no space on neutral bar

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king dave

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What do I do if I need to add a circuit to a panel box and there is no open spot to place the neutral wire
 
Yup move around the EGC's or splice some neutrals to make MWBC's but that triggers other requirements.
 
In a pinch, if there's space, add an insulated bar or use a multi-position Polaris type connector to add terminals. Seems not to be a code violation.
 
acin said:
Dont neutrals and egcs have to be isolated from each other?
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200.2(B) states that the continuity of the grounded conductor (neutral) cannot depend on the enclosure carrying the current. Some ground bars don't have a direct connection to the neutral bonding jumper, and only connect at the mounting screws.

Best practice is to avoid mixing ground and neutral on the same busbar, even if it is a main service panel. Stick to only the neutral bonding hardware to make this connection, and where necessary to expand the neutral, use separate insulated connectors to generate more terminal positions.
 
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acin said:
Dont neutrals and egcs have to be isolated from each other?
Click to expand...
texie said:
I think all the comments are assuming that that the OP is referring to a service panel. But now that you mention it I don't think the OP made that clear.
Click to expand...

Adding another ground bar will work in either a main panel or sub panel. Unless there are no EGCs, just lots of neutrals. But most panels have twice as many holes in the neutral bar than there could be breakers.

Carultch said:
200.2(B) states that the continuity of the grounded conductor (neutral) cannot depend on the enclosure carrying the current. Some ground bars don't have a direct connection to the neutral bonding jumper, and only connect at the mounting screws.
Click to expand...

Nobody suggested neutrals on the added ground bar. It would be just a place to move some grounds to, freeing up room on the neutral bar.

-Hal
 
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Carultch said:
200.2(B) states that the continuity of the grounded conductor (neutral) cannot depend on the enclosure carrying the current. Some ground bars don't have a direct connection to the neutral bonding jumper, and only connect at the mounting screws.

Best practice is to avoid mixing ground and neutral on the same busbar, even if it is a main service panel. Stick to only the neutral bonding hardware to make this connection, and where necessary to expand the neutral, use separate insulated connectors to generate more terminal positions.
Click to expand...
In California from my 30+ years of home and business wiring the only place the grounds and neutrals are allowed / required to bond is at a main panel, actually when purchasing a new meter main panel there is only 1 Ground/Neutral Bus which connects directly to the utility return lug. On a sub panel, a flat copper jumper is provided which can be used or not to bond the isolated neutral bar to the distribution enclosure if acting as the originating distribution off the utility reference, I suppose every state has it's own specific guidelines.
 
hbiss said:
.... But most panels have twice as many holes in the neutral bar than there could be breakers.
...
Click to expand...

Not in my experience. More often it's exactly the number of possible breaker poles if you follow the panel labeling strictly. Especially older panels I suppose. It's a real b$#!% if any of the terminal screws get stripped out.
 
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