Justsomeguy
DIY
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We have recently purchased a home in TX built in the 1920s, and the wiring is an assortment of multiple wiring events. There aren't any local codes as it is unincorporated land. The events in question are with the overhead wiring to the pole barn subpanel consisting of two 10 gauge solid-core wires, one hot and one neutral with no ground. After an intense storm, the support for the wiring broke free from the house and caused the wires to hang dangerously low. At this point, I cut the wires where they exited from the house attic. Now it is time to restore power back to the barn, but I know there are issues with its current configuration and need some assistance. I may use the term subpanel incorrectly as it might be considered a feeder, so please just insert the proper term as it applies.
There is currently a tray cable with three black insulated 10 gauge wires that go from the service panel on the house, up into the attic, and out the other side. One is connected to a 20amp breaker, one is connected to the neutral bus, and the other is currently not connected to anything (it wasn't used all the way to the barn). The service panel neutral and ground bars are bonded.
The subpanel in the barn only had two wires going into it, the hot and neutral, only supplying 120v which I'm ok with.. The neutrals and grounds from the barn circuits are both connected to an insulated neutral bus in the subpanel. No grounding rods are installed at the barn. Now that the current setup is established, here's what I want to do.
I have buried PVC conduit 20 inches below the surface to run UF cable underground instead of suspended. The distance between the side of the house and barn is 25ft. I plan to attach the loose 3rd wire to the service ground bar (properly labeling it as a ground) and use the other two wires as the hot and neutral (labeling it also). These will terminate at a new unbonded subpanel on the other side of the house. From this subpanel, I want to run UF 12/2 w ground to the barn subpanel. I'm assuming I would need to isolate the grounds from the neutral bar and check all barn grounds aren't connected to neutral, establishing an emergency path back to the service panel. I'm guessing I would also need to attach two grounding probes to the barn subpanel as well. I've heard you can ground to the metal barn, but I'm not certain if there are metal water pipes that run to the house that would cause an unintentional parallel line.
I know the current configuration is not to code and may have never been. Is it worth the trouble to execute my plan, or should I just reconnect the hot and neutral, except this time run them in separate conduits underground to the barn? If neither sounds right to you or you have suggestions or improvements, I'm all ears! Ideally, I would run new 10/3 w ground the whole way, but it's too expensive to go that route. Other options may be to just purchase a single 10ga ground and run it out to the barn or use a GFCI at the service panel and label the outlets not grounded? Although going up to code is unlikely, whatever I can do to make it safer is a step in the right direction.
I know this is a little confusing, and I will be more than happy to clarify anything for you. I want to bring the wiring closer to code than it is. Fun with old houses never ends.
There is currently a tray cable with three black insulated 10 gauge wires that go from the service panel on the house, up into the attic, and out the other side. One is connected to a 20amp breaker, one is connected to the neutral bus, and the other is currently not connected to anything (it wasn't used all the way to the barn). The service panel neutral and ground bars are bonded.
The subpanel in the barn only had two wires going into it, the hot and neutral, only supplying 120v which I'm ok with.. The neutrals and grounds from the barn circuits are both connected to an insulated neutral bus in the subpanel. No grounding rods are installed at the barn. Now that the current setup is established, here's what I want to do.
I have buried PVC conduit 20 inches below the surface to run UF cable underground instead of suspended. The distance between the side of the house and barn is 25ft. I plan to attach the loose 3rd wire to the service ground bar (properly labeling it as a ground) and use the other two wires as the hot and neutral (labeling it also). These will terminate at a new unbonded subpanel on the other side of the house. From this subpanel, I want to run UF 12/2 w ground to the barn subpanel. I'm assuming I would need to isolate the grounds from the neutral bar and check all barn grounds aren't connected to neutral, establishing an emergency path back to the service panel. I'm guessing I would also need to attach two grounding probes to the barn subpanel as well. I've heard you can ground to the metal barn, but I'm not certain if there are metal water pipes that run to the house that would cause an unintentional parallel line.
I know the current configuration is not to code and may have never been. Is it worth the trouble to execute my plan, or should I just reconnect the hot and neutral, except this time run them in separate conduits underground to the barn? If neither sounds right to you or you have suggestions or improvements, I'm all ears! Ideally, I would run new 10/3 w ground the whole way, but it's too expensive to go that route. Other options may be to just purchase a single 10ga ground and run it out to the barn or use a GFCI at the service panel and label the outlets not grounded? Although going up to code is unlikely, whatever I can do to make it safer is a step in the right direction.
I know this is a little confusing, and I will be more than happy to clarify anything for you. I want to bring the wiring closer to code than it is. Fun with old houses never ends.
