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View Full Version : Broken bus, adequate repair?



Benjamin Thompson
06-27-2011, 06:09 PM
When I inspected this house 6 years ago, I reported a broken grounding / neutral bus. This is the repair I found today. Seems pretty silly when a new bus bar costs about $5. What say you?
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Jerry Peck
06-27-2011, 06:15 PM
There is no 'repair' of that terminal bar.

There is a 'remove it and throw it away' and 'replace with a new one'. :)

Roger Frazee
06-27-2011, 06:51 PM
I must admit that is a nicely bent copper jumper .... :) None-the-less I agree with Jerry.

One thing I would mention is the terminal bar appears to be mounted on insulated standoffs. Equipment grounds and grounded legs are terminated to that terminal bar. When the new one is installed and assuming we are looking at service equipment or a panel that is allowed a 3 wire feeder there needs to be a main bonding jumper from that terminal bar to the metal of the enclosure.

Lou Romano
06-27-2011, 07:28 PM
I see grounds, both bare copper and insulated green wiring along with the neutrals.

Is the first means of disconnect in this panel?

If not the grounds shouldn't be there and this neutral bar is a little harder to replace because it has to be isolated from ground. Not a Home Depot item ;)

Personally I save the best neutral bars out of old panels I have replaced, but I usually toss out the insulators and use them as ground bars.

I have also been told that replacing any part of a panel with anything other than an exact replacement from the Company that built the panel voids the UL listing of the entire assembly. Anybody have any input on that?

I can't imagine what the heck happened to break the bar like that?

Benjamin Thompson
06-27-2011, 07:29 PM
Roger, good point. It is there, just not in that picture. And yes, I did mention the doubled neutrals.:)
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Benjamin Thompson
06-27-2011, 07:34 PM
Lou, just for grins, here it is in 2005. Overtightening would be my guess.
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Roger Frazee
06-27-2011, 07:38 PM
Roger, good point. It is there, just not in that picture. And yes, I did mention the doubled neutrals.:)
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That's what I figured ..... ;)

Rollie Meyers
06-27-2011, 10:38 PM
That panel is suitable for service equipment ONLY, so there is no issue w/ grounding & neutrals on the neutral bar. That panel is one of my all time faves, due to the extra gutter space on the surface mount model pictured above.

That fix for a short term repair may be OK,until it could be properly repaired but the problem w/ temp. repairs is they don't get fixed, so it is not acceptable to leave it, which is what seems to have been done....:mad: