light control wiring help

[dub bud]

not sure if this is needed but its the inside of the light controller

 

[rives]

I've just been going back through your pictures, and would like you to verify that your main panel is actually grounded. It appears that there is a large, bare copper conductor coming in from the bottom on the right (in the picture it is pretty close to the bottom right 30 amp breaker) and is adjacent to the bare stranded ground wire going to cable exiting on the bottom right side, but I can't see where either of them terminate on the ground buss. Also, is there a ground rod driven outside near where your service comes in? It looks like there might be a ground wire meandering around from the phone box to the meter base and dropping down out of the picture, all of which looks like it may have been painted white.

 

[dub bud]

im guessing a buss is the area were you can connect a bunch of wires.
i dont see a separate bus on the new panel, i only see the one on the left side and it looks like it is not bonded to the box. looks like its separated by plastic so its not touching the box. should i go buy a bus to bond to the box? or should i not use the copper cable from the main panel to the new one?

 

[dub bud]

there is a braided looking cable coming from the bottom hooked to the buss on the right side and theres also a thick copper cable coming from the bottom also hooked to the buss. i went out side to see if i could follow were they are coming from, the braided one is rapped up along with the thick red and black cables coming from the meter. and copper one thats alone.... well i cant find were its going to....? i looked around for a rod in the ground outside....but i didnt find nothing...unless they hid it? is there a way i can test it to see if its grounded?

 

[rives]

Yes, the buss is the long silver thing with all of the screws in the top of it. You do want to use the copper ground wire, and if the Home Depot is convenient, then it would be best to add another one. That way at least this part of the house wiring is done correctly in case of future upgrades. If that is too much effort, land both wires on the existing buss and say the hell with it. Somewhere in the packaging or attached to the back panel of the new sub (inside, next to the buss), there should be an odd-looking device that has a screw hole in one end of it with a bendable tab attached, and finally a round-section on the end that looks about the size of a #10 solid wire. Normally they are attached to the back of the box with a green screw. In order to bond the enclosure to the buss, you bend the tab so that the end can be inserted into the buss and tightened down. This "bonds" the enclosure to the ground buss and bypasses around the plastic stand-off.

 

[Guest02345]

this thread really shows a great side of our online canna community. rives all i can say is your top notch bro

 

[rives]

there is a braided looking cable coming from the bottom hooked to the buss on the right side and theres also a thick copper cable coming from the bottom also hooked to the buss. i went out side to see if i could follow were they are coming from, the braided one is rapped up along with the thick red and black cables coming from the meter. and copper one thats alone.... well i cant find were its going to....? i looked around for a rod in the ground outside....but i didnt find nothing...unless they hid it? is there a way i can test it to see if its grounded?

The braided cable should be the neutral coming from the meter, and the ground wire may be terminated on a cold-water pipe under the house. Testing the ground would be pretty difficult for you to do.

 

[dub bud]

i agree 100% rives is the man. i owe him bigtime!
i jus looked throu the manual for the panel i bought, and i see the part i need, aka equipment ground bus. i need to return this 10/2 cable with 10/3 w ground cable, so when i do that i will get the ground bus.

any idea what i should do about the ground? considering i cant find a pole out side?

 

[rives]

i agree 100% rives is the man. i owe him bigtime!
i jus looked throu the manual for the panel i bought, and i see the part i need, aka equipment ground bus. i need to return this 10/2 cable with 10/3 w ground cable, so when i do that i will get the ground bus.

any idea what i should do about the ground? considering i cant find a pole out side?

Well, after a little more thought, you could disconnect both the braided neutral wire coming from the meter and the ground wire from the buss. Make sure that they are both isolated from the enclosure and not touching each other. Take your meter, put it on the ohm scale (the upside down horseshoe with the horn symbol) and check from one wire to the other. If you get a tone & reading, they are connected elsewhere (they should be). If they read open, then you have a ground problem.

 

[dub bud]

i jus disconnected the braided neutral and the thick copper one put the ohm meter between them and no beep.....

 

[rives]

If you have any way to get a wire from outside, near the meter point, into the panel then you could ground it properly. You could pick up an 8' copper-clad ground rod, a clamp that you can attach the wire to the rod, and enough #6 bare solid copper wire to get from the rod to the ground buss and put it together. The only hard part would be getting the wire into the wall - the rest is pretty simple. Well, sometimes driving the ground rod in isn't much fun, but it is pretty simple!

 

[dub bud]

ugh... this dont sound fun.....

 

[rives]

ugh... this dont sound fun.....

That's why electricians call it "work"!

 

[dub bud]

well i got the ground rod, 6 copper cable, ground bus for the box, replaced the 10/2 with some 10/3 G. so tomorrows project looks like putting a rod in the earth...

 

[budleydoright]

you'll walk away with a safe electrical system and a good understnading of it. Good job.

 

[rives]

Good deal. You are improving your house's electrical system immeasurably. You might even find that you like the trade - to my knowledge, it's the only discipline broad enough that you can learn something on a daily basis for years to come. Electrical knowledge is like peeling an onion if you don't limit yourself to one aspect of it.

 

[dub bud]

thats for sure, i have learned so much already. i am so grateful ! =]

 

[dub bud]

i spent 420 working on this sofar lol installed the ground bus in the subpanel. got the ground rod in the ground and ran a 6 copper cable to the main box. ! im so excited. my washer and dryer work again ! but it looks like the last guy cut the ground cable off will it be ok?
he cut the 10/3 g cable to short and cut the ground cable to short...

 

[dub bud]

now im off to enjoy the rest of my 420 feeling a little accomplished =]
next up is to get the light controller hooked up. ill be back with that =]
THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE ! RIVES YOU ROCK !

 

[rives]

You really want the ground hooked up to your washer and dryer - water and electricity is a really shitty mix, and the ground is what makes your protection (the circuit breaker) work. If there is enough of the ground wire left that you can wire nut on a piece of donor copper, and then run that to the ground buss, that will work. I assume that the picture of your sub was snapped before you got the ground buss installed?

It's looking good!