Wire My Shed

[bubbaroski]

I would like to wire my shed with 110 from my pass-thru panel. My pass-thru panel I am referring to is the panel under the meter. It is supplied with 3 wires. Two fat wires which the breakers are connected to and a smaller wire which is connected to the strip where all the ground wires are connected. From this panel the house is wired as is the water pump and the hvac unit. This panel is close (25') to my shed. The circuit breaker panel in the house is not close to my shed. The wire I am thinking of using is Romex. It has a white, a black and a ground wire.

Question: can I add a thin circuit breaker, connect the black wire to the circuit breaker and the white and ground to the ground strip?

[HayZee518]

What you have below your meter is your main disconnnect breaker. There are probably no available stabs to connect a circuit breaker so you'll be forced to use the panel in your house. Usually a main has room for ONLY a two pole 100 to feed your house.

[bubbaroski]

Thanks for responding. I did have a space so yesterday I did hook it up so now my question is....do you think it is correct. I used a thin breaker which only picked up one hot side or 110. I hooked the black wire to the breaker. I hooked the white and the ground to the ground strip. In the shed I installed a 3 prong outlet. One of those GF outlets. It works but is it dangerous?? Thank you. Harry

[HayZee518]

The reason for the main breaker in this "pass through" box as you put it, is if there is an emergency, then it only takes one motion of the hand to completely disconnect ALL current carrying conductors to your main panel. No other breakers should occupy this box because as you installed a half breaker - one circuit will still be live, NOT disconnected. Now you got to remember when you shut off the main there'll still be a hot circuit feeding out of it.

[kactuskid]

Does this panel outside have one single main breaker that shuts off power to the entire panel and to the panel inside the house?

You can't just run regular NM-B romex to your shed, it needs to be UF romex which is rated for underground burial. And it needs to be buried 24" in the ground. And you'll need to install a peice of conduit with sweep fittings on each end to protect it, it can't just run exposed into the side of your shed. Or you'll need to install THHN/THWN individual wires in PVC conduit between the panel and your shed. This also is required to be buried a minimum 18".

You'll also need to contact your utilty company so all your utilites can be flagged prior to digging. Below is a link that'll show you how this circuit should be run to your shed.
http://popularmechanics.com/home_imp...er/index.phtml

[bubbaroski]

Lots of good information. Here's a photo of the panel on the pole. My question has to do with the white wire and the bare ground that are both connected to the buz on the right (as you face the panel). Is this ok? The black wire is connected to one of the thin breakers on the lower left. Many thanks for the help. Harry

[bubbaroski]

trying to figure out how to attach the photo

[kactuskid]

It's hard to see the connections up close in your photo, and you haven't answered the question whether there is a main breaker in this panel that cuts off power to the entire panel or not. Though it looks like the main is on the upper right hand side.

So, if this is the main panel then yes, both the ground and the neutral wire are supposed to be connected to the same neutral/ground buss bar.

[bubbaroski]

Yes the upper right is a 200A breaker. On the left the 2 fat wires are on a 100A breaker going to the house. The red and black wires are for the hvac package unit. The water pump for the well and heat strips in the hvac unit also have breakers...as well as the shed which has a 20A breaker. The Romex is outdoor. The shed is 25' from the panel. The conduit is the gray plastic with the swing fittings all sealed up. The outlet in the shed is the GF type. Many thanks for everyone's help. I really appreciate it. Harry

[HayZee518]

I put the photo into one of my programs and magnified it 40%.
The two twin breakers in the lower left side.
It appears there is a tie-bar between the upper and lower breaker - correct?
The black wire on the upper and white wire on the lower connect to a 220 device - correct?
Also the lower black goes to yet another circuit - which I assume to be your shed. Uh, there is NO tie bar connection to this part of the twin - correct?
By the way - this panel is your main.
It is a 200 ampere - 8 circuit panel. The neutral is tied to ground at some point be it a screw or jumper wire to the case.
I think I can make out the twisted bare ground going to the neutral for your 100 amp line.
So, therefore in your panel in the house there is NO aux ground bar for the equipment ground connections. Is your neutral in the house tied to the panel ground through a screw?
How old is this house? I remember getting "nailed" by an inspector in Massachusetts because I didn't run an SER cable to a sub panel in 1992.
I did eventually.