Electrical Wiring Help Needed Please

[Buds Buddy]

Hope this helps.

Hey Hydro, Do I have to have 6/3 with ground or will 6/2 work ? Here's the shed break down.
Breaker 1: 3 wall outlets on a 15 Amp Breaker (This outlet will run 1 - 6 gallon humidifier / .583 Amps, 1 - Oscillating fan / 2.5 Amp, 1 - Mars Hydro TSW 2000 / 2.55 Amps & the Pump for the Air Domes on my 2 Auto Pots / Amps ?) So 5.5 - 6 Amps at very most

Breaker 2: 3 wall outlets on a 15 Amp Breaker (This outlet will run a 6 gallon Humidifier, 1 Oscillating Fan, 1 - Mars Hydro TSW 2000 & the Re-Circulation Pump in my Reservoir). Same as Breaker 1: 5.5 - 6 Amps Tops

Breaker 3: 1 Wall outlet for A/C on a 20 Amp Breaker ( Window A/C says 10 Amps)

Breaker 4: 1 Wall outlet dedicated for power tools on a 15 Amp Breaker (will rarely get used)

Breaker 5: 3 - Ceiling lights with 60 watt equivalent LED Bulbs, 1 - Outside T-8 Roof Light (2-Bulb) & 1 outlet that will run a 4" & 6" exhaust fan on a 15 Amp Breaker. I'll probably never use more than 1 light at a time; but the fans will run 24/7. I'm not seeing more than 6-7 Amps running through this at any time.

So it looks like No More than 30 Amps is really needed but will still run 40 Amps to the Shed & Put a 50 Amp Breaker in the Main Box to cover the shed & the breakers I remove from the Main to connect the Sub Panel to.

All my breakers are the small type GE 15 & 20 Amp Single Pole.
So my question is can I use 6/2 or is 6/3 a Must ?
Also, Does it matter if I'm using a 125 Amp Breaker Box / Sub Panel in the shed if I'm only sending 40 Amps to the shed? I know it's rated higher but I would think it could be used for any Amperage under the rating. Am I wrong about this ?
Got my lights wired today so all I have to do is connect it all in the sub panel & run it to the house.
Start Insulating tomorrow.

 

[Hydroholic]

It’s the Neutral you want to carry between panels not the ground.

 

[Buds Buddy]

It’s the Neutral you want to carry between panels not the ground.

I understand that I'm grounding the Sub panel to the water pipe. The part I'm wondering about is if I need 6/3 to run 2 Hot / Black legs & the Neutral or just 1 of each.
Sounds to me like you are saying I could use 6/2 ??? But not positive & that wire is expensive so don't want to buy the wrong wire.
Please confirm this so I don't spend $200 on the wrong wire.
Thank you so much for your help. I wouldn't have gotten this far without it.

 

[Hydroholic]

6/2 as labeled usually comes with 2 insulated and a bare for ground. You need to have 3 insulated. 2 for each leg of voltage and the Neutral.

 

[Buds Buddy]

6/2 as labeled usually comes with 2 insulated and a bare for ground. You need to have 3 insulated. 2 for each leg of voltage and the Neutral.

Thank You !!!

 

[Buds Buddy]

Well I wired all the lights with 14/2 to a junction box where I have a 12/2 line coming in from the breaker box. Looked like the easiest way to me.
so everything is wired as far as the Sub Panel but still needs to be connected there.
Spent most of the day caulking, spray foaming & insulating the grow room area.
Here are the latest pics.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Here's a few pics of my overall progress so far. Outside of shed before & after.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Inside of Shed.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Last but not least are my 3 babies. 1-Afghan Kush, 1-Gorilla Glue & 1-Gorilla Girl.

 

[Buds Buddy]

@Hydroholic I could use a little more of your electrical knowledge if you wouldn't mind. I'm almost ready to run the 6/3 wire without ground soon. I just have a few things to complete inside first.
I pretty much have everything wired to the sub panel. Need to get 1 more 15 amp breaker to complete that & 1 other thing I'm trying to figure out. This is the question I have for you. Where does the No 6 ground wire connect inside the box ? I don't see a place to connect it unless it screws to the Ground Bar. The No 6 wire is connected to the water pipe with a ground clamp.
Please take a look at the following pictures to see if you see anything I did wrong. Thanks.

 

[The Happy One]

I'm not Hydro, but if you look at your neutral grounding bar on the left side you see one large one with an Allen Wrench fitting? That is where you want it.

 

[Buds Buddy]

So the Neutral & the ground go to the same place? I'm wondering why I need a separate ground & Neutral bar then ? I would think the Neutral wire would go to the Neutral Bar & the Ground to the Ground Bar (No identifiable hole for it). For some reason Hydro says that I needed to separate the Grounds & Neutrals with their own bars. Not sure why.

 

[Hydroholic]

So the Neutral & the ground go to the same place? I'm wondering why I need a separate ground & Neutral bar then ? I would think the Neutral wire would go to the Neutral Bar & the Ground to the Ground Bar (No identifiable hole for it). For some reason Hydro says that I needed to separate the Grounds & Neutrals with their own bars. Not sure why.

Ground goes to ground bar, not the Neutral bar. Keep them separate. Everything looks good so far.

 

[The Happy One]

At the service panel (ONLY AT THE SERVICE PANEL - HUGELY IMPORTANT)the neutral bus bar is bonded to ground. So you should see the ground lead and neutral tied to the same bus (the neutral bus bar). Based on your description it sounds like your panels are wired correctly, but it just doesn't "look right" based on how the other panel is made up. I can completely understand how this can seem incorrect from a common sense perspective.

However, any sub-panel after the primary service from there MUST have an isolated neutral. DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT bond neutral to ground in a sub-panel.

Why is this? When you tie neutral to earth ground in a subpanel, you're created a potential parallel path for current to return via earth (ground) - so in the event of a fault, your ground conductor has assumed the role of the return path for current and now everything that you've grounded (sub-panel, appliances, metal fixtures, etc) to that sub-panel is now hot.

All it takes is a preexisting fault, one rainstorm, or wet feet, whatever... and you touching something energized - and you're doing the 60 cycle shuffle.

 

[Hydroholic]

If you think about it, both the neutral bar and the ground bar are both grounded to the breaker box. Since it looks like you only have one provision capable of taking your 6 gauge ground wire, it must be there.
Now, what I did do was even though my subpanels are grounded to the main, I did drive a 5 foot copper grounding stake for each subpanel, however, they are all basically grounded together.

Not in sub panels. You should not be grounding your sub panel ground bars to the main panel. Ground should be as short and direct as possible. You never want to give current 2 paths back to the main panel. Since the neutral is the current return you don’t want your ground bonded there. Think about the time it will take current on the ground to finally make it to ground in the main panel.

 

[Buds Buddy]

So far I've wired everything the way Hydroholic said to so I think I should continue his way so I don't get 2 different ways going on at the same time & really screw things up. Not saying anyone is wrong or right as I'm not an electrician. Just think it's safer to follow one person's advice while doing this as it could have negative consequences if I don't.

 

[Buds Buddy]

I appreciate the help guys !!!
Anyway, I guess I just attach the No 6 Ground wire to 1 of the larger holes in the Neutral Bar ?
The ground wire is already attached to the water pipe. I used 20' of wire but close to 2' will be cut off. Is an 18' Ground OK ?
Do they make 6/3 without ground in Direct Burial ? I haven't seen it anywhere. Might have to use conduit. Do I have to bury the whole line or can I come up under the mobile home with the conduit, connect it to the bottom of the mobile home & run it over to the main breaker box ?
That will make a big difference in the amount of wire & conduit I will need to buy.
I'll take a few pics of what I'm thinking & maybe you can tell me if or if not a good idea.

 

[Buds Buddy]

OK, connected the Ground wire & took some pics. I'll start with pics showing the way I ran the ground & hopefully it's OK this way. Let me know.
The ground goes from the sub panel up the wall & through a hole. Then continues under the roof to it's edge. From there it comes out & runs down the wall to the water pipe.
Here's the pics...

 

[Buds Buddy]

Here's the way the main power wire runs now. In pic 4 you can see the wire that runs from a light switch to the carport light.

I was thinking of running the No 6 Direct Burial the same way only come up under the mobile home & run it across the bottom to the box. Actually was thinking of doing it the same way if I use conduit. I have no idea where the current 14/3 wire goes after it goes in the ground at this time. Haven't got that far yet. I'm just trying to avoid having to dig a trench across the whole yard. It's only 6' from where the conduit currently comes down the post to the edge of the mobile home. See where the back door is ? The main breaker box is right there when you open the door.
Thoughts on the best way to run the main wiring ?