50 Amp Power Panel

[newsomer]

I am replacing a power panel on our property. The old power panel only had 20 amp 120 volt recepticals. A friend who is a certifiex master electrician (now retired and out of state) inspected the panel and showed me it had 60 amp service. I have bought a panel box (Siemens TL137US) to install. The service is 4 ga three wire, two hot legs and a common. I know where to connect all three but where do I go with the ground bar in the box? Is it grounded to the panel box which is connected to the steel post in the ground? I found a grounding rod in the ground about eight feet from the post but I'm not sure if that's required if the system is grounded by the post.

[Isaac-1]

There are a lot of variables here on what is and is not allowed by the electrical code. I would suggest consulting a professional in your area. For example when adding a sub panel to a separate location (commonly a detached garage) the code requirements can differ depending on how far it is from the main structure. (I forget the exact distance in question, but I think it is something like more or less than 75 ft apart)

[Donnoh]

The box you're changing out to is a temporary power outlet panel. To bring it up to code you need a separate grounding conductor going back to the main panel. Do not add another ground rod and call it good unless you want to set yourself up for a major hurt in the future.
Since this is probably replacing a very old installation, I believe it is considered grandfathered and you can tie your ground wires inside the new panel into the neutral buss bar inside the new power panel. I would check with your local electrical inspector before doing this however.
The safest thing to do would be to change out the 3 wire feed with a 4 wire feed.

[sgip2000]

Ground rod is still required. The box being attached to the post, will bond a ground path to the post, then attached a ground wire to the ground rod from the ground bus in the panel.