The neutral bar will need to be isolated (it should have plastic insulator separating it from the case). The ground bar should be bonded to the case. The ground wire from the house must be connected to the sub-panel ground.

Can ground and neutral be on same bus bar in sub panel?

The answer is never. Grounds and neutrals should only be connected at the last point of disconnect. This would be at main panels only.

Why do you separate the ground and neutral in a sub panel?





With ground and neutral bonded, current can travel on both ground and neutral back to the main panel. If the load becomes unbalanced and ground and neutral are bonded, the current will flow through anything bonded to the sub-panel (enclosure, ground wire, piping, etc.) and back to the main panel. Obvious shock hazard!

Where do you ground a sub panel?

Grounding for a Sub Panel Located in the Same Building



All the ground wires bond back at the main panel together with the neutrals. The sub panel neutral bar or terminal should not be bonded to the enclosure or the ground of the sub panel. The sub panel ground should not have a ground rod tied to it.

Can a subpanel have its own ground?

Yes, any sub panel outside of the main building requires it’s own ground rod and a ground wire back to the main building.

Where do you bond ground and neutral?

Neutral wires are usually connected at a neutral bus within panelboards or switchboards, and are “bonded” to earth ground at either the electrical service entrance, or at transformers within the system.

How do you isolate ground and neutral in a subpanel?





The neutral and ground MUST NOT be bonded at a sub-panel. They should only be bonded at the main service panel. If you bond them anywhere other than the main service, the neutral return current now has multiple paths, including though your ground wire.

Does a sub panel need a separate ground?

The biggest difference between a subpanel and a main panel is that the ground and neutral buses on a subpanel have to be separated. Most panels come with a bar joining the two, which is easily removed. Code requires subpanels to have a ground connection that’s independent of the main panel’s.

Why do you not ground a subpanel?

So, why do you separate the ground and neutral in a subpanel? Because when we bond them together, it gives your neutral wire (the one carrying electrical currents BACK to the source) multiple pathways. That’s how the chassis of some equipment will become energized.

How do you ground an electrical subpanel?

Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: Building your panels gonna be in so if you're running power to a shed or power to your house in my case it's the house. You need to add another wire for your ground rods.

Can I tie ground and neutral together?



No, the neutral and ground should never be wired together. This is wrong, and potentially dangerous. When you plug in something in the outlet, the neutral will be live, as it closes the circuit. If the ground is wired to the neutral, the ground of the applicance will also be live.

What is the difference between a neutral bar and a ground bar?

Neutral bars have a heavy, high-current path between the bar and neutral lug, which is itself isolated from the chassis It is obvious that the neutral lug-to-bar connection is heavy, and designed to flow a lot of current all the time. Ground bars are, by design, in direct contact with the panel chassis.

Should ground be bonded to neutral?

To provide the low impedance path necessary to clear a ground-fault from the separately derived system, the metal parts of electrical equipment shall be bonded to the grounded (neutral) terminal (Xo) of the derived system.

How do you ground a subpanel in a detached building?



4 Answers

  1. Pull 4 conductors (2 ungrounded (hot), 1 grounded (neutral), 1 grounding) (250.32(B)(1)).
  2. Grounded (neutral) and grounding bus must be separate at sub-panel (250.32(B)(1)).
  3. No need for a GFCI breaker in the main panel, unless your local code requires it.

Do you bond neutral and ground in main panel?

Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: We have a ground and a neutral bonded together at panel two we have a ground and a neutral bonded together. So this means that under any short circuit condition.

What happens if the neutral is not bonded?

If the ground is not bonded to neutral, then the entire ground circuit in the building becomes close to hot until the circuit breaker trips. Ground rods can have several ohms of resistance to ground, which is far too high to keep the ground to safe Voltage in such a situation.

Do you use a bonding screw on a subpanel?

Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: But in this case. The bonding screw is that green headed screw right there. So that screw just simply threads through the neutral bus.

Does a sub panel in same building need a ground rod?



You must, must, must, in every case run a ground ~ from the main to the subpanel. Doesn’t matter if you’re running it 3 feet, to an outbuilding or up a space elevator. You have to run a ground ~ or you are out of Code.