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Found a discarded former remote control hand golf cart with circuit boards gone. Still has two 180 watt drive wheels that work. Thought I would use as a power driven cart by wiring up with a speed controller. Has 12V-80ah battery still good. Do I need a PWM and , if so, what value should it accommodate?
We are selling home, buyers inspector noticed that there are doubled up neutrals on panelboard terminals. This was done by licensed electrician and inspected by City. Not enough terminal points to split. Options? Will have work done by electrician but trying to get feeling of scope of problem. Thanks
Doubled up neutrals are fine under one screw as long they are same size. This used to be a very common thing electricians would do but a few years ago using one neutral under one screw started being done because too many helpers were inserting two different size wires under one screw. So if you have same size wires under each screw you should be okay unless the local code requires a single wire.
You mentioned grounding options in a previous post. What are those grounding options?
It would depend on what the state inspector is identifying as the problem. And if the power company says the meter base has to be attached to the structure nothing can be done about that but do what they say. You cant re-engineer power company requirements. And if you have a inspector of some kind identifying this issue as a problem you need to find out their options if there are any. But grounding options cant be done without knowing your options first.
Specifics:
House will be used for home/office. 1 bedroom, 1 office, full basement, approx 1700 sq. ft.
The electrical load of the house is quite modest as it’s designed to be “off grid” in the future. Heating is wood stove, no A/C, a dishwasher, a clothes washer, gas dryer, no microwave, refrigerator, chest freezer and most lights will be LED.
Soil conditions are foothills of the Rocky Mountains…very rocky but sandy dirt.
Anything else you need to know please let me know.
Thanks, Tom
No that is fine. It looks like normal situation. Grounding is very important these days because of electronics. It is best to add additional grounding mats these days in certain locations.
I want to make a comment about your off-grid intentions. If you are planning to be off-grid some additional grounding can be done to get started but cannot be fully done without having the system installed. This would mean you could stub out some very important grounding rods from your slab. But these have too be installed a certain way to be effective and tied to the house grounding. Then when you are prepared to install the solar array some of your basic grounding will be started. It sounds like you have already poured your footing so that may not be possible. If that is the case you could go ahead and install grounding mats but you would need to know at least the size and location of the solar array in order to place the mats strategically in location to do best job. Solar arrays are a grounding nightmare if not done properly. Most people do not understand lightning and how important it is to install lightning protection systems. Solar arrays are basically a lightning rod sitting there but are very safe if a proper lightning system is in place. If you could Google plus or share my site I would appreciate it. Just look on right hand side of my site.
I’m a homeowner who is building a house so I’m allowed to install my own electrical by my jurisdiction.
My jurisdiction abides only by the NEC; there are no special city, county, state codes applicable.
Here are the details:
I have a 200 amp meter base with panel 50 feet from my under construction house that has been properly grounded and inspected by the local state inspector.
I’ve run 2-2-2 aluminum service entrance cable from the meter base to the house in underground conduit.
In the basement of the house I have a 125 amp service panel.
Both ends of the 2-2-2 cable have a 100 amp breaker installed; one at the meter base and the other at the service panel in the basement.
The service panel in the basement has ground bar kits installed and they are bonded to the neutral in the panel.
The 2-2-2 service cable ground is connected to the neutral bars in both the meter base panel and the service panel.
Questions:
1) Is my installation correct so far?
2) Do I need to further ground and bond the basement service panel? If so, how?
3) Do I need a main disconnect on the outside of the house? (Meter base/panel is 50 feet from the house, within line of sight and has a disconnect plainly labeled and easily accessible.
Thank you for your answers.
Tom
Why did you not go ahead and mount your new meter on the house? The meter in one location and the breaker panel for the structure in the structure makes it like mobile home type service entrance situation. Let me know if this is what type of situation you have before I go into your grounding issues.
The meter base and panel were installed first and a 50 amp receptacle for the RV was installed off of that panel. The next year we “pulled the trigger” and built the house 50 feet away from the meter base.
If I were you, I would relocate meter-base to House before it’s to late and cant. Grounding is my reason. If you are not going to relocate meter, it may take more than a normal grounding method to please the local power supplier and inspector. If local power supplier and local inspector agrees with your as-built electrical situation and grounding is only issue I wound design two ground systems. One at the meter base and a even better one for the house. What is the the job of the new house going to be? Home/office, etc. Other words, the way I would design your grounding would depend on soil conditions in the area and what you plan to have in the house. You really did not mention any specifics as to what you have so this is all I could give you at the moment.
The fire-codes are very specific on how they determine where the main disconnect may be by stating the rules in NEC by the locations of main disconnects. In residential the power company meter base changes this a little where the meter-base can be used first then a main breaker panel can be installed directly behind it or very close. This meter base location rule is applied by power company and NEC together with their engineering departments. Look at the local power supplier handbook rules on building services. This will most likely clear everything up for you. If you are trying to understand why this is all done, you will have to do a lot of studying ahead of you. This is why it cant be explained very easy.