Overhead Feeder Aerial Cable Without Equipment Ground

[3oFElectric]

A client wants me to run a feeder to a 2nd shed from a subpanel in an adjacent outdoor shed. The adjacent shed is being fed from the service panel, and is coming off the house from an aerial cable over to the shed's subpanel. When I opened the panel to check spacing, I found no EGC.

Looking at the aerial cable, I only see 3 wires - two hots and a neutral. No EGC. Is this allowed? To have NO EGC for a feeder running from the service panel to an outdoor shed?

If I pull a feeder from the 1st shed subpanel to power the 2nd shed, how will there be any ground fault path back to the utility service without an EGC from the service panel to the 1st shed subpanel?

Attached are pictures of the current setup.

 

[electrofelon]

Up until 2005 (iirc) you could run 3 wire feeders to detached structures and basically treat it like a service where you Bond the neutral and also use it as your bond/fault path wire at the second structure. That is no longer allowed so you would need to use four wire for a new install. The existing installation can remain.

 

[LarryFine]

The only way to have an effective fault-current pathway is to tie the EGCs to the neutrals like a service.

 

[electrofelon]

Looks like the panel is missing the green bonding screw. This is dangerous as there is no low impedance path back to the source. Dirt will not do it.

 

[marmathsen]

Looks like the panel is missing the green bonding screw. This is dangerous as there is no low impedance path back to the source. Dirt will not do it.

Yikes! Good eye!

So to be clear the only legal way to power the new 2nd shed would be to run from the house with an EGC or refeed the shed in the pictures with a 4-wire feeder and then from there to the new shed with an EGC. You couldn't legally wire from the existing shed as is correct?

Rob G - Seattle