Service Panel question for board sparkies

[Patrick Bolliger]

Take a look at the SE cable bends inside the service panel. Are these bends too "tight"?

Is liquidtight FMC direct to service panel acceptable?

Can you bond (Service panel bonding) two seperate service panels (one bonded panel via screw) then take a conductor from that grounded /neutral buss to second unbonded service panel and connect to (grounded / neutral bus ) and consider that second service panel also panel bonded?? (hope that question is clear)

I know this was asked before but what is acceptable length of SE cable coming into the house? I have over 15 feet (guessing here).

Here is a pic of the service panel. Enjoy..

[Bruce A. King]

I don't have a problem with the bending there...

I doubt that second panel is a service panel therefore the neutral and grounds must be seperate. Is it fed via that liquid tight conduit? If it is another service panel it should have its own neutral and ground to the meter base.

The length of the SE cable is location specific, here it is 10 feet of cable length max before an outside disconnect is required.

[Patrick Bolliger]

Hey Bruce,

There are two separate service panels. Each panel gets it's own SEC. Its a two unit building so they have separate meters and service panels.

No "sub" panel here.

I read somewhere liquid tight FMC must have a grounding conductor within the conduit when greater then 6 feet in length and going to a motorized appliance like a compressor..hmmm


The SE cable might just fall within that distance..

Thanks for your input.

[crane542]

NEC says service must have grounding conductor attached to metalic water pipe, grounding electrode, or footer rebar. In your picture I don't see an appropriatly sized grounding conductor leaving the panel. The bending is ok and often times you will see these bent into a donut to get them into the lugs. The home panels don't give you much room to work in, they should all be sized like the commercial stuff. LFM requires a bonding wire if over 6' but in the picture it appears he attempted to satisfy this with the white wire ( highly unlikely that it's a neutral) but it should be striped or marked green to properly identify it.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Originally Posted by pbolliger

Take a look at the SE cable bends inside the service panel. Are these bends too "tight"?

Is liquidtight FMC direct to service panel acceptable?

Can you bond (Service panel bonding) two seperate service panels (one bonded panel via screw) then take a conductor from that grounded /neutral buss to second unbonded service panel and connect to (grounded / neutral bus ) and consider that second service panel also panel bonded?? (hope that question is clear)

I know this was asked before but what is acceptable length of SE cable coming into the house? I have over 15 feet (guessing here).

Here is a pic of the service panel. Enjoy..

A.) I don't also have too much of a problem with the bends on the SE, the best way to check this is the look at the insulation at the inner part of the ends...if it starts to kringle up and show compression it is too tight...versus having to actual measure the bend radius and what not.

B.) FMC....in general is fine.....except in regards to Service Equipment if over 6' and so on.....and requires a bonding wire......not sure in the image if the FMC actually goes to a service panel per say.....

C.) Bonding (2) service panels....if you are speaking of the method we use for a 400A service that has (2) 200 services fed from one outside meter cab....Sure....YOU bond them both as normal with the green ground screw..but you run a jumper between them to make them a continuous bond among themselves.......If you are speaking of a remote panel like a "SUB" or " Remote Distribution Panel"..No....should not be done.

D.) Question is on length of SE as it enters the dwelling from the meter cab...If I am gathering your question right....It must terminate in the SE panel at the closest point of entry...NOW...the NEC leaves that open a bit so the local AHJ will have to rull on that.....around here it fluxes from 3-5' in length before it would need a service disconnect ....

Hope that answered your questions.

[Patrick Bolliger]

Thanks Paul I was waiting for your input... I was hoping you were going to help me here.

I have two seperate meters for this setup. Two meters , two seperate service panels, one GEC to the "Chicago water pipe" method..
The first service panel is bonded with screw in bus to panel.
The second panel has the bonding screw removed and what looks like a "jumper" from 1st panel (grounded ) neutral bus to second panel neutral bus plus a fitting between panels . I am guessing here that was to complete bonding but is that acceptable? . Looks like 10AWG for GEC to water pipe for 100 amp service. ??? Does that fly??

The panels are new along with meters and "some parts" of wiring system but it looks as if the rest of the house wiring is possible original.. See J box pics and do you think there are pushing overfill wiring in these puppies??






Paul if you saw this place you would have to add it to your list of "what are they thinking "

[William J. Decker]

Pat; Gotta love the BX.

Chicago. No work done without permit and union electricians and letter from your alderman and a payoff to the precinct captain and a 'donation;' to the local "Firemans's protective league".

Then they allow BX.

Go figure.

[Patrick Bolliger]

Yous got da right Will.

You should have seen this place... Will 111 years old...been through some bad times...

Take a look at my posting and pic here..

www.nachi.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4257&page=2

[William J. Decker]

Too good, Pat.