use the existing bare copper ground wire as the neutral (taping it white), moving it in the main box to the other neutrals.
3) Use the existing rod outside the garage for grounding the box in the garage and the attached ground fault circuits.
