Electrical Help Please?

[Elio Amazed]

120 v. between the big, curved black feeds (either one) and the white taped wire.
One of the curved black wires should be red.
I don't think you are connecting anything to the neutral bar, which is on the left side [don't know what bare ground wires are doing hooked to it], ground bar is on right side [don't know what white neutral wires are doing hooked to it]. Existing breaker screws to neutral or ground should be 120 v.
Push in the breaker and you should have 240 v. between the two breaker screws.

(I'm not an electrician but my brother is.)

Jambe stop. You've already made mistakes. Someone can get hurt here.

 

[Sethodine]

I know you said to not tell you to not call an electrician, but trust me Seth, for your own good...
If you are looking at that box and you have to ask, "Which bar is the Ground? Which is the Neutral?"...
You and your family need you to call an electrician, be it a friend who actually knows what he/she is doing...
Or someone you have to pay to do this. Reality. Those two questions just disqualified you from doing this safely...
No matter how much detailed instruction you get. And that definitely goes for any and all instruction from our members.

I can tell you exactly how to correctly wire that box. But I won't.

Don't forget, you more than likely will have to hire an inspector to legally approve the installation anyway.

Sorry man. That's the truth.

BTW... Those neutrals are connected exactly where they should be connected.

Yeah, I didn't realize just how much of a rat's nest it was until I started studying up on it.
From what I understand, there is no difference between Ground and Neutral "upstream" from the box (sorry I don't know the right word). However, once you get to the breaker box, they need to be distinct in order to keep load off of the Ground.

It is my conclusion (as Jambe said) that the white-taped-Black is the Neutral, because it is a greater gauge than the other bar. Thus, the solution is to kill the mains, re-wire all the neutrals onto the neutral bar and rewire all the bare onto the Ground bar (right side). I will not be performing this work!!! I will call in a real electrician to sort this out, and wire in my 40amp socket and breaker while they're at it.

I went into this with the expectation that the breaker box would be a happy, perfectly wired contraption that would be clear and easy to understand. I did not expect that it would be a ticking time bomb of a fire hazard!

 

[Elio Amazed]

I did not expect that it would be a ticking time bomb of a fire hazard!

It's not.

Though you're going to call in a professional electrician... depending on your laws and ordinances...
You'll likely still legally have to bring in and pay an inspector to approve it all after the installation.
In some states and localities, it's illegal for a homeowner to replace an outlet or light switch.

 

[Coss]

It's not.

Though you're going to call in a professional electrician... depending on your laws and ordinances...
You'll likely still legally have to bring in and pay an inspector to approve it all after the installation.
In some states and localities, it's illegal for a homeowner to replace an outlet or light switch.

Let me add to this; when you call the electrician, he will tell you everything you need to do.
He will tell you which permit you have to have, it will have to be posted on site (aka taped up somewhere) and he'll tell you where you have to call to get it inspected. Depending on the company you're using, some will have the permits with them, but you have to take it to City hall to have it recorded.
He will inspect everything first and tell you what you have to do and take care of; take notes!
And you are supposed to have it inspected before you can use it, so always make it ASAP after install.
One suggestion is use Home Advisor for finding a contractor, it's a free service (unlike Angie's list) and do get more than one bid.

 

[Jambe]

Jambe stop. You've already made mistakes. Someone can get hurt here.

Dale, don't tell me to stop because I have made mistakes without saying what those mistakes are. PM me if you wish.

Seth, don't think that hiring an electrician will be cheap. There are a lot of things wrong with your panel. Here is an example: I believe code says you cannot splice wires in the panelboard. What if the wire will not reach where it needs to go? Oh, you may luck out and get a guy who isn't a stickler, or you may not and end up with major "renovations". I'm not saying you shouldn't get it fixed, you probably should. Just be aware that things can go south in a hurry.

 

[Sethodine]

What really sucks about this whole situation, is that it is not my house! This is my Father-in-laws house, but he's struggling with bills, which is part of why we're living here and paying him rent. I really don't want to shell out a couple hundred dollars to fix this problem, but I know for a fact that he cannot afford to fix it right now.

 

[Elio Amazed]

What really sucks about this whole situation, is that it is not my house! This is my Father-in-laws house, but he's struggling with bills, which is part of why we're living here and paying him rent. I really don't want to shell out a couple hundred dollars to fix this problem, but I know for a fact that he cannot afford to fix it right now.

The thought crossed my mind last night.
I was going to ask if you and the Missus had gotten your dream cottage.

BTW, there's a silver 2011 Leaf SL in Pittsburgh with 15,600 miles on it for $8590
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/5970833424.html

 

[NSTG8R]

Jambe stop. You've already made mistakes. Someone can get hurt here.

Actually, Jambe is right on the money. Not sure what you're concerned about in his statement [I've got 30+ years in HVAC]

 

[Elio Amazed]

Yeah, I went back and looked over it again and you're right.
But... He also then told Seth there's a whole lot wrong with his box.
Which there isn't. Moving the grounds and neutrals to their proper sides...
Is all I see that needs to be done. The odds of trouble because of that are slim.

There are probably still a few million older boxes in this country that only have one bar for both ground and neutral.

Should he really be telling someone who's likely never seen the inside of a box before...
How to install and wire a 240 volt breaker in that box over the internet?

A lot can be lost in the translation to a complete nubee.
Besides the fact that in Seth's area it might be illegal for him to do the work to begin with.

That's the main problem I have with it.

 

[Sethodine]

Well the point is moot. I've called an electrician who will be by tomorrow after work to have a look and fix anything if need be. And also install the new breaker and socket.

BTW, there's a silver 2011 Leaf SL in Pittsburgh with 15,600 miles on it for $8590
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/5970833424.html

There are actually an overabundance of Leafs in this area. I've seen 2014 base-models with under 30k going for $7000.
However, my wife and I just picked up a second Leaf on Saturday 2013 SV with the DC quick charge port (a must!) for $10k out the door. 26k miles and still has all 12 battery health bars, although I fully expect to lose the first bar within the year.

Installing our home 240v station is a must now, so that we can quickly charge up after work and turn around to do other things. As it stands, each of our Leafs have about 20-25 miles left on them after commuting to work. We still have our Gas Car, but once the station is installed we're gonna lend it to my parents until they can buy a replacement for their car that just died.

Such is life.