Electrical question

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Rod Snell

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I actually experienced by accident the rare event of damage that happened because a breaker did not function correctly at its rated 20amp break but stayed engaged for several minutes with a small wire shorted inside a device, long enough to start a fire inside the device.
In my case, I discovered there was a documented problem with the brand of breakers installed in 1977 that had caused house fires by failing to trip.
http://parkinelectric.com/2014/07/01/fpe-stab-lok-breakers-and-panels-position-statement/
I had an Oklahoma Licensed electrician replace the entire panel with new and inspected all the wired circuits to eliminate this problem. We also replaced a GFI that failed test. I did electrical work long ago in another state, but wanted an OK licensed cert to turn in to my insurance company (major upgrade).

So, yes, if everything works right, changing a plug to fit in a higher rated outlet should cause no problems. And if something weird happens inside your equipment and a fire starts, you might be there to turn it off.
And if you are unlucky enough to get the one-in-a million problem.....well, it happens.

Me, I'm chicken. I want it done to code, with UL components.
 
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Perplexed

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Ok, so I pulled the cover off the breaker box in my shop to look at the wiring layout. This box has a 200 amp supply coming from a two-pole breaker in the next box upstream, with 100amps on each pole. The two hot wires are connected to the breaker bus. So far, so good. There are a mix of 120/20 single pole breakers, a 240/30 two pole breaker, and a 240/50 two pole breaker. The two 240 circuits were installed by a licensed electrician since I moved in, and all circuits have worked with no issues.

The thing that has me scratching my head is the presence of only one ground (neutral?) bar in the box. The 120V circuits all have a green wire going to this bar, so I assumed it was the ground bar. However, the 240V circuits have a white and a white/black striped wire each, with all four going to the same bar as the green wires. These two circuits also have a pair of black wires, the hots of course, going to each pole of their respective breakers. One of the 240V circuits is used by the air compressor, and the other by the welder. I’m guessing that since the electrician added these two circuits to an existing layout, it must be ok.

Or is it not? What’s the deal with a single bar and the green, white, and white/black wires all going to the same bar?
 

travisstorma

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Is this a main panel or subpanel? Subpanel should have separate ground and neutral bus bars. The main panel ground and neutral needs to be bonded together. 2014 code (Not sure if newer versions but likely so) allow ground and neutral to be on the same bus bar on the main panel.
 

Perplexed

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This is a subpanel, and IIRC the two 240V circuits were added about four or five years ago. The subpanel was installed probably in the mid 1990s.

I had an electrician come out to look at the subpanel last week, and he didn’t seem to have any issues with the way it was laid out. Said it was no problem to add more 240V circuits to the panel.
 

Perplexed

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Here’s a pic of the panel in question. The supply lines are in the lower right; the circuit in the upper left is the 240/20; and the circuits in the upper right are the 240/50 (far right) and the 120/20’s. The numbers were just for my use, and that black slash by the No. 5 is an editing error.

8BB0F6F4-F65E-4C9F-8A8A-7412967678FB.jpeg
 

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