Originally Posted by
Jim McClendon
Thanks for the replies. The terminal is rated for 3 wires. The licensed electrician said they twisted the wires for better continuity. I was wondering... your thoughts?
I count 20 circuits. It looks as if there are two single grounding conductors at the bottom of the grounding bar. This leaves 18 grounding conductors in four bundles, more than the three conductors per bundle for which you say the terminals in the ground bar are rated. If it violates the manufacturer's instructions, it fails the inspection and should be repaired. Whether it has "better continuity" or not is irrelevant. There is a saying in the Free Software arena: "With many eyes, all bugs are shallow." The
NEC has been subject to many eyes for over 100 years. Deviations from it in this panel are not subject to "many eyes," but are subject to the boost that Murphy's Law gives to unintended side effects. I do not mean to go on and on (I do not think that I do
), but it bothers me when someone, especially a licensed someone, say that he or she knows better than the code or the manufacturer's requirements.
Originally Posted by
James Duffin
It is wrong because the terminal is not rated for the number of wires plus if you ever have to service a circuit wrapped up in the twisted mess it would involve unwrapping the whole bundle. I would write it up for the reason I stated but it would never be addressed I feel sure.
I have worked on panelboards with long lengths of twisted grounding conductors similar to those in the photograph and James is right. The only safety aspect of such a situation is that I shut off the main breaker for a job for which I might not otherwise.
Untwisting all the conductors is a pain, and after they are untwisted they are a real mess, I spend more time trying to straighten them out than I did untwisting them.
- BOB
