I am a sole proprieter in Atlantic Canada and work alone almost exclusively like you do , going on 56 now and still getting it done but sore at the end of day ! Done plenty of full upgrades such as this solo like you so I appreciate the time , effort and pride you take in your work ! Here in my part of Canada we would of had to use PVC exclusively from weatherhead down , I find the SER cable interesting to watch installed, have never used it in 38 years in trade. You have my respect sir , keep on keeping on .
You have my respect in return. 38 years! Wow! 33 years here and I’m 53 yrs old. I have a service coming up where I’ll be installing all PVC at the customers request. Thanks for watching!
here in Chicago, we use ridgid EMT for service entrance conductors. we actually use EMT for all of our electrical installations. what I saw inside the house with all of that bx cable made me crinch. I do understand that electrical codes are a bit different all over the nation. RON! thank you for the video.
@@fjl05 I am not sure what you mean by your question. I said, "service entrance cables are run through ridgid conduit and all electical conductors are ran through EMT". EMT=electrical metallic tubing. EMT and ridgid is almost the same, except that rigid is solid. but it is still conduit.l Here in Chicago we run wire through EMT. we do not use romex. romex is not allowed.
@@MB-ir8xf I live in NY, have PSEGLI and have only seen new installs having a weather head going into rigid PVC into the meter. I had to replace mine when I bought my house because water got down into the panel and rotted the bus bar. I would not be happy with the flexible supply cable into a gland on the meter.
I am not an Electrician but I love watching you work. I love those that go the extra mile, take pride and do it right the first time. I also appreciate you calling out the mistakes and how you interact through them. Thank you for being a professional at the highest level.
As a DIY homeowner I learn so much from watching the professionals. You also show a great pride in workmanship (using level, extra water-tight precautions) that teaches me. Thank you
I'm a handyman and not an electrician by trade, but nothing is more satisfying and rewarding as replacing a crusty old, dangerous electrical service setup, or watching someone do it right because I ALWAYS learn something. I think the best part is knowing you left the customer in a far safer environment than they were previously living in. It's also cool to see you're a Milwaukee man too.
I had an upgrade to my panel recently. To all the customers out there, you can save your electrician time and headaches by doing some prep work before he gets there. I moved all the clutter away from the work area and vacuumed all the dust and cobwebs away from the area along with a few other items. The electrician thanked me and appreciated it.
That definitely doesn't go unnoticed. Some people have no consideration with that sort of stuff. I also appreciate it when the customers lets me know there's water available "just ask" and also where the bathroom is!
With aluminium wire it's always a good idea to use an antioxidant on the conductors. If the bus tabs are also aluminium, I would also recommend using antioxidant on the breaker tabs as well. Square D does that on all its breakers as well.
Excellent comment on adding the antioxidant to the aluminum breaker tabs. My in-laws called me a couple of weeks ago because they were having problems with a 20 amp kitchen circuit. Volage tested and was only getting about 80 volts. Long story short, there was oxidation build-up on the aluminum bus tab. It was obvious the breaker had been hot.
I KNEW that you would not install that pretty new Eaton panel on that old backboard. I just knew it! Beautiful job Ron and thanks for the content. Love these hour uploads.
I just started to watch your channel. I was an electrician for a steady 15 years along with milking cows on a small farm. Unfortunately, do to childhood health conditions that progressed to me as an adult and recently terminal cancer, I had to give up my passion for milking dairy cows on a small farm (was raised on an old small dairy) and the electrical world. Always had interest since childhood in the residential and light farm wiring. It is always interesting to see how much code had changed since I was an electrician. I will continue to be amazed by the clean work you do, and the codes you follow.
Ron, I just got home from relocating and upgrading a service along with a generator install and here I am watching this video in its entirety. Much love to you man!
You too huh? I’m slammed over here with work and even people from RUclips who see my videos enquirer about having their panels upgraded. It’s really remarkable.
Good work, just a tip try using the hole saw in reverse through vinyl , leaves a nice finish and never tears it up, then switch to forward for the wood works like a charm everytime
Just have to be careful because the older the conductor is the more brittle the insulation. Years ago the insulation was made of rubber and now it's made of PVC.
VERY Nice QUALITY WORK!! Its hard to find anyone that actually takes PRIDE in their work anymore... Nice to see work done the RIGHT WAY! Anything worth doing..... is DEFINITELY WORTH DOING RIGHT! GOD BLESS!!
Tips and tricks, you can use a hole saw in reverse to make a clean cut through the vinyl siding then switch it to get through the wood. Makes a perfect cut through the siding.
It is so interesting to see how local codes differ from East coast to West coast. I kept saying, "You can't do that here!" or "We don't do that." Nice video. 💥
It's different all over the country. In California their service panels and circuit breakers are located outdoors. That's stupid in my opinion. Trip a breaker and you have to go outside to reset it?
Ron, love watching your work. No matter how many times I've done something, I always learn something new by watching you do it. Thank you for setting the bar high for the quality of work in the trade, and a separate thank-you for sharing your knowledge with us. Making and editing these videos is almost as much work and the actual service upgrade itself. I think I can speak for everyone here - we all appreciate it.
It's interesting to see the different code requirements. In Ontario, the service entrance is mandated to be inside a conduit from the roof line through the meter right into the back of the panel. Each entry point needs to be packed with duct seal to keep moisture out. Thanks for the content..
Pretty interesting, I’ve never used any cable or PVC, in Chicago we have to use all metal, no Romex, nothing plastic, all types of grounding, it’s a pain!!! I need to move up East! Good work brother!
One of your videos was in the suggested videos so I watched it. Really enjoyed it. You do nice work. My dad always told me if it looks good it’ll work good. I’ve been doing electrical off and on for a lot of my 55 years. Never made a career out of it, I went to work for the phone company. I still enjoy doing it from time to time. Mostly changing switches, outlets, breakers, basic stuff. I always enjoyed doing panel changes but haven’t done one in a long time. You be safe out there brother!
I never forget when I was 18 in Woodbine, NJ, We had an electrician Replace the service and meter panel like this guy did. I'm the curious guy so I was asking him all kinds of questions, so he decided to teach me in installing the Circuit Breaker panel and explained about the wire colour codes and while he did the outdoor stuff. I ran the main cable to main circuit breaker and yes, I used the paste. I proceeded to run the rest of the black wires to each circuit, copper to ground and white to neutral. When he came in, he was impressed how clean and neat the cabled were place. After inspecting what I've done, found no mistakes. We became good friends and end up being his apprentice in Electrical work for the next 15 years. I'm the kind of person that want perfection such as neat and clean lines coming into the service box and every line had a label to what they went to. Inspectors comes in and was impressed with the work and wished that some contractors would do a neat job when running the lines like I have done. I wanted to get my license but the sad part, my friend the electrician passed away at the age of 62 and I lost interest in doing electrical work. Keep up the good work Ron. Your videos are very impressive.
Great video! Interesting to see an electrician do the splice to the weather head and put in the meter. In California PGE won’t let you do it, only their linemen can touch those items.
Well, that’s because it’s California and not enough merit shop owners got together to get the laws changed that favor them. It would save you time and money if you could do it yourself (with a license of course), right?
You have it easier in NJ. In Oregon we are not allowed to use SE Cable on exteriors for Service Entrance. Conduit is required, which takes more time. If it is thru the roof, GRC or IMC is required, otherwise PVC is OK. I haven't done Residential in a while, but I think in Oregon(Washington County), we are also now required to put a disconnect on the outside wall for first responders. Thanks, Russ, J.Electrician
I get that comment often about the SEU. We do it all over the northeast like this. If it's a mast service than we have to use 2" galvanized, even if it's only 100 amps. Thanks for watching the video!
In fact I bought a couple of those types of service heads at Lowes on the discount rack for $1. Was thinking to use them for switch point indicator lights for my live steam railway at the time.
I'm a fellow small businessman in the "wonderful" state of NJ and appreciate the time that is taken to do the job neatly and correctly. I work in Burlington/Camden county area the majority of the time as a remodeling contractor and also tend to work alone unless additional help is needed. I'm very particular in my work and take a great deal of pride in doing the best job possible and it's nice to see someone these day's doing the same thing. When I was younger I worked for a couple of electricians to learn the trade but also went to school and worked in construction to learn that trade as well and in 1996 started my own business. I found that being well rounded with the knowledge and experience I received has really helped my business. I check out these types of videos from time to time to see if I can pick up any new ideas or tricks of the trade. Good luck with your business and BE SAFE.
great video! I am a retired HVAC technician, did a lot of refrigeration on store racks, used to work hand in hand with Sparky's over the years, we as HVAC technicians do a lot of wiring on units, nothing compared to what you guys do. love your channel.
Thank you showing what is involved in upgrading electrical service. Where I now live in South Central PA, we have 100 amp service in a 1954 house that should be upgraded to 200 amp.
Subscribed, this was great content. I really liked how you explained beginner stuff like how to use the hole saw and clean it out. I've never used one before but that's great knowledge for someone like me. Lots of other channels imply a lot of knowledge and skip over the simple stuff, but you do a great job catering to ordinary people AND other experienced electricians. Finding your channel might be bad for my productivity... I might binge watch your vids, haha.
I'm new to watching ur channel and one thing I'm learning is I Wana start learning residential I mostly work on commercial sites close to 4 years and always wanti g to learn more like a sponge obsorb all that info... Great job dude love the work you done
We liked this channel the most because: Ron’s works are very clean/organize , not try to review tools like other to get free stuff from manufacturers, very respectful of customer premises 🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍
Are we talking about a certain guy, who has a certain channel, that has a certain channel name Thant implies an electrical university but has since quit making educational videos to instead push tools ?? I won’t say his name, but it starts with a D and ends with an USTIN.
Really like these long videos! Thank you for your time taking the video while you work I know it takes a lot longer to set up a camera and then do the work. It takes a lot of time to edit it all together so again thank you! I have learned so much from you and I always look forward to your videos. Cheers!
I too am not an electrician. However, in the 60's I did work as an electrician when I lived in Maryland. We did a lot of new home wiring. I liked that as it mostly clean work. It was the crawl space install of new circuits in an old homes I didn't care for. Thanks for sharing your work. Good job my friend.
Another great job, love how you work as a singleton. $3500 seems very reasonable to me. I have seen quotes here in SE FL from some electricians for more than that to just replace an old 200 amp panel with a new 200 amp panel, no meter or service change.
That is crazy to me. A friend of mine just showed me a quote for service upgrade in Fort Meyers, Fla., for $7000.00. The service was a mast-type service.
My recently widowed neighbor had a $10,000 quote to replace an existing 200a service. The SEW outer insulation is cracked and the "chain outfit" is telling her it all has to be replaced. I told her to let me help with bids. These chains have templates to charge by. I appreciate a hard working honest electricians who charge a fair price. These chain operators are nuts. I paid less to wire a new house under construction.
I'm a sole proprietor here in York, PA and Ron , again, thx for the great tutorial and safety advice on hooking up the service to hot again...Great job bro...SeaBee's taught you well...
Great video, love the long videos with tons of information in them. This one popped up on my RUclips "homepage", as it were. We had 8V reading on our taps at home, and Western Power (in Western Australia) discovered that our earth stake had corroded away, and also that our neutral wire wasn't keeping up with the load, and so they pulled the main fuse and told me to call an electrician. I did so, because our electricity was off until the situation was rectified!!! The electrician fixed the earth and tested and found that all the circuits were OK, and we got the service reinstated, but we still had 8V on the taps! It turned out that we simply had too much load for our lead-in cable, so Western Power upgraded the cable from 6mm to 16mm wires. This reduced the voltage on the taps to 5V, which we can't feel, except when we have cuts on our fingers lol. 5V is within spec, so WP left it at that. They were considering forcing us to upgrade to 3-phase, but decided not to in the end. So when you say that PSEG wants to keep tabs on the neutral wire, I know what you mean! I asked the Western Power man lots of questions and I learned that if the neutral wire is under stress, your return current will go out through your earth stake and in through the neighbour's earth stake and back to the transformer through HIS neutral wire, which causes all sorts of strange problems for the neighbour! I think that this might be more of a problem in Australia though, as we have fewer, but larger, transformers which tend to be down the street and around the corner, rather than having lots of little transformers out the front (or back, I've noticed!) of every house. Electricity is very interesting stuff!! I kind of wish I'd done electrical instead of drafting, but there you are!
Your service upgrades are top notch!! I always like seeing how electrical is done in other parts of the Country. Here in North Dakota we aren’t allowed to use services entrance cable like that. We half to do pvc or rigid service mass with a lever bypass meter. The power company does all the hookups at the weather head!!
It is different all over the country. It blows my mind that in Arizona and California distribution panels are mounted outdoors. If a circuit breaker trips you have to go outside he reset a breaker. WTF??
It's generally that way in Canada where anything before the weatherhead is solely the responsibility of the utility company, and only pvc or rigid conduit is allowed. allowed
Just had my panel upgraded from 60amp (haha) to 200amp. Watching your vids helped me verify or at least know the electrician was doing the right things. A permit was pulled.
Hey Ron, Love your videos! I'm a residential/commercial electrician over the bridge out of Philly. Just wanted to let you know that the extra rubber grommet they give you with 2 inch SE compression connectors is for 2/0 150 amp SE.
Good morning, I am an electrician in the Detroit area. I have seen your videos and I like them. I am an electrical hobbyist. Thank you for your videos.
One tip to return the favor since you gave me many already...when you start the drill on the siding or any plastic vynil, go in reverse, counterclockwise and score the siding...then switch to regular clockwise spinning.
Very nice neat job, I like how efficient you are and I used to drive into my guys leave the job site exactly the same as when you arrived ,my pet peeve.🙂
I am doing a 200 amp upgrade at this moment. My original panel has round glass fuses! Ugh! Just need to do my mast/weatherhead install and finish the ground bars and ground-to-water pipes. Inspector said I could use the old panel box as a junction box. The mast/weatherhead install is my next task. Great video, even though I came for a rigid 2" pipe mast install through the eave. lol! Always learn something!!!! Thanks again!
I see a lot of myself in this man Ron, I am a lone wolf electrical contractor is california. Here is what Ron does not tell you about in this video, wile he is working on this projet , he is aware that tomorrow , he has another project scheduled, so not only does he need to complete this project on time and per code, he most likely is compliing a list of material/tools that he needs for tomorrows project , all the while trying to remeber which of those materials he currently has in shop stock, as well as what kind of material list he needs to pick up at the supply house. It is never ending but very rewarding, there is no way that Ron could go as hard as he does if he did not love his job. It took me 30 years as a lone wolf until i finally hised an apprentice ( 3 months ago) I wish that i was not so hard headed, should have hired an apprentice years ago. Ron has an incredible work ethic and we cdan all see that part of his legacy is to teach others....
You are one of few that care about customer;ladder pads, clean work site, quality tools, efficient tool box! Didn't know an upgrade could be so fast. How did you keep wires organized during panel change?
Hello Ron, I have been a Baltimore Co. MD & Statewide Licensed Master Electrician for almost 50 Years Now , I would like to have a Nickle for all the Services that I have Changed , i'd sure have a Big bad of Nickels. I would be proud to have you on my Crew, >Joe Morris, Dundalk MD.
@@electricalron yes sir. It’s the best option here in Texas as well. I’ve worked in Alabama and currently in Texas. Got licensed back in 2010 but started in the trade while I was still in high school in 98. I’ve worked all over the country doing various electrical projects. Settled in now doing mostly residential service work, small projects , and a bit of remodel work. I do quite a bit of commercial service and maintenance as well. I also do work on food trucks and some automotive electrical projects as well. I had gotten into doing some handyman work there for a while but I stopped that and now just exclusively do electrical. It’s a great trade. I’m 42 now and plan on doing this until either I die or I can’t get up out of bed anymore lol. Great content though. I especially like how you use mostly Milwaukee tools. That’s my go to except for a couple of dewalt impacts and drills. I plan on watching all your videos so keep it up sir 👍
great video. For the new guys like me starting out (for now I do the outside while my lead does the inside stuff) theres a cheap pair of Knoweasy brand ratchet cutters that are good for starting with. they cut well and they dont hurt the wallet when you're first getting started. Obviously buy the good ones when you can!
I’d love to see you relocate and relabel the load in the main panel. Otherwise, phenomenal video for an upstart electrician looking to get his license. Thanks for your time and effort!
2:48 - I just recently upgraded the service on my home, the service entrance wires at the mast head were the same exact way. Insulation just flaking off. Even before it was taken down I could see some of the bare conductors due to the deterioration.
Hey Ron, from an apprentice to a master thanks so much. One constructive suggestion however. Maybe instead of fast forwarding through all of the small detail procedures like attaching cable clamps to the mc, do 1 or 2 at normal speed and then fast forward through the rest of them. There's a lot of skill in these mundane procedures that us apprentices would like to see so as to pick up any pointers. Its interesting to see the differences and similarities of electrical procedures from other parts of the country. Colorado here. Thanks so much, Ron.
On the siding if you place two rows of painters tape down about twice the height/width of the hole your drilling will help in preventing splintering/cracking of the siding.
@@electricalron - Done that as well, just found in cooler/colder or sun beaten vinyl it splinters so I just put the tape down, start in reverse and hope I have done everything possible to prevent a nightmare lol. I just put tape on everything I drill out now no matter the material just as habit/precaution. Great video and enjoyed the detail on the work completed.
I work with a master electrician. We do a lot of farms, I have had that same wrestling match with that SEC cable a few times! Great work as always Ron!
I need to reside my house, removing old aluminum siding. Working around the weather head and service line is scaring me (NOT an electrician clearly). Best to get it handled by electrician? I’ll need two days to remove the siding, replace with new. Thanks for your videos, very clear and interesting
I'm in the process of getting my home main panel upgraded and have learned quite a bit about the process, thanks to your video, Ron. Keep up the good work!
Hi Electrican Ron, As you know, this is the only electrical site I watch. Now, plumber Steve Lavonimiere is the only plumbing site I use. I would love to see you and Steve get together for a show in which you discuss the electrical and plumbing trades. It would be informative, entertaining and laugh out loud funny. I would particularly love to hear your comments about one of his videos he did in which he had to get access to a second floor bathtub from the first floor. Many thanks for the best electrical site on the internet.
Looks good I enjoyed. I understand most electricians don't but you should mention that all should be torqued properly with a torque wrench and with time should be re-torqued as the aluminum wire flows and the connections become loose.
Ron, great channel and video! I'm a licensed electrician in Ohio. Just a bit of advise. When you put the SEU cable through the LB and into the meter, peel the out sheathing off and push each wire individually up and through. Much easier than taking the whole cable up! I've done it that way forever. Never had an inspector fail me.
Great video Ron, as usual. I'm just starting out as a contractor, primarily residential, and your videos are great to watch and learn oher ways and methods. Appreciate your workmanship.
Sound ok. Top quality work as I’ve come to expect from Ron. That old service and panel was a real mess - you may very well have spared that homeowner a fire.
man do I wish I can have you come up to western MA and do my service upgrade lol. I bought my first house about 2.5 years ago, square looking box, mix of romex and bx, 100amp. Solar had been installed so the outside meter boxes and meter are all the new digital style (eversource), but the panel is filled to the brim, several micro 15a breakers. Ever run into a situation where you had to do a service upgrade when there was solar in place? I've watched like 5 of these service upgrade videos on your page today hahaha. You are an artist with your wire dressing! I'm in IT and work in server rooms and deal with network wiring and this makes me smile in my OCD ways lol
I am a sole proprieter in Atlantic Canada and work alone almost exclusively like you do , going on 56 now and still getting it done but sore at the end of day ! Done plenty of full upgrades such as this solo like you so I appreciate the time , effort and pride you take in your work ! Here in my part of Canada we would of had to use PVC exclusively from weatherhead down , I find the SER cable interesting to watch installed, have never used it in 38 years in trade. You have my respect sir , keep on keeping on .
You have my respect in return. 38 years! Wow! 33 years here and I’m 53 yrs old. I have a service coming up where I’ll be installing all PVC at the customers request. Thanks for watching!
here in Chicago, we use ridgid EMT for service entrance conductors. we actually use EMT for all of our electrical installations. what I saw inside the house with all of that bx cable made me crinch. I do understand that electrical codes are a bit different all over the nation. RON! thank you for the video.
@@MB-ir8xf I believe rigid and emt are two different types of conduit. Which type exactly do you intend to use?
@@fjl05 I am not sure what you mean by your question. I said, "service entrance cables are run through ridgid conduit and all electical conductors are ran through EMT". EMT=electrical metallic tubing. EMT and ridgid is almost the same, except that rigid is solid. but it is still conduit.l Here in Chicago we run wire through EMT. we do not use romex. romex is not allowed.
@@MB-ir8xf I live in NY, have PSEGLI and have only seen new installs having a weather head going into rigid PVC into the meter. I had to replace mine when I bought my house because water got down into the panel and rotted the bus bar. I would not be happy with the flexible supply cable into a gland on the meter.
The most amazing part of this video was watching an electrician that knew how to use a garbage can :)
The job was garbage.
I am not an Electrician but I love watching you work. I love those that go the extra mile, take pride and do it right the first time. I also appreciate you calling out the mistakes and how you interact through them. Thank you for being a professional at the highest level.
You're much too kind. Thank you.
These 200A upgrade videos just keep getting even better and more interesting. Perfect wire dressing as always, that panel is meticulous.
Aaron you were one of my early subscribers and I thank you. Glad you enjoyed the video.
I am a DYIer, and I do learn from you ALL the time. You are THEE one of the small few that I do trust. Keep it up. Thank you.
As a DIY homeowner I learn so much from watching the professionals. You also show a great pride in workmanship (using level, extra water-tight precautions) that teaches me. Thank you
That's what this channel is all about. I'm also always learning via RUclips. Glad you enjoyed the video!
I'm a handyman and not an electrician by trade, but nothing is more satisfying and rewarding as replacing a crusty old, dangerous electrical service setup, or watching someone do it right because I ALWAYS learn something. I think the best part is knowing you left the customer in a far safer environment than they were previously living in. It's also cool to see you're a Milwaukee man too.
I had an upgrade to my panel recently. To all the customers out there, you can save your electrician time and headaches by doing some prep work before he gets there. I moved all the clutter away from the work area and vacuumed all the dust and cobwebs away from the area along with a few other items. The electrician thanked me and appreciated it.
That definitely doesn't go unnoticed. Some people have no consideration with that sort of stuff. I also appreciate it when the customers lets me know there's water available "just ask" and also where the bathroom is!
With aluminium wire it's always a good idea to use an antioxidant on the conductors. If the bus tabs are also aluminium, I would also recommend using antioxidant on the breaker tabs as well. Square D does that on all its breakers as well.
"Buttering up" the bus bar is a great idea!
Excellent comment on adding the antioxidant to the aluminum breaker tabs. My in-laws called me a couple of weeks ago because they were having problems with a 20 amp kitchen circuit. Volage tested and was only getting about 80 volts. Long story short, there was oxidation build-up on the aluminum bus tab. It was obvious the breaker had been hot.
I KNEW that you would not install that pretty new Eaton panel on that old backboard. I just knew it! Beautiful job Ron and thanks for the content. Love these hour uploads.
Thanks for the feedback. I always figured people DID NOT want to watch long videos.
I just started to watch your channel. I was an electrician for a steady 15 years along with milking cows on a small farm. Unfortunately, do to childhood health conditions that progressed to me as an adult and recently terminal cancer, I had to give up my passion for milking dairy cows on a small farm (was raised on an old small dairy) and the electrical world. Always had interest since childhood in the residential and light farm wiring. It is always interesting to see how much code had changed since I was an electrician. I will continue to be amazed by the clean work you do, and the codes you follow.
Thank you brother!
Ron, I just got home from relocating and upgrading a service along with a generator install and here I am watching this video in its entirety. Much love to you man!
You too huh? I’m slammed over here with work and even people from RUclips who see my videos enquirer about having their panels upgraded. It’s really remarkable.
@@electricalron I don’t know what it is about this trade, but I love it! I’m over here outside of Philly
@@FrontRowOrBust Same here obviously.
Switching from 15 years of Culinary to Electrical. Almost finished trade school. Cant wait to get working. Great video!
Good work, just a tip try using the hole saw in reverse through vinyl , leaves a nice finish and never tears it up, then switch to forward for the wood works like a charm everytime
Thank you!
Man, that box was a tangled octopus!! Salute from an old Marine!
Oooorah!
Seems like a challenge keeping all those wires organized. Great work!!
Just have to be careful because the older the conductor is the more brittle the insulation. Years ago the insulation was made of rubber and now it's made of PVC.
Thanks you for showing us the Klein cable cutter
VERY Nice QUALITY WORK!! Its hard to find anyone that actually takes PRIDE in their work anymore... Nice to see work done the RIGHT WAY! Anything worth doing..... is DEFINITELY WORTH DOING RIGHT! GOD BLESS!!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
I love the work you do Ron. I'm too old to start a new career, but if I ever did, I'd want to be an electrician. Very cool work you do!
I'm glad you enjoy the videos!
Tips and tricks, you can use a hole saw in reverse to make a clean cut through the vinyl siding then switch it to get through the wood. Makes a perfect cut through the siding.
Especially in cold weather when the siding is much easier to shatter.
It is so interesting to see how local codes differ from East coast to West coast. I kept saying, "You can't do that here!" or "We don't do that." Nice video.
💥
It's different all over the country. In California their service panels and circuit breakers are located outdoors. That's stupid in my opinion. Trip a breaker and you have to go outside to reset it?
Ron, love watching your work. No matter how many times I've done something, I always learn something new by watching you do it. Thank you for setting the bar high for the quality of work in the trade, and a separate thank-you for sharing your knowledge with us. Making and editing these videos is almost as much work and the actual service upgrade itself. I think I can speak for everyone here - we all appreciate it.
I take great pride in trying to make the best videos possible. Editing takes time and I use iMovie and Keynote to make it happen.
Thanks, Ron.
It's interesting to see the different code requirements. In Ontario, the service entrance is mandated to be inside a conduit from the roof line through the meter right into the back of the panel. Each entry point needs to be packed with duct seal to keep moisture out.
Thanks for the content..
Pretty interesting, I’ve never used any cable or PVC, in Chicago we have to use all metal, no Romex, nothing plastic, all types of grounding, it’s a pain!!! I need to move up East! Good work brother!
One of your videos was in the suggested videos so I watched it. Really enjoyed it. You do nice work. My dad always told me if it looks good it’ll work good. I’ve been doing electrical off and on for a lot of my 55 years. Never made a career out of it, I went to work for the phone company. I still enjoy doing it from time to time. Mostly changing switches, outlets, breakers, basic stuff. I always enjoyed doing panel changes but haven’t done one in a long time. You be safe out there brother!
That is awesome!
I never forget when I was 18 in Woodbine, NJ, We had an electrician Replace the service and meter panel like this guy did. I'm the curious guy so I was asking him all kinds of questions, so he decided to teach me in installing the Circuit Breaker panel and explained about the wire colour codes and while he did the outdoor stuff. I ran the main cable to main circuit breaker and yes, I used the paste. I proceeded to run the rest of the black wires to each circuit, copper to ground and white to neutral. When he came in, he was impressed how clean and neat the cabled were place. After inspecting what I've done, found no mistakes. We became good friends and end up being his apprentice in Electrical work for the next 15 years. I'm the kind of person that want perfection such as neat and clean lines coming into the service box and every line had a label to what they went to. Inspectors comes in and was impressed with the work and wished that some contractors would do a neat job when running the lines like I have done. I wanted to get my license but the sad part, my friend the electrician passed away at the age of 62 and I lost interest in doing electrical work. Keep up the good work Ron. Your videos are very impressive.
Great video! Interesting to see an electrician do the splice to the weather head and put in the meter. In California PGE won’t let you do it, only their linemen can touch those items.
Well, that’s because it’s California and not enough merit shop owners got together to get the laws changed that favor them. It would save you time and money if you could do it yourself (with a license of course), right?
Just a tip on drilling through vinyl siding: start the drill in reverse until you score the siding. This will help prevent tearing the siding.
Thanks for the tip! Glad you enjoyed the video!
You have it easier in NJ. In Oregon we are not allowed to use SE Cable on exteriors for Service Entrance. Conduit is required, which takes more time. If it is thru the roof, GRC or IMC is required, otherwise PVC is OK. I haven't done Residential in a while, but I think in Oregon(Washington County), we are also now required to put a disconnect on the outside wall for first responders. Thanks, Russ, J.Electrician
I get that comment often about the SEU. We do it all over the northeast like this. If it's a mast service than we have to use 2" galvanized, even if it's only 100 amps. Thanks for watching the video!
I don't think those are legal for California either. Most of our service risers are rigid conduit of some shape or form.
In fact I bought a couple of those types of service heads at Lowes on the discount rack for $1. Was thinking to use them for switch point indicator lights for my live steam railway at the time.
I'm an IT guy and I code and like my code clean. Shows the same for your electrical work, nice stuff, take my sub and likes!
....:) You Must have NO Problems Falling Asleep at Night---With ALL the Hard Work you do Each Day...!!!..........lol......:)...🤩🤩🤩
This is honestly a service my house desperately need. Thanks for showing us how it's done.
Glad you enjoyed the video!
I'm a fellow small businessman in the "wonderful" state of NJ and appreciate the time that is taken to do the job neatly and correctly. I work in Burlington/Camden county area the majority of the time as a remodeling contractor and also tend to work alone unless additional help is needed. I'm very particular in my work and take a great deal of pride in doing the best job possible and it's nice to see someone these day's doing the same thing. When I was younger I worked for a couple of electricians to learn the trade but also went to school and worked in construction to learn that trade as well and in 1996 started my own business. I found that being well rounded with the knowledge and experience I received has really helped my business. I check out these types of videos from time to time to see if I can pick up any new ideas or tricks of the trade. Good luck with your business and BE SAFE.
great video! I am a retired HVAC technician, did a lot of refrigeration on store racks, used to work hand in hand with Sparky's over the years, we as HVAC technicians do a lot of wiring on units, nothing compared to what you guys do. love your channel.
Glad you enjoyed the video. I marvel at the control wiring you guys do. I have very little patience for doing that kind of work.
Thank you showing what is involved in upgrading electrical service. Where I now live in South Central PA, we have 100 amp service in a 1954 house that should be upgraded to 200 amp.
Subscribed, this was great content. I really liked how you explained beginner stuff like how to use the hole saw and clean it out. I've never used one before but that's great knowledge for someone like me. Lots of other channels imply a lot of knowledge and skip over the simple stuff, but you do a great job catering to ordinary people AND other experienced electricians. Finding your channel might be bad for my productivity... I might binge watch your vids, haha.
@@FrederickWenz Thsnk you! I’m glad it was helpful.
I'm new to watching ur channel and one thing I'm learning is I Wana start learning residential I mostly work on commercial sites close to 4 years and always wanti g to learn more like a sponge obsorb all that info... Great job dude love the work you done
It took a long time and a lot of experience to get to this point. Glad you enjoy the videos!
Thank you for encouraging unlicensed individuals to perform electrical jobs and increase fire and shock hazards
Your ignorance comes through loud and clear. What a dumb comment.
Interesting about the grounding to the water main. All pvc here. New construction all pex. No watermain ground requirement.
Excellent presentation
Thank you Ron for taking the time to show and help educate us.
Giving back is what RUclips is all about!
We liked this channel the most because: Ron’s works are very clean/organize , not try to review tools like other to get free stuff from manufacturers, very respectful of customer premises 🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍
Thank you very much. Free tools are nice too u know. :D
Are we talking about a certain guy, who has a certain channel, that has a certain channel name Thant implies an electrical university but has since quit making educational videos to instead push tools ?? I won’t say his name, but it starts with a D and ends with an USTIN.
Really like these long videos! Thank you for your time taking the video while you work I know it takes a lot longer to set up a camera and then do the work. It takes a lot of time to edit it all together so again thank you! I have learned so much from you and I always look forward to your videos. Cheers!
My pleasure!
The box I had looked like a stork's nest, now it looks like a clean and safe job , great job
i have learned so much watching this video, confidence builder. thank you from N.E. Florida
I too am not an electrician. However, in the 60's I did work as an electrician when I lived in Maryland. We did a lot of new home wiring. I liked that as it mostly clean work. It was the crawl space install of new circuits in an old homes I didn't care for.
Thanks for sharing your work. Good job my friend.
Another great job, love how you work as a singleton. $3500 seems very reasonable to me. I have seen quotes here in SE FL from some electricians for more than that to just replace an old 200 amp panel with a new 200 amp panel, no meter or service change.
That is crazy to me. A friend of mine just showed me a quote for service upgrade in Fort Meyers, Fla., for $7000.00. The service was a mast-type service.
Same in KY
My recently widowed neighbor had a $10,000 quote to replace an existing 200a service. The SEW outer insulation is cracked and the "chain outfit" is telling her it all has to be replaced. I told her to let me help with bids. These chains have templates to charge by. I appreciate a hard working honest electricians who charge a fair price. These chain operators are nuts. I paid less to wire a new house under construction.
I'm a sole proprietor here in York, PA and Ron , again, thx for the great tutorial and safety advice on hooking up the service to hot again...Great job bro...SeaBee's taught you well...
Great video, love the long videos with tons of information in them. This one popped up on my RUclips "homepage", as it were.
We had 8V reading on our taps at home, and Western Power (in Western Australia) discovered that our earth stake had corroded away, and also that our neutral wire wasn't keeping up with the load, and so they pulled the main fuse and told me to call an electrician. I did so, because our electricity was off until the situation was rectified!!!
The electrician fixed the earth and tested and found that all the circuits were OK, and we got the service reinstated, but we still had 8V on the taps!
It turned out that we simply had too much load for our lead-in cable, so Western Power upgraded the cable from 6mm to 16mm wires. This reduced the voltage on the taps to 5V, which we can't feel, except when we have cuts on our fingers lol. 5V is within spec, so WP left it at that. They were considering forcing us to upgrade to 3-phase, but decided not to in the end.
So when you say that PSEG wants to keep tabs on the neutral wire, I know what you mean! I asked the Western Power man lots of questions and I learned that if the neutral wire is under stress, your return current will go out through your earth stake and in through the neighbour's earth stake and back to the transformer through HIS neutral wire, which causes all sorts of strange problems for the neighbour! I think that this might be more of a problem in Australia though, as we have fewer, but larger, transformers which tend to be down the street and around the corner, rather than having lots of little transformers out the front (or back, I've noticed!) of every house.
Electricity is very interesting stuff!! I kind of wish I'd done electrical instead of drafting, but there you are!
Your service upgrades are top notch!! I always like seeing how electrical is done in other parts of the Country. Here in North Dakota we aren’t allowed to use services entrance cable like that. We half to do pvc or rigid service mass with a lever bypass meter. The power company does all the hookups at the weather head!!
It is different all over the country. It blows my mind that in Arizona and California distribution panels are mounted outdoors. If a circuit breaker trips you have to go outside he reset a breaker. WTF??
Right! I don’t understand that one! Haha
@@electricalron they could put them in the garage at least!! When I do slab on grade houses with out a basement, that’s where I put my panel.
It's generally that way in Canada where anything before the weatherhead is solely the responsibility of the utility company, and only pvc or rigid conduit is allowed. allowed
Excellent video all the way to the end
fantastic job
Just had my panel upgraded from 60amp (haha) to 200amp. Watching your vids helped me verify or at least know the electrician was doing the right things. A permit was pulled.
That's the way it should be, right?
Hey Ron, Love your videos! I'm a residential/commercial electrician over the bridge out of Philly. Just wanted to let you know that the extra rubber grommet they give you with 2 inch SE compression connectors is for 2/0 150 amp SE.
Great work Ron! Love your content. I will be reaching out to you in couple of months 🙏🏼
Good morning, I am an electrician in the Detroit area. I have seen your videos and I like them. I am an electrical hobbyist. Thank you for your videos.
Be safe out there.
I have just found your channel - amazing content! I am an electrician in the UK and great to see the differences.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Ron is the best , replaced my panels and fixed a few things.
One tip to return the favor since you gave me many already...when you start the drill on the siding or any plastic vynil, go in reverse, counterclockwise and score the siding...then switch to regular clockwise spinning.
Great job Ron. Been watching you from across the bridge in Philly about a year now and I think you do excellent work. Keep the videos coming.
Thanks for watching Tracey. Glad you have been enjoying them.
Very nice neat job, I like how efficient you are and I used to drive into my guys leave the job site exactly the same as when you arrived ,my pet peeve.🙂
Right on! Leave it even nicer then when you started.
Thanks for sharing ER.
I am doing a 200 amp upgrade at this moment. My original panel has round glass fuses! Ugh! Just need to do my mast/weatherhead install and finish the ground bars and ground-to-water pipes. Inspector said I could use the old panel box as a junction box. The mast/weatherhead install is my next task. Great video, even though I came for a rigid 2" pipe mast install through the eave. lol! Always learn something!!!! Thanks again!
I see a lot of myself in this man Ron, I am a lone wolf electrical contractor is california. Here is what Ron does not tell you about in this video, wile he is working on this projet , he is aware that tomorrow , he has another project scheduled, so not only does he need to complete this project on time and per code, he most likely is compliing a list of material/tools that he needs for tomorrows project , all the while trying to remeber which of those materials he currently has in shop stock, as well as what kind of material list he needs to pick up at the supply house. It is never ending but very rewarding, there is no way that Ron could go as hard as he does if he did not love his job. It took me 30 years as a lone wolf until i finally hised an apprentice ( 3 months ago) I wish that i was not so hard headed, should have hired an apprentice years ago. Ron has an incredible work ethic and we cdan all see that part of his legacy is to teach others....
You are one of few that care about customer;ladder pads, clean work site, quality tools, efficient tool box! Didn't know an upgrade could be so fast.
How did you keep wires organized during panel change?
Nicely Done all around. I've watched dozens of these with multiple dozens of screw ups. I like your work.
Just found your channel as a dyi'er who doesn't want to spend the 3k-4.3k quoted I feel confident I can handle this project.
Should be no problem. What could possibly go wrong?
Hello Ron, I have been a Baltimore Co. MD & Statewide Licensed Master Electrician for almost 50 Years Now ,
I would like to have a Nickle for all the Services that I have Changed , i'd sure have a Big bad of Nickels.
I would be proud to have you on my Crew, >Joe Morris, Dundalk MD.
I’ve worked in the electrical trade for over 25 years now. The last 5 I’ve worked for myself. I enjoyed the video. Liked and subscribed 👍
I got my license in 2009. Working for yourself is the best option in ny opinion.
@@electricalron yes sir. It’s the best option here in Texas as well. I’ve worked in Alabama and currently in Texas. Got licensed back in 2010 but started in the trade while I was still in high school in 98. I’ve worked all over the country doing various electrical projects. Settled in now doing mostly residential service work, small projects , and a bit of remodel work. I do quite a bit of commercial service and maintenance as well. I also do work on food trucks and some automotive electrical projects as well. I had gotten into doing some handyman work there for a while but I stopped that and now just exclusively do electrical. It’s a great trade. I’m 42 now and plan on doing this until either I die or I can’t get up out of bed anymore lol. Great content though. I especially like how you use mostly Milwaukee tools. That’s my go to except for a couple of dewalt impacts and drills. I plan on watching all your videos so keep it up sir 👍
great video. For the new guys like me starting out (for now I do the outside while my lead does the inside stuff) theres a cheap pair of Knoweasy brand ratchet cutters that are good for starting with. they cut well and they dont hurt the wallet when you're first getting started. Obviously buy the good ones when you can!
The ratchet cutters I have are made by Klein and are over 15 years old. They work great!
I’d love to see you relocate and relabel the load in the main panel. Otherwise, phenomenal video for an upstart electrician looking to get his license. Thanks for your time and effort!
Good job Ron.
2:48 - I just recently upgraded the service on my home, the service entrance wires at the mast head were the same exact way. Insulation just flaking off. Even before it was taken down I could see some of the bare conductors due to the deterioration.
We can only use metal risers in new Mexico Inc or rmc per utility requirement
Hey Ron, from an apprentice to a master thanks so much. One constructive suggestion however. Maybe instead of fast forwarding through all of the small detail procedures like attaching cable clamps to the mc, do 1 or 2 at normal speed and then fast forward through the rest of them. There's a lot of skill in these mundane procedures that us apprentices would like to see so as to pick up any pointers. Its interesting to see the differences and similarities of electrical procedures from other parts of the country. Colorado here. Thanks so much, Ron.
I love nothing more than a nice clean panel.
Good job---been a wire twister for nearly 60 yrs. Things a little different in Al. Thanks JIm
Hello my friendy, very good our job, congratulation
On the siding if you place two rows of painters tape down about twice the height/width of the hole your drilling will help in preventing splintering/cracking of the siding.
Or what I did was start the drill in reverse. 👍
@@electricalron - Done that as well, just found in cooler/colder or sun beaten vinyl it splinters so I just put the tape down, start in reverse and hope I have done everything possible to prevent a nightmare lol.
I just put tape on everything I drill out now no matter the material just as habit/precaution.
Great video and enjoyed the detail on the work completed.
I work with a master electrician. We do a lot of farms, I have had that same wrestling match with that SEC cable a few times! Great work as always Ron!
Thank you.
Hey! It's Magnettica! We used to shoot the bull back in the day on Electrician Talk. Glad to see you still kicking. Good work!
37:40 great work. showing pure knowledge about handling hard conductors
Thats a trick that I know not every electrician knows about. Sharing that info is what RUclips is all about.
I need to reside my house, removing old aluminum siding. Working around the weather head and service line is scaring me (NOT an electrician clearly). Best to get it handled by electrician? I’ll need two days to remove the siding, replace with new. Thanks for your videos, very clear and interesting
I'm in the process of getting my home main panel upgraded and have learned quite a bit about the process, thanks to your video, Ron. Keep up the good work!
Glad it helped.
Hi Electrican Ron, As you know, this is the only electrical site I watch. Now, plumber Steve Lavonimiere is the only plumbing site I use. I would love to see you and Steve get together for a show in which you discuss the electrical and plumbing trades. It would be informative, entertaining and laugh out loud funny. I would particularly love to hear your comments about one of his videos he did in which he had to get access to a second floor bathtub from the first floor. Many thanks for the best electrical site on the internet.
I follow Steve too. Good plumber.
Looks good I enjoyed. I understand most electricians don't but you should mention that all should be torqued properly with a torque wrench and with time should be re-torqued as the aluminum wire flows and the connections become loose.
outstanding work !
Thanks for sharing excellent practice methods and safety tips .
Glad you liked it!
True ceaftsman who cares about the details. Thank you
Thanks for watching!
The work in this vid need to be noted is mandatory and peace of mind, hot or cold weather and safety, very nice
I need this. Great video to make sure whoever I hire hits all these points.
The 2" coupling just below the meter box is used for extra strength of this vital conduit run.
Ron, great channel and video! I'm a licensed electrician in Ohio. Just a bit of advise. When you put the SEU cable through the LB and into the meter, peel the out sheathing off and push each wire individually up and through. Much easier than taking the whole cable up! I've done it that way forever. Never had an inspector fail me.
Thanks.
Or go with a 2-1/2” LB and use a 2-1/2”x2” RE reducer to go back to 2”.
Clean work brother I am a master electrician in Md and found your channel great info, great work and love the Milwaukee collection brother
PSE&G is making us put the hook 9inches above service head in North Jersey.
Well, that’s an NEC violation because the service head must be above the service hook! NEC 230.54(C).
Try using the hole saw in reverse to go through the vinyl siding the switch to towards. My favorite way to do it personally
Good tip.
Great video Ron, as usual. I'm just starting out as a contractor, primarily residential, and your videos are great to watch and learn oher ways and methods. Appreciate your workmanship.
That’s great to hear and thank you.
Im in NJ also so it's nice to see our similarities in work. I deal with pseg and Atlantic city electric
Keep up the good work I am 15 and I love watching you videos
That’s terrific!!!
Sound ok. Top quality work as I’ve come to expect from Ron. That old service and panel was a real mess - you may very well have spared that homeowner a fire.
Definitely an improvement.
Excellent work. I didn't see where you connected the grounding rods, saw the wire under the siding.
Ground rods were installed prior to video date.
man do I wish I can have you come up to western MA and do my service upgrade lol. I bought my first house about 2.5 years ago, square looking box, mix of romex and bx, 100amp. Solar had been installed so the outside meter boxes and meter are all the new digital style (eversource), but the panel is filled to the brim, several micro 15a breakers. Ever run into a situation where you had to do a service upgrade when there was solar in place? I've watched like 5 of these service upgrade videos on your page today hahaha. You are an artist with your wire dressing! I'm in IT and work in server rooms and deal with network wiring and this makes me smile in my OCD ways lol