Double tap at meter?

[Joshua L. Frederick]

I know I posted something similar to this a while back, but anyway, here goes again. Main house panel 100 amps and detached garage panel also with 100 amp panel which also had a main breaker and was not wired up like a distribution panel. The house panel did not have breaker and/or any wiring to feed garage panel. So this means they obviously double tapped meter socket, no? They're normally not double lugged, right? I'm assuming this is incorrect. 1959 house that was flipped. House panel was updated/newer and the garage panel was older (20+).

[Robert Meier]

There's only one conduit coming out the bottom of the meter so where can this tap actually be?

[Joshua L. Frederick]

That's what I'm asking.

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Any pictures of the interior of the service panel?

[agallatin]

Maybe the garage is feeding the house panel !

[Bob Elliott]

If I really wanted to know badly enough I might accidentally trip the main breaker in the house.
Interesting panel behind that meter though.

[Joshua L. Frederick]

First pic house panel installed on adjacent wall from meter (50 amp breaker on left is stove). Second pic garage panel (didn't have a good interior pic).

[Robert Meier]

The painter did a nice job of making everything off-white.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Something is definitely wrong. If there are 2 main panels, the one in the detached garage being one of them, then the garage panel should have a main breaker or be no more than 6 throws to turn off the power there. Otherwise, if the garage is wired as a distribution panel and not a service entrance panel, there there should be a feeder at the house main panel with OCP.

Regardless, there should be a grounding electrode at the detached building. Was there?

It appears service comes into the meter from the mast head, goes through the wall to one panel, and underground to the detached building. That would be 2 main panels and if so, then there is a problem with the detached building panel's lack of a main breaker.

[Jim Port]

Originally Posted by jfunderburk

It appears service comes into the meter from the mast head, goes through the wall to one panel, and underground to the detached building. That would be 2 main panels and if so, then there is a problem with the detached building panel's lack of a main breaker.

If this is the case, another issue would be that the services are not grouped as required.

[Joshua L. Frederick]

Originally Posted by jfrederick

detached garage panel also with 100 amp panel which also had a main breaker and was not wired up like a distribution panel

It did have a main breaker. What do you mean "grouped"?

[Joshua L. Frederick]

Since the garage panel has a main breaker, is this set up acceptable? How would you report?

[Jim Port]

Grouped as in co-located or next to each other. For this case there would be a means of disconnect either outside near the meter or the house panel with a main breaker and a disconnect next to that for the garage.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Originally Posted by jfrederick

Since the garage panel has a main breaker, is this set up acceptable? How would you report?

Was there a GES at the garage? If not, it's wrong. You don't have to detail every single issue. Point out the concerns and refer it to a competent, licensed sparky.

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

How did you determine that the garage panel was not fed from the service panel?

The garage panel has its own disconnect - this is required and proper. The garage panel should also include a grounding electrode (as a detached building) as Joe mentioned. In addition, the garage panel should include a 4-wire feed (H+H+N+G). Grounds and neutrals should be separated, neutrals isolated. The exception would be a 3-wire feed with no other conductive connections between buildings. It's beyond the scope of the HI to determine that.

The service equipment looks fine (except for the paint) and there appears to be at least one 240V circuit, capable of feeding the garage panel.