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When do you separate grounds and neutrals in a panel?
This is one of the most asked questions on the channel. The short answer: grounds and neutrals get connected in one place only, at the service. After that, they stay apart. Two videos below cover it.
Also watch: Watch out! Separating Grounds and Neutrals
The breakdown, in plain English
- At the service equipment (the first disconnect), the neutral and the grounding system are bonded together with the main bonding jumper. That's the only spot for that connection.
- Every panel after that, like a subpanel in a garage or a second panel in the house, keeps the neutrals on an isolated neutral bar and the grounds on a separate ground bar bonded to the can.
- Pull the green bonding screw or strap out of the neutral bar in a subpanel.
- Why it matters: if neutrals and grounds touch downstream, normal neutral current rides on the ground wires, metal boxes and pipes. That is shock risk, and it can stop breakers from tripping the way they should.
- That's why a feeder to a subpanel is four wires: two hots, a neutral and a ground.
Codes to look up
At the service, an unspliced main bonding jumper ties the grounded (neutral) conductor to the equipment grounding system.
Downstream of the service disconnect, don't connect the neutral to ground.
On the load side of the service, the neutral generally can't be used to ground equipment.
Wire it so current doesn't flow on the grounding paths where it shouldn't.
These are plain-English summaries, not the code's exact wording. Always check the full section in the NEC edition your area has adopted, plus local amendments.
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