GEC, cages and bent terminal bars

[Chad Fabry]

I can't believe I didn't take a photo of this.

Seimens 200 amp panel in place as service equipment in the garage on an exterior wall. The two GEC's each is 6 gage stranded copper are attached to driven rods on the other side of the wall. The soil pitches steeply away from the house to a cheesy retaining wall it's been inexorably dragging the ground rods in its quest to be level.

The GEC's are tight enough to pluck like a guitar and have broken the plastic cage (one stand off thing0 and bent the terminal bar as well.

Does the broken cage and bent bar merit panel replacement by code?

Can you buy parts for panels?

If it was mine it'd be broken and bent for eternity.

[Les]

yes you can buy parts

yes it has a broken component, therefore violates code.

yes, it would likely stay that way until my wife gets remarried right after the funeral.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by Chad Fabry

I can't believe I didn't take a photo of this.

Question: Was the customer there with you when you were looking at this? Did the customer distract you and cause you to forget to take the photo?

Does the broken cage and bent bar merit panel replacement by code?

Sure. The GECs should probably be replaced as well if they're now too short to reach where they need to reach. What happened to the bonding screw/strap?

Can you buy parts for panels?

Sure.

If it was mine it'd be broken and bent for eternity.

Probably mine too. But I don't like to hold others to the same low standard that I apply to my own house.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Bill Kibbel]

If it's helping to retain the soil, leave it be.

[Brian G]

In theory, parts are available. In reality, good luck getting anything other than a main lug or an add-on equipment ground bar. You'll play hell even getting a deadfront cover if the panel is more than a few years old. Manufacturers hate dealing in replacement parts.

Brian G.

Been There [:-headach

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by Brian G

[navy]In theory, parts are available. In reality, good luck getting anything other than a main lug or an add-on equipment ground bar. You'll play hell even getting a deadfront cover if the panel is more than a few years old. Manufacturers hate dealing in replacement parts.

It's a Seimens panel. All he has to do is go to Home Depot and unscrew the bar from the aisle display. If he wears an orange vest and mumbles to himself, no one will say a thing.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Brian G]

Originally posted by Jim Katen

It's a Seimens panel. All he has to do is go to Home Depot and unscrew the bar from the aisle display. If he wears an orange vest and mumbles to himself, no one will say a thing.

Good idea, but instead of mumbling to himself I suggest carrying a clipboard full of papers, looking really pissed-off, and cussing under his breath.

Brian G.

It Works For a Lot of Bosses [:-gnasher

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by Brian G

Originally posted by Jim Katen

It's a Seimens panel. All he has to do is go to Home Depot and unscrew the bar from the aisle display. If he wears an orange vest and mumbles to himself, no one will say a thing.

[navy]Good idea, but instead of mumbling to himself I suggest carrying a clipboard full of papers, looking really pissed-off, and cussing under his breath.

Then people would think that he's a manager and they'd wonder why he's doing actual work.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Chad Fabry]

Question: Was the customer there with you when you were looking at this? Did the customer distract you and cause you to forget to take the photo?

Several things made me forget but it's all my fault.

1) I already noticed the home with a walk out basement was built on a transition lot..part fill part virgin soil

2) the soil on the wall directly outside the panel is stacked up at 45 degrees or steeper and held in place by an uncommonly inadequate retaining wall

3) a large crack in the foundation in the general area

When I saw the stretched gec's I stopped inspecting the panel and went back outside and kicked through about 18 inches of snow to find the ground rods and confirm my theory.

Once confirmed I went back in and spent about 5 minutes trying to find something wrong with an otherwise almost flawless installation. I buckled it up, took my "after" shot and moved on.

I now take a before shot of the panel and an after shot too. That way when I get home to write I can prove to myself that I put the dead front back on.

On a different note: just to show I'm all about fair play, today I'm hoping Elliot Spitzer will endorse Hillary "I cry at women's luncheons" Clinton