Is this a problem?

[mashburn]

Is this an issue of the grounds being attached to the neutral bar on a plastic remote panel?
Need some feedback on this one.

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

I can't see it too well because it's a dark picture, but it doesn't matter what material the enclosure is made of, the grounds and neutrals cannot be interconnected/bonded at a load-side panel.

[mashburn]

Thank you Jeff. In the upper right hand corner the neutral and grounds are all under the same buss. I called it out and then I spoke to an electrician who showed up today to repair and said that he disagrees with me about this.

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

I can see it better on my home screen.

Let him disagree. He's wrong.

[George P. Wells, CMI]

Originally Posted by mashburn

Thank you Jeff. In the upper right hand corner the neutral and grounds are all under the same buss. I called it out and then I spoke to an electrician who showed up today to repair and said that he disagrees with me about this.

Did the electrician say why he disagreed with you? The white wire on the breaker is not good either.

[Brian C. Hoagland]

This is wrong. Often unenforced by local AHJ does not make it right. You gotta love it when you get arguments like this. Be strong you have represented your clents best interests here. The electrical path to the transformer has been compromised due to improper wiring by the allowance of the interference of ground and neutral (ungrounded conductor) connections in the circuit pathway downstream from the main breaker. The only proper location for this connection is in the panel which contains the main disconnect.

[mashburn]

Thank you all gentleman. I did believe that I was correct.
The electrician said that the ground and neutral are not together, period. I told him that I have a picture and I believed he was wrong. The selling agent wants me to pay the bill for his service call to fix it. The agent is a little feisty and doesn't refer out anyway, so I am respectfully going to decline paying the $35 service call. Yes, $35.00 is all he charges for a service call. He works regularly with this multi-million selling agent, I am sure you can all draw your own conclusions about his integrity and quality of work.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All!!!!

[Ron Chorey II]

Let him take the liability, personally your client should get a second opinion from someone not associated with this agent

[Michael R. Boyett]

I see a neutral lug with the white neutral from the service panel. I see the ground buss with several bare ground wires. They may very well not be in contact with each other. Be careful of the camera angle...could be deceiving. I tend to think the electrician is correct here.

[Michael Larson]

Looks like a neutral and and a ground are tied together to me.

[Brian A. MacNeish]

They extended the short "neutral" (grouinded conductor) with a piece of bare copper conductor. They could have at least taped it with white tape to better identify it and make it safer.

By the way, in the Canadian Elect. Code, there are instances where bare neutrals are allowed.

[Michael Larson]

My ?????? refer to the short wire and its purpose.

Since it is a 220 volt circuit it could b either "neutral" or equipment grounding.

Without knowing the load it is connected too we can't tell.

[mashburn]

Originally Posted by mboyett

I see a neutral lug with the white neutral from the service panel. I see the ground buss with several bare ground wires. They may very well not be in contact with each other. Be careful of the camera angle...could be deceiving. I tend to think the electrician is correct here.

The neutral and grounds were tied together in the panel.

Thank you all for your replies. The client is getting another electrician to evaluate and separate the grounds here. There are other electrical issue tat neeed repaired anyway so they are picking up the tab.

Hope you all had a great holiday!!

[Joe Farsetta]

MiKe,

Stick to your guns. If a neutral is present, then it must be electrically and mechanically isolated from the ground and the enclosure. But, based on the photo, there may be more. This may be the electrician's bone of contention, and may be in part based on facts. But he isnt seeing the entire picture, as a neutral IS present and as such, the rules must be followed...

Here goes.

The only time a neutral would not be needed is if the panel supported only a 220V appliance (doesnt need 110V). In that instance, its a simple hot-hot-ground. My contention is that the neutral is not required and should actually be removed in this configuration. No 110volt connection is involved. Everything is 220.

Also, if the cable to the lower left is armor-sheathed, then it should not be terminated into a plastic enclosure. It appears as if this cable's neutral is serving as the ground conductor. I'd look downstream to see what this panel serves. If it serves appliances that have 110volt derivatives (like a clock and controls), there may be even more wrong...