Trough bonding

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alto3

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Hi Everyone,
Does a trough need to be bonded or can it be isolated using PVC fittings? I'm doing a 3 meter service in NJ and the meter pans are not required to be bonded. So what I did was come out of the trough w/PVC, then went to the meters and then the panels, I did bond the the panels.
Thank you!
 
What exactly do you mean when you say bonded?

All metal enclosures must have some sort of fault current path.

Meter pans and service troughs must be bonded to the grounded conductor.
 
The meterpans are required to be bonded, usually through the neutral conductor. All of the metallic parts are required to be bonded, and you could also use the neutral conductor to bond the trough on the line side of the service disco.

Note: You may not need to bond the meterpan on the load side of a service disconnect. 250.142(B)Exception(2)
 
Pierre C Belarge said:
Note: You may not need to bond the meterpan on the load side of a service disconnect. 250.142(B)Exception(2)
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Not following you here, we have to bond the pan to the grounded or grounding conductor.
 
PSE&G does not require the meter pan to be bonded. In a single family service we come in with PVC and out with PVC, and the neutral is isolated. So if the trough is first, then the meter pans, then the panels, and it is all done in PVC, the trough is not bonded to anything. Is this OK?
 
The meter pans that PSE&G gives you for free have their neutrals factory bonded to the meter pan. Otherwise how would a service using PVC or SE cable bond the metal enclosure to the grounded conductor?
 
At one point another those pans have to be bonded to the grounded conductor. If the service disconnect is ahead of the meter pans use Table 250.122 for sizing the conductor, if not use Table 250.66. I have never seen a meter socket provided by a POCO that did not have the grounded conductor bonded to the can. My world is small though.
 
bonded

bonded

In direct answer to your question, 250.92 requires that the trough be bonded (if its metallic), as others have stated. I think we may be playing a word game in reagrd to the meter pans. As Bob stated, one way or the other they must be bonded. In that most are made with tyhe neutral factory bonded to the pan, you may not need additional bonding, but under the same code article, all non current carrying metal parts must be bonded in some manner.
 
Thanks everone for your help, I didn't know the meter pan was already bonded to the neutral. Would one metalic connection between the trough and one meter pan be sufficient? Thanks again
 
Bonding

Bonding

You are in one area of the code where there probaly isn't a quick answer. There are many varibles as to the manner of providing a proper bond and it would be easy to give you an incorrect or incomplete answer. No offese, but if you did not know the trough needed bonding and if you did not realize the meter pans are bonded, I suggest you have a more experience individual give you some on site OJT.
 
If the trough is on the line side of the serivce disconnet just put a bonding jumper from the grounded conductor to the trough. The grounded conductor is permitted to be used for bonding all equipment on the line side of the service disconnect. 250.142(A)
Don
 
iwire said:
Not following you here, we have to bond the pan to the grounded or grounding conductor.
Click to expand...


On the load side of the disconnect, there are times when the equipment is close enough to the trough that the Grounded conductor is permitted to be used to bond the trough - that was the code reference I posted. Otherwise it is bonded to the EGC.
 
Pierre,
On the load side of the disconnect, there are times when the equipment is close enough to the trough that the Grounded conductor is permitted to be used to bond the trough
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I don't see how that code section would permit you to use the grounded conductor to bond the trough on the load side of the service disconenct. As I read the exception it only applies to the bonding of meter enclosures that are on the load side of the sevice disconnect.
250.142(B) Exception No. 2: It shall be permissible to ground meter enclosures by connection to the grounded circuit conductor on the load side of the service disconnect where all of the following conditions apply:
Click to expand...
Don
 
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