07/11/2026
I post this not to point fingers but to simply make aware of certain things and to remind everyone that just because it’s a big company doesn’t always mean the people are more competent or qualified. If you ever have any questions concerning electrical installations or if problems occur afterwards it is always worth getting a second pair of eyes on things not only for your safety but to protect your home as well. Everyone has their bad days but there are certain things that you shouldn’t take risk on when it comes to electricity. It only takes that one time for something to go wrong and burn someone’s house down or worse possibly harm someone.
Failing to separate grounds and neutral wires past the first point of disconnect creates multiple return paths for electricity. This allows electrical current to travel on bare ground wires and metal equipment frames instead of safely returning through the neutral wire, resulting in lethal shock risks, damaged electronics, and possible fires.
I was at a customers house to inspect a sink disposal not getting power. In process of troubleshooting the homeowner let me know that a bigger electric company had been there and installed Generac with transfer switches and had some issues that resulted in them having to install new panels inside as well. After looking at panel I discover multiple loose neutrals which ended up being the cause for disposal not working. As I looked closer I also notice the company before did not take the bonding jumpers out of neutral bar so even though they moved grounds to one bar and neutrals to the other they were still bonded. As I looked even closer there was multiple bigger neutral wires terminated directly to ground bar as well. Along with multiple incorrect neutral bonding points in the panel simply because the wires weren’t long enough to reach the desired neutral bar. When I first started looking at panel I thought a loose neutral or two could have been easily missed on accident but by the end of troubleshooting it was obvious that it was a rushed job that should have failed inspection. Not separating ground and neutrals past the first point of disconnect can be a potential dangerous shock hazard among other things and is usually the first thing the inspector looks at in these situations. Thankfully I was able to correct these issues for the homeowner but couldn’t believe that this had happened and should have been caught multiple times throughout the installation process. Everyone has bad days when things go wrong but to leave a job like this shows they had no care or concern for electrical safety.
