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The main panel on my house looks like a hot mess. I'm slowly rewiring the house and every time I have to move a breaker, connecting a ground is a nightmare because it's so crowded. Can I put another ground bar on the left side and make some space in here? I'm really fighting replacing the whole panel and simply don't have the funds or time to do that right now. Hoping there's an option to add another ground bar and just make some space.

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UPDATE:

I was able to find the panel cover. Yes, it was uncovered when we bought the house. Crouse-Hinds Company is the manufacturer. The sticker attached below suggests space where an EQPT ground bar could be installed. I assume this means "equipment", but I'm unclear what that actually means. Is this diagram suggestion an additional 4 ground bars could be installed? I only need one more small one to mount my subpanel neutral wire.

As far as I can tell, Murray is the manufacturer to look at for the ground bar. I'm going to take these photos to our local electric supply and see if we can fit something based on the dimensions of the mounting holes.

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    Is there not a label on the inside of your breaker panel's door?
    – ThreePhaseEel
    Commented May 7 at 11:38
  • Many panels (main or sub) will allow more than one ground wire per hole in the ground bus bar (but not neutral). Find the labeling for your panel - you may be allowed 2 or even three grounds per hole.
    – FreeMan
    Commented May 7 at 12:12
  • One of the panel labels (there may be only one, there may be more than one) is visible as some age-browned paper behind the mass of wires on the right side of the photo.
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented May 7 at 12:25
  • The door label is literally for the door, (that fits many panels) in some cases. The "unfortunately difficult to look at here" one on the inside wall of the panel itself is more definitive to the particular panel it's in, usually. Sometimes the door label is good enough.
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented May 7 at 12:57
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    Side note, you need to make sure all the breakers installed are actually compatible with the panel/bus. Many will seem to fit, but will permanently damage the bus and/or cause fires. The Square-D Homeline definitely must go. Maybe others too.
    – nobody
    Commented May 8 at 2:09

4 Answers 4

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This appears to be quite an old panel. This one was manufactured with a single ground / neutral bar. I can't see in your photo, but if it is mounted on an insulating material there should be a green screw bonding the bar to the panel itself. This is the Main Bonding Jumper and there can only be one of them in the system. (The bar is probably mounted directly to the panel as the panel is designed to be the main panel.)

According to the National Electrical Code there can only be one point in the electrical system where the neutral and grounds can be joined. (There are rare exceptions but they are none of your concern here.) That one point is considered the entire main service panel in a residential installation. You can have multiple common bars in that one panel and does not need a bonding screw for additional bars.

You can add another ground / neutral bar to the panel if you desire. You can add it on the left or at the bottom if there is room. Look for a Ground Bar Kit that is designed for this panel. Or if they no longer make them for this panel you should be able add a generic ground bar by drilling and tapping the panel for the mounting screws of the ground bar kit you purchase. DO NOT use zip screws for this mounting.

Stay Safe!

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    My 200A 40-space main-breaker QO panel begs to differ with your claim that "all the newer ones have the breaker mounted vertically" - you can buy one brand-new today.
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented May 7 at 12:29
  • @Ecnerwal I edited that out. Thanks for the tip. 👍🏼
    – ArchonOSX
    Commented May 8 at 17:50
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A panel without a deadfront cover is openly dangerous and must be replaced promptly. Aside from protecting the user from shock, it also protects the user from arc flash.

The neutral-ground bar is extremely overstuffed, and there are many places where neutrals are not alone on their lug, as Code and UL have required since before this panel was made.

This panel is listed for 2 grounds per lug (up to 2 #14-12 per small hole, or up to 3 #14-10 per medium hole), but your choice of accessory ground bar might have a different listing.

Anyone's accessory ground bar can be used. If it is attached to the panel case with screws tapped 32 thread pitch or finer, this suffices as a grounding path. Do not put a screw on a twist-out.

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  • Understood. The cover is off simply because I’m working on it. And yes, neutrals and grounds are sharing lugs and I know that’s no bueno. Before I go through and rearrange them all, I’m just going to upgrade the whole panel. But that’s for next year. I went ahead with a Siemens ECLK2SC 2/0 Lug, 125A, Neutral Feeder to give me a hole big enough for my 1/0 neutral to fit into the bottom of the bar. Any big objections with this?
    – Jeremy P. Beasley
    Commented Jul 31 at 5:35
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    Actually, it looks like it is labeled for multiple grounds per lug, see the box on the far right under "USE CU/AL WIRE"
    – ThreePhaseEel
    Commented Jul 31 at 11:36
  • @ThreePhaseEel Good eye, I saw it and totally missed it.
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jul 31 at 21:21
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The main panel is the one place where neutral and ground must be bonded together. So it is allowed to have just one common busbar for neutral and ground.

Yes if you can find the manufacturer of your panel you can get a compatible busbar to mount elsewhere and spread the connections. There should be a label somewhere and typically the breakers are from the same manufacturer. So that should be enough to go on.

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  • It is my understanding that the neutral and ground bars serve as one redundant point in the MAIN panel, but can lead to very dangerous situations if an auxiliary panel is ever installed.
    – Evil Elf
    Commented May 7 at 11:47
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    @EvilElf if a subpanel is installed downstream, properly as a subpanel, with isolated neutral and ground in the sub-panel, there is no "very dangerous situation." Bonding in the main is standard and normal. If a new main is installed upstream, for instance a retrofit outside disconnect and/or service upgrade, then the former main must, as part of that change, be converted into an unbonded sub-panel with isolated neutral and ground. Your statement as written reads as vague fear from lack of understanding.
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented May 7 at 12:20
  • "As for why it's"... It's what? (I presume incomplete edit)
    – Jon Custer
    Commented May 7 at 12:45
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According to the NEC, only 2 ground wires per hole on the grounding bar. There can only be one neutral wire per hole on the grounding bar. I do a lot of electrical work and I have to learn all of the new codes. To make the ground wires better, twist 2 of them together before putting them in the hole and tightening up the screw. That way they can't come out easily. As long as the old ground bar is grounded in the panel, you can add another grounding bar, but it can only be used for the ground wires and not the neutral wires.

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    No -- panels are free to permit 3 wires in a grounding bar hole of suitable size
    – ThreePhaseEel
    Commented Nov 1 at 3:10

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