Bonding issue

[Michael J. Merino]

I inspected another house with a pushmatic panel. It might just be me but I can never seem to find the bond in these panels. There is a sub panel with a bond. My question is this. Is the subpanel having the bond proper? Or does it have to be in the main panel? My thought it is that it should be in the main panel.

Does anyone else have trouble finding bonds in the pushmatic panels?

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

All panels should have a bond between the cabinet and the ground bus. In the service panel, the neutral and ground buses should be connected, and therefore both bonded to the cabinet.

In the dist. panel (sub-panel), the ground bus has to be bonded, but the neutral bus has to float (not be connected to the ground bus). There should be no bond between the neutral bus and the cabinet in a dist. panel.

[Jae Williams]

I've seen a fair amount of Pushmatices around here and they have always been bonded one way or another. Hardly ever did I see a bond to an earth-rod, though.
And I recommended an electrician to ponder that.

[Michael J. Merino]

Originally Posted by jfunderburk

All panels should have a bond between the cabinet and the ground bus. In the service panel, the neutral and ground buses should be connected, and therefore both bonded to the cabinet.

In the dist. panel (sub-panel), the ground bus has to be bonded, but the neutral bus has to float (not be connected to the ground bus). There should be no bond between the neutral bus and the cabinet in a dist. panel.

Well here are some pics. The first pic is the sub panel bonded, the second is the pushmatic panel.

I do not see a bond in the main panel, I am thinking that it is wrong to have the bond in the sub, but none in the main. Only the main panel should be bonded (neutral to ground). One bond per system. Am I correct?

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

If the 1st pic is a sub-panel, then it is wrong. The neutral bus should not be bonded to the cabinet.

On the main panel, if you can't verify a bond, then simply say a bond was not apparent and that it should be verified by a licensed electrician.

In crowded panels, it's sometimes impossible to verify the bond without sticking your fingers in there (don't do that!).

[Michael J. Merino]

Thanks Joe, you verified what I was thinking.

[Terry B. Clayton]

Not being there it is hard to say but often the mounting screws for the ground/neutral bar are the bonding point, this not discount the fact the sub should have isolated neutral connections. Is the large black wire in the main panel the GC.

[Michael J. Merino]

Originally Posted by tclayton

Not being there it is hard to say but often the mounting screws for the ground/neutral bar are the bonding point, this not discount the fact the sub should have isolated neutral connections. Is the large black wire in the main panel the GC.

Yes the large black to the bus is the ground.