tragichouse
New User
- Location
- Texas
- Occupation
- HomeOwner
I opened up my main service panel (Square D) to do a repair and have a couple of questions I'm hoping someone can answer. For extra information, my house was built in 1993 and this is the original service panel.
1. There are two small bus bars near the top left and top right of the panel. The left side has the grounds (from NM-B cables) and the right side has neutrals (also from NM-B cables).
a. Is the left one the ground bus bar and the right the neutral bus bar? Can the left side also have neutrals and the right side also have grounds?
b. I noticed some holes on the left side have doubled or tripled ground wires because there are no more available holes. What do I need to get or install in order to expand the number of slots?
c. I noticed the holes on the right side have neutral wires doubled up because there are no more available holes. What do I need to get or install in order to expand the number of slots?
2. I originally had a 4 AWG stranded copper insulated cable connected to the set screw right next to the service neutral lug at the top of the panel, which then connects to a grounding rod outside the garage in the ground. I was told I can replace this with a 6 AWG bare copper wire with no issues and is NEC compliant. Is this correct?
3. Pigtail inside main panel going to 20AMP breaker for washing machine circuitIt looks like the original installer or a past owner somehow damaged the black hot wire on one of the NM-B cables entering the panel. Because there wasn’t enough length left to reach the circuit breaker, they added a pigtail to extend it.
My understanding is that this may be against code and should be addressed. Can I simply move the circuit to another breaker position (which I have available) so the wire can reach without using the pigtail?
Also, do I need to be concerned about balancing the panel when moving the breaker? Is there any requirement for the left and right sides of the service panel to have some sort of balance in breaker amperage, or is that not really a thing?
I have attached pictures of the inside of my panel. It would also be awesome if someone could point out any other code violations i might need to get addressed as well.
1. There are two small bus bars near the top left and top right of the panel. The left side has the grounds (from NM-B cables) and the right side has neutrals (also from NM-B cables).
a. Is the left one the ground bus bar and the right the neutral bus bar? Can the left side also have neutrals and the right side also have grounds?
b. I noticed some holes on the left side have doubled or tripled ground wires because there are no more available holes. What do I need to get or install in order to expand the number of slots?
c. I noticed the holes on the right side have neutral wires doubled up because there are no more available holes. What do I need to get or install in order to expand the number of slots?
2. I originally had a 4 AWG stranded copper insulated cable connected to the set screw right next to the service neutral lug at the top of the panel, which then connects to a grounding rod outside the garage in the ground. I was told I can replace this with a 6 AWG bare copper wire with no issues and is NEC compliant. Is this correct?
3. Pigtail inside main panel going to 20AMP breaker for washing machine circuitIt looks like the original installer or a past owner somehow damaged the black hot wire on one of the NM-B cables entering the panel. Because there wasn’t enough length left to reach the circuit breaker, they added a pigtail to extend it.
My understanding is that this may be against code and should be addressed. Can I simply move the circuit to another breaker position (which I have available) so the wire can reach without using the pigtail?
Also, do I need to be concerned about balancing the panel when moving the breaker? Is there any requirement for the left and right sides of the service panel to have some sort of balance in breaker amperage, or is that not really a thing?
I have attached pictures of the inside of my panel. It would also be awesome if someone could point out any other code violations i might need to get addressed as well.
