Can you put the ground wire and neutral wire in the same bar on a Circuit Breaker?

Question

i took a look at my Circuit Breaker and i noticed that the ground cables are pluged in on the same bar as the neutral cables is this ok or even save?

Answer 1

Yes this is totally acceptable. Some panels have the 2 bars in different places, however there is a bonding strap which connects them together through the metal box. You have only 1 ground rod and 1 bare copper ground cable. The incoming power lines also ground directly as this is done. They just have much longer ground rods. Having them separate really only LOOKS much better!

Answer 2

It's perfectly acceptable.  Think about it...both bars are bonded to the same can.  Of course I'm assuming your panel is grounded properly with the appropriate size ground rod driven to the appropriate depth and the appropriate sized earth bonding conductor.

Answer 3

Ground Wire?

Are You Talking About The Earth Wire?

If You Mean The Earth Wire.. Then That Should Be Attached To The Fuse Which Will Cause It To Blow If There Is Too Many Volts Of Electricity Making The Device Safe And Won't Electricute You.

If It's Next To The Neutral Wire Then That's Not Right...

Answer 4

In your original installation is is OK. More recent CB boxes have a separate ground bar and a different neutral bar.

Your arrangement is fine however.

Eric

Answer 5

i dont think that will work

i guess it will cause short circuit and has a tendency to expload

Answer 6

Yes, it is OK and safe.  That is how CB panels have been wired for years.  Both wires actually lead to the same place-ground/earth-so why not put them on the same bar?

Answer 7

You probably don't have an earth leakage unit. It is there to protect human life. You connect an earth leakage on the live and the neutral coming in and the use the live from the unit to supply the circuit brakers and the neutral going to the neutral of the plugs etc. If you then touch the earth and neutral the unit will trip.

If you touch the live and it conducts to ground through you it will trip and not kill you.

Answer 8

It is safe. Think what would happen if the main earth wire broke and you had a faulty appliance with the active touching metal of the appliance. It wouldn't trip the breaker because there would be nowhere for the current to travel (until you touched it, and the current going through you wouldn't trip the breaker either, so you die.) But because the earth is connected to neutral in the switchboard, if there is a fault then there is 2 paths for the current to return through, and the breaker would have tripped even with a broken main earth.