Exactly what does this note mean in my main panel what is a 4 wire feeder system and why is my whole system designed as one and what's the purpose?

Question

The note in my panel reads:

The electrical system of this home has been designed for a four wire feeder system. The grounding system is isolated from the neutral system. Be sure to connect a separate insulated green colored conductor to the service ground in the service entrance equipment (meter base) located adjacent to or near the home ... a 3 wire system is against nec

What does this mean and what's its purpose?

Can you upload a picture of your panel and a picture of the meter base? — manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact, Jun 18 '23 at 04:59
There's probably something about how your electric service is delivered due to your living situation. — Harper - Reinstate Monica, Jun 18 '23 at 17:57
Or a tiny house colony? Or a houseboat dock? Do you pay the regional utility directly or do you pay a site owner? — Harper - Reinstate Monica, Jun 18 '23 at 21:15
Yes it's a single wide and it's only been here 6 years wife's family the land cleared and power set up back then I was not around at the time — Chase Price, Jun 19 '23 at 00:28
Rotated the image to make it easier to read even though it was likely in the original orientation. — FreeMan, Jun 19 '23 at 18:56

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 19 '23 at 00:47

This is normal for mobile homes

Mobile homes that have the label you see on them are designed to be fed by an external service pedestal that contains the main disconnecting means. As a result, the service pedestal outside the mobile home contains the neutral-ground bond for the attached mobile home's electrical system, with the panel inside the mobile home wired as a subpanel, as per NEC 550.32(A):

The mobile home service equipment shall be located adjacent to the mobile home and not mounted in or on the mobile home. The service equipment shall be located in sight from and not more than 9.0 m (30 ft) from the exterior wall of the mobile home it serves. The service equipment shall be permitted to be located elsewhere on the premises, if a disconnecting means suitable for use as service equipment is located within sight from and not more than 9.0 m (30 ft) from the exterior wall of the mobile home it serves and is rated not less than that required for service equipment in accordance with 550.32(C). Grounding at the disconnecting means shall be in accordance with 250.32.

Your shed setup sounds fine

The setup for the shed you described, though, is fine -- there is nothing that prohibits a subpanel from feeding more subpanels, as long as neutral and ground are kept separate through the sub-feeder, which you did from the sounds of things. Just make sure the shed has its own grounding rods and the bonding screw in the shed's panel has been removed!

Okay well now the bonding screw is removed from grounding buss and how many rods and how deep do I need to set them? — Chase Price, Jun 19 '23 at 01:37
@ChasePrice -- two rods 8' deep and 6-8' apart, connected to each other and the shed sub with #8 bare copper — ThreePhaseEel, Jun 19 '23 at 02:01
Very much appreciated sir you more than likely just saved my ass haha! — Chase Price, Jun 19 '23 at 04:39

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 18 '23 at 15:53

4

It means that the supply to your main panels is two hots, a neutral and a ground. The neutral and ground should not be linked inside the panel.

Why? Presumably someone decided that the neutral-ground link should be upstream of the main panel. It may be down to how your supply, and that of your neighbors, and been wired to the grid.

answered Jun 18 '23 at 15:53

Simon B

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Example: if there is an outside cutoff before this box, the ground and neutral should be bonded only there. – keshlam Jun 18 '23 at 17:16
So is it not okay for me to be powering my shed with a 30amp double pole breaker feeding 100+' of 10/3 UF wire that's powering a 70amp panel that only has a double pole 20amp with only one side wired up meaning the red wire is capped of out the cable – Chase Price Jun 19 '23 at 00:31
@ChasePrice -- does that UF have a grounding (bare) wire in it? – ThreePhaseEel Jun 19 '23 at 00:31
Yes and i added a separate buss in my shed panel so the neutral and ground are separate – Chase Price Jun 19 '23 at 00:33

Exactly what does this note mean in my main panel what is a 4 wire feeder system and why is my whole system designed as one and what's the purpose?

2 Answers2

This is normal for mobile homes

Your shed setup sounds fine

Linked

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