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I have a Homeline panel. I live in the United States. House was built in ~04.

There are two ground bars: one on the right, and one on the left. The one on the right you can see has some multi-strand copper fastened in its top lug.

But not the one on the left. All the individual copper strands are from individual circuits. I do not see a grounding strap between them. Is the left bar grounded through the panel? Is that okay?

This answer makes it sound like it's okay, but I'd like some confirmation for my case.

Homeline panel Right bar Left bar

Matt Thomas
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    If *you'll be happier* with them bonded by wire, go ahead and buy the largest (green or bare) wire your regular ground bar holes are listed for (should be stated on the panel label) and connect them, properly torquing the screws. ***Code is minimum. It's OK to exceed it*** – Ecnerwal Nov 20 '21 at 16:06
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    That would be so much neater if the electrician had bothered to note that the power comes from the bottom, and it's perfectly acceptable to put the main breaker on the bottom where the power comes in, rather than run the main feeds all the way up and over. – Ecnerwal Nov 20 '21 at 16:14
  • @Ecnerwal I think that panel (and its components inside) can only be installed in that orientation. The plastic that holds the neutral and line buses and the main breaker is held in place by gravity with tabs in slots. The only way to get the main breaker on the bottom would be to rotate the entire panel, and then those tabs would be falling _out_ of the slots. And my service comes up from the ground not down from a pole outside. I think they did the best they could :( I might be missing something though, especially given my ignorance in having to ask this question :) – Matt Thomas Nov 20 '21 at 16:35
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    There is a least 1 screw that binds the plastic in place. The marking of "LINE" being marked twice so right side up no matter which way mounted indicates it can be mounted either way. I mounted this same panel the other direction in a house I owned in 2001. Finding the exact instructions for that panel might be difficult due to plug-on-neutral updates to currently available product line. The ground bus is connected to code. – NoSparksPlease Nov 20 '21 at 17:00
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    There are usually some screws holding those in place as well as the slots, often not visible with the breakers in. I have the QO not Homeline, and I know those are reversible top to bottom, but I had to make a point of telling my electrician to put the main on the bottom as he was defaulting to main on top. I prefer not to work around the main feeds running all along the sides and getting in the way. Only actual effect is that I have to hold my generator interlock up to flip the main on - not a big deal, as rarely as I use that. – Ecnerwal Nov 20 '21 at 17:01
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    You have the bonding screw installed (top right) so both busses are at the same potential because the screw ties them together. – Ed Beal Nov 20 '21 at 21:00
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    Re bottom feed: Square D FAQ's has a video about bottom feeding Homeline and QO. Basically says just turn it over or feed past to the top. https://www.se.com/us/en/faqs/FA121184/ – NoSparksPlease Nov 21 '21 at 00:27

1 Answers1

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When installed per instructions with the provided (#8-32 self threading) screws the ground bar is considered bonded to the cabinet, which is bonded to the grounded neutral conductor by the green bonding screw in the top of the right side neutral bus.

It appears there is a redundant wire from a factory provided neutral lug between the hot line terminals to the ground bar on the right, it is ok to be there, but it is not required.

NoSparksPlease
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