Old Pharmacy

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jmsbrush

jmsbrush

Senior Member
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Central Florida
Today Installed 120' of Emt for some new lighting. This Pharmacy is very old.
The service is 60Amps.
Now I know the code will allow 2 EGC's in one slot in the grounding bus bar,
but you can only put 1 Neutral conductor in one slot of the Neutral buss bar? Why is that? Its all going back to the same Place.
On old panels the neutral and ground's are all tied in togther anyway.
Every slot already had two or 3 conductors going in them.
So what do you do in a case like this?
There was absolutely no room to install another buss bar, The owner will not do and upgrade. Any thoughts?
 
jmsbrush said:
Today Installed 120' of Emt for some new lighting. This Pharmacy is very old.
The service is 60Amps.
Click to expand...

Unless this store is the size of a tissue box I bet your new lighting is creating a code violation by overloading the service by the Article 220 calculations.

but you can only put 1 Neutral conductor in one slot of the Neutral buss bar?
Click to expand...

Only one.


Why is that?
Click to expand...

I don't really know.
 
iwire said:
Unless this store is the size of a tissue box I bet your new lighting is creating a code violation by overloading the service by the Article 220 calculations.



Only one.




I don't really know.
Click to expand...
Really?

The store is 1200 sq, The bathroom has a dedicated 20 amp ckt for the light, 1 60 watt bulb, I pig tailed in the panel and went straight to a time clock.
 
jmsbrush said:
I wire ,how is it you can reply to all these post and you're little indicator states you are off line?
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I turned my 'little indicator' off, you can too in your profile settings.
 
jmsbrush said:
but you can only put 1 Neutral conductor in one slot of the Neutral buss bar? Why is that? Its all going back to the same Place
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I'm pretty sure the rule is there to keep you from lifting the neutral on a circuit you haven't de-energized; specifically on MWBC's.
 
I ususally Ilsco tap off of the main neutral in this type of thing, Not the best way but hey, Your dealing with old stuff and gotta do what you gotta do. If it is small wire like #12 I would pigtail
 
Rich R said:
I ususally Ilsco tap off of the main neutral in this type of thing, Not the best way but hey, Your dealing with old stuff and gotta do what you gotta do. If it is small wire like #12 I would pigtail
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"Your dealing with old stuff and gotta do what you gotta do." Not me, i would not want to take on the liability, I would offer the upgrade, if they refused I would move on, my business, and license is something i don't want to loose. Just my way of looking at it.
 
Nobody around here would snatch someones license for under rating a service that was already installed. Too much paperwork and too much other stuff going on then mess with a trained electrician. JM said the owner or owners representative was notified about the service. If the service dies its going to smoke and burn out. If they stack wrapping paper and Kerosene around the service it might take the pharmacy out too. You cant force people to make good judgments. The service will have to do unless the lights and cash register go kablooey, THEN a new service is going to be inquired about. Just a feeling I got about this job. I have no personal knowledge ... etc.

What to do with not enough spaces? Pigtail or maybe put a buss in on an open area without cracking the wire insulation open (yeah right).
Why no ground and on a neutral? To keep the electrical potential on the ground below the neutral.

I would try to extend current circuits and leave the old junk alone. If its the Nickle coated stuff its pretty hardy. If its the natural rubber insulation its pretty hinky. Good luck. Bring lots of extra fuses sized appropriately.
 
GUNNING said:
Gainesville, Home of the Gators, and the University of Florida.
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keep up w/ the local rock scene any? i've got friends in a band that play down there frequently. I think there's some type of festival coming up they're playing there too.
 
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