30 amp panel installation

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jdubbery

jdubbery

Active member
Joined
Jan 18, 2014
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32
Hey ya'll. 

Trying to hook up my circuit panel to a 30 amp power supply.  Can anybody point me to a panel diagram, or let me know which lug is for the hot line? 

Also, there's only one bus bar. Is it acceptable to to attach the neutral AND the ground of outgoing circuitry?

Thanks!

Also I momentarily forgot that I had asked a similar question a few days ago.  Sorry for the duplicity.
 

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The hot from the outlet goes to the circuit breaker, neutral to the bus with the white wires and the ground to the bus with the other ground wires.

Do not tie the ground and neutral together, the grounds should have separate bus from the neutral bus.

If you don't feel comfortable about this, I recommend you get an electrician to help you.
 
Ok, I'm comfortable to a point. 

There is only one bus bar, which has all the neutral's tied in.  Previous owner apparently has the grounds from all outgoing wires clipped to the circuit box with a little clip like this baby.

 

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The panel you show appears to be configured as a sub-panel only, as there is no MAIN breaker installed or designated.

I assume the top buss-bar is the hot bar, common to all breakers, but I'm not sure what the lower bar connects to.

How do you intend to utilize this panel?  Do you intend to attach a 30amp supply, via your power cord, directly to this box?
 
First, the fact that your asking this question makes me think you really should have an electrician come do this.  installing a sub panel is not really something a beginner should be doing, it can cause some real damage if done wrong.  there is a reason electricians have to go to 4 years of school and work all those hours before they can do work on their own. 

it is set up for 220v, as most sub panels are.  thats why the 2 buss bars.  it will need to be fed from your main panel with a 220v double pole breaker. the ground should be a separate bar, but technically you can tie them together unless you have a grounding rod at the sub panel.
 
SeilerBird said:
There are two buss bars so it is a 220 volt subpanel.
Click to expand...

Thanks Tom, that makes sense.  Do they make CBs that clamp to the upper or lower bar depending on which feed you want to draw from, or how is that determined?
 
Just Lou said:
Thanks Tom, that makes sense.  Do they make CBs that clamp to the upper or lower bar depending on which feed you want to draw from, or how is that determined?
Click to expand...

That is an old Zinsco sub panel and it is in fact a 220 volt panel. The cb's have two notches in them that fit over the buss bars. When a single pole breaker is used, there is only a metal contact installed in one of the notches.
 
Just Lou said:
Thanks Tom, that makes sense.  Do they make CBs that clamp to the upper or lower bar depending on which feed you want to draw from, or how is that determined?
Click to expand...
Yes, you can either get 110 volt or 220 volt breakers. Here are some photos of both types:

http://www.homedepot.com/b/Electrical-Breakers-Distribution-Load-Centers/Zinsco/N-5yc1vZ1xqdZbm0kZ50f?cm_mmc=SEM|THD|VF&skwcid=AL!3360!3!20812183357!b!!g!!+zinsco%20+breakers&ef_id=UqhZDwAAAbVOzXs7:20140130004714:s
 
Thanks Tom and Dennis, I don't know why I had such a mental block on how that was accomplished.  I assumed, since this is an RV forum, that this was to be a simple sub panel in an RV.  The 220 aspect (double pole breakers) didn't enter my mind. :-\
 
Are you trying to wire a 30A RV outlet TO this panel, or do you already have a 30A outlet somewhere and yu are trying to power this old subpanel from that?  You do NOT want 220v for an RV 30A outlet.  And you can't get 220v from a standard RV 30A outlet if you are trying to power this box.

Yes, it's ok to use the green clips to attach the ground to the box frame, assuming the box itself is grounded further upstream. Do NOT hook the bare grounds to the neutral bus.
 
If you only wanted to use 120 volt breakers in this box, could you just run the hot wire from the main entrance panel and connect it to the top lug, then run a jumper from the top lug to the bottom lug? Of course with a appropriate size wire for the jumper. Would this be legal or would it work?
 
Rene T said:
If you only wanted to use 120 volt breakers in this box, could you just run the hot wire from the main entrance panel and connect it to the top lug, then run a jumper from the top lug to the bottom lug? Of course with a appropriate size wire for the jumper. Would this be legal or would it work?
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Yes you can tie both legs together and use it as a 110 volt panel. I know it would work but I don't know if it would be legal, but I can't imagine any reason why it would be illegal.
 
Couldn't you also go to a local electrical supply house and purchase a short bus bar and mount it to the side of the box? Then all your ground leads could be attached to this bar.
 
Rene T said:
Couldn't you also go to a local electrical supply house and purchase a short bus bar and mount it to the side of the box? Then all your ground leads could be attached to this bar.
Click to expand...
That would be a much better option than the ground clip.
 
I agree with Gary. If you are attempting to wire up a plug for your camper, be aware that it is not 220 volts. It would be 30 amp 110. Seems odd that someone would pose an electrical problem on a rv forum unless they were attempting to do something related to a rv.
 
Water Dog said:
That is an old Zinsco sub panel and it is in fact a 220 volt panel. The cb's have two notches in them that fit over the buss bars. When a single pole breaker is used, there is only a metal contact installed in one of the notches.
Click to expand...

These panels make me cringe when I see them.  Having just the bus bar to support the breaker is bad design IMO.
 
Not really, they snap in at the bottom and/or rest on a lip positioned for that purpose.
 
Just Lou said:
Not really, they snap in at the bottom and/or rest on a lip positioned for that purpose.
Click to expand...

What I don't like is not that it is supported on the bottom but that it is not supported at the bus bar. If the breaker would fall off the bus bar there is the likelihood of arcing and fire.
 
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