Can I upgrade my own electrical service? | Worst case scenario DIY!
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- Опубликовано: 26 дек 2022
- Upgrading from 100 Amp overhead⚡to 200 Amp underground!! Start to finish.
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If you choose to imitate, duplicate or copy anything you may have observed in these videos, you do so at your own risk. The creator of this content does not take any responsibility for any action taken as a result of the information or advice on this RUclips channel (or other platforms) and shall not have any liability in respect of any injury or damage that may result 
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Some things that I should have mentioned in the video ...
1. Anti-corosive compound is not necessary on newer aluminum alloy cable connections unless specified by the equipment manufacturer.
2. The neutral run from panel to panel (1:19:00) should have white insulation, or be white taped, or white liquid taped, at both ends.
3. (Clarification) Both interior panels have their neutral and ground buses untied (see 1:16:50). Only the new exterior panel has the ground and neutral tied together.
4.**DON'T WORK ON LIVE PANELS LIKE I DID --- ELECTRICITY CAN KILL -- PLEASE TAKE ALL OF THE PROPER PRECAUTIONS -- AND SHIELD YOURSELF FROM POSSIBLE ARC FLASH WHEN YOU TURN ON THE MAIN POWER AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME.
Ll
Ground bars in any panel have to be bonded to the panel itself.
Uploading a DIY electric video to the internet is very...courageous. Tons of expert electricians on here.
If there’s tons of expert electricians why have none commented on my videos yet?
Hahaha! You are so right!! Lots of wanna be electricians on here. I like the comments that criticize him and at the end say they are electricians. Hahaha
evidence for the insurance company..... future buyer of the home.....
One thing I found to help -- don't glue those joints until AFTER you successfully pulled the cable. That way when you get snagged on a joint, you can just open up and fix it. Once you're pulled, then you can glue.
Great advice!!
When pulling wire I usually double back one of the wires and tape the wires together to give a smoother leading edge.
I would have left the old service conduit that went up the the carport and just put a weather proof box on the carport this way it was ready for future use where you could possibly put an electric car charger there
As an owner of an electrical company ….I say great job 😅. Professional licensed boards are just a money grab fyi ….in my opinion, if you can go do it , and it gets inspected and it passes, you should be able to do anything yourself in your own home…..a lot of trades guys are so scared they will loose there jobs because of DIY …..brick layers , and carpenters ,and well drillers …all don’t need a license in many states ….and the free market decided that that’s just fine. ….nice job 😅
Very much appreciated Ike!
When using a hammer drill, start the hole with the hammer function turned off and then engage the hammer function once you are a little ways in. This helps to prevent the bit skipping around on you.
Thanks for the tip!
When turning a main breaker it's good practice to turn off all the breakers and put them one one by one.
Thanks for the tip!
in case this hasn’t been mentioned, and i suspect it has, when making those feeder connections you should tighten yank, tighten yank, and retighten several times… you need to get those strands nicely seated. wonderful work my friend !
Thanks for the tip!
Blow the panel clean before inspection. I think I would have put the left hot wire under the neutral wire, make sure not they not rubbing on each other.
It was a long video, but I watched every single minute of it. Very interesting. I like the fact that he didn't cut anything out. When he ran into a problem, he left it in the video and showed how he solved it.
Much appreciated Bill! :-)
Very torn about what to think about you going diagonally across the storage ceiling. On the one hand, it makes a shorter path with less resistance that will be a bit better for your service. On the other hand, it looks soooo unclean even for an unfinished room.
Oh man, Seattle would never approve home owners exemption! Great video!
Thank you!
Washington doesn't allow homeowners permits for furnaces, hot water tank, etc? It's common here in Ohio even though most of the time people don't' get them anyway.
@@jasonl7937 scratch that, they actually do its just a lot money-wise.
They don't have a choice, a homeowner is free to do any electrical work they want in the US.
@@jasonl7937 I installed my own gas furnace, water heater, I didn't bother with any freaking permits, especiallynot here in the rurals- it's not like some guy is going to randomly knock on your door some night demanding to check your furnace and water heater LOL!
Great video, you’re a man of many hats - well done! 👍
Much appreciated!
I know that laws change so this may not be accurate today, but in kentucky around 2005'ish I bought a really old house that still had knob-and-tube style wiring (approx 1890-1910) in it and a 60 amp screw in fuse panel. When I went to see about diy'ing to upgrade the electrical since I was remodeling the house room by room (think gutting, it had 0 insulation also), I was told I could replace anything diy myself from the inside fuse panel to any existing circuit so basically the wiring, outlets, light switches, existing lights. If I wanted to add anything new inside the house, even as simple as a single electrical outlet that didn't exist or a new circuit to separate out the circuits by room (because basically all outlets and switches were on 1 or 2 circuits lol), it had to be done by a certified electrician. If I wanted to replace the actual fuse panel inside, which I planned to do with a 200 amp panel, the wiring from the outside meter, the bulkhead, and the fuse panel had to be installed by a certified electrician. Just so happened to be, my buddy is a certified electrician and he did all the parts that required a certified electrician, I did the rest. Once he did his part, the electric company came out and did an inspection. There was actually no permit required where I lived. IMHO, this was mostly done prior to actually starting to gut the house and remodel it room by room. I wish I had pictures of all the wiring arcs against the interior walls we found (wasn't that long ago but was prior to decent cell phone picture ability). I am sure that house was any day away from burning down.
Great story.
The cable dressing in your panel boxes looks like a rat's nest. A good idea is to sleeve the bare copper earth wires to completely eliminate accidental shorting given the way the cables are jammed into the breaker box.
WoW. I live in Europe and we do have things different but basics seem to be the same. Nicely done! And i do envy you those conducts with nice 90deg into-the-wall openable boxes. Makes things easier by a lot.
You need to put anti-oxidation on the aluminum ends. Or else the aluminum will oxidize and become insulated around the lugs. But great video nevertheless.
What he said. Can create a real fire hazard.
Yes, I am surprised that the inspector did not identify this. I think it is required by code, but not sure.
Thanks for the tip. Good point. I found it's not required by code, but some panel manufacturers specify it. I couldn't find any documentation where mine specified it, but in hindsight, I agree should have used it.👍👍
@@FamilyFriendlyDIY I wasn't sure about the code but my inspectors check for it, and make sure my guys put it on the cable tips as well. It's just good safety measure.
Not required when the connectors are rated for AL
Nice job! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
In the city I live, this is not allowed to be done by a homeowner. Even a licensed electrician such as myself. Homeowners are allowed to do many other electrical installations in my home, just not anything to do with the electrical service entering the home. As for tips, like others mentioned, when using aluminum conductors, use an antioxidant such as Noalox by Ideal. You should identify the neutral conductor with white tape. When turning on a circuit breaker after doing anything on that circuit, do not look at it and stand off to the side just in case something bad happens you will not get the full force of an arc flash.
This is allowed to be done by the home owner in every part of the US.
I agree that yo have to identify the neutral wire with white tape
I replaced my old 2 fuse with a fuse for a range box the house had when I bought it in 1998- with a 100 amp breaker panel and did the work swopping it out myself, carefully, one wire at a time capped and taped, pulled out of the box.
But over the years it ran out of breakers, I needed more breakers, added a kiln and so on, also I found the newer cable from the meter to that old box was only good for about 60 amps but I never needed that much- gas heat, water heater, stove. So eventually I bought a 200 amp Square D QO box and again carefully removed one wire, capped, taped at a time, out thru the old box, and into the new one.
There was no way to shut the power off so I had to work carefully live, rubber gloves, rubber shoes etc. I didn't bother with any permit, not around here in the rurals.
I got the new panel in and all was fine, BUT, I still had that damn 60 amp cable from it to the meter socket, plus the wires from the meter to the weatherhead were cloth covered old stuff from the 60's if not earlier, exposed to the sun on the South side, no conduit or anything.
So I had a local electrician I know well come out and replace everything from my 200 amp box to the weatherhead. He put in a disconnect outside along with an outdoor outlet there, and ran conduit to my breaker panel in the basement, and a new pipe and weather head. The power co came out and shut the power off for the work and put it back on after connecting the new wires at the weatherhead to their lines.
When I saw what old meter socket box and the cloth covered wires to the weatehrhead looked like, wow, the copper was all oxydized, dirty, green in places and the rubber under the cloth was all crumbly, so it really HAD to be changed.
It cost about $1300.
It would have been easier to plan all conduit sections at one time in the long span like you did. Before gluing them all together, it possibly may have been easier to feed all wires in advance so that you didn't have to push it through bends. But you did manage it well. Congratulations!
Thanks. And I think that would have been easier too ... but someone else pointed out the code says the conduit has to be glued before the pull anyway. 🤔
Good job, very interesting
Interesting point about the ground rods. In my area the local inspection calls for at least 6 inches of the rod to be out of the ground. It's a lot easier to beat it down than to try to raise it, so check your local code. There is a socket for hammer drills that is made to fit over the ground rod. Stick it on, run the hammer drill on hammer only mode and zoom. Way faster and easier than that post driver. I would just have to rearrange the wiring in those panels. A bird's nest mess like that makes me nuts. But to each his own.
After snug-torque-ing conductors with THICK sections (like in the video) wiggle the wire forcefully and retighten the screw. Also please reservice again after a year.
I would have thought the Ground wire to the Ground rods would have to be exposed. If the wire got loose or corroded or broke, you wouldn't be able to find/repair it being buried under concrete. Thanks for the lesson! BTW, i would have run the wires with a 90 degree, instead of angled, if you might run a gas line or ceiling fluorescent type lights.
Yep " 250.53 ... The upper end of the electrode shall be flush with or below ground level ..." Also, did the ceiling angled like that to keep my conduit bends within the allowed total degrees. "There shall not be more than the equivalent of four quarter bends (360 degrees total) between pull points, for example, conduit bodies and boxes." Thanks for the comment!
Good job! Great video production!
Thank you very much!
beautiful job well done.
Much appreciated Greg!
It's easier to feed cable with two people. Have the wife lube it up while you jam it in. I swear I don't mean that to sound dirty, don't know how else to put it. When I pulled the service into my garage, the wife and I did it like that. There was lot's of giggling. Went very easy.
Thanks for the tip, Benjamin!😳😄
She was probably giggling because she wasn't used to lubing something that long 🤪
It would have been much easier to pull the wire if you taped the end. It also would have helped if you used a piece of mule tape or small rope and had someone pull on the far end. These conductors aren't easy to pull.
Thank you for sharing!
Thank YOU for watching!
Looks great! I did a very similar upgrade last year. Lots of research, but very rewarding. Saved a ton of money as well. I think technically those 2" LBs are too small for that quadplex. I used 2" conduit, but had to use 2-1/2" LBs to stay under the fill limits. You made it work though and I don't think there's any practical difference in the end. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, and thanks for pointing that out about the LBs. I'll have to look into that :-)
I wonder if you could have used a vacuum to initially pulled a string through, then a rope with the string.
Over all good job
Thanks :-)
What no date and hand print in the new cement. 👍 nice job.
Doh! [me snapping fingers]
It seems that people are attracted to wet cement..... ( myself included), and I learned very young that if you write in it........ use somebody else's name!
I D duct seal should be placed after incoming lines entered the building to prevent condensation from different air and moisture areas. only need a baseball sized amount behind outside panel.
Tape the wire ends to make it easier to push the wire into the pipe so it doesn’t catch on the couplings or fittings ! In the pipe !
In soil conditions one can start the rod by hand, pullit out add water in hole, pull out, add water and repeat with out hitting once with a hammer. Be sure acorn clamps are marked "direct bury". Have seen some (rare) that are not marked
Nice, but there are a few issues. First, you have aluminum connections of the wites. You are required to have No-Lux or lithium grease on the wire and lug connections. This reduces heat and corrosion at the connections. Especially when you are in hi moisture areas. Especially near salty water. It is also recommended for large wires that use hi loads, whether copper or not.
Second, issue is your ground rods and cable. You put concrete right on these, and concrete is acidic. It should have been put in full soil or covered with plastic before covering with concrete. Best is to use a rubber sealer that gets painted on the cable and ground rods ass the way till it comes up to the new meter panel.
I won't go into the wiring in the panels. 😂
I live in Arkansas and i Have worked at the Duke Power Plant during an outage that is so cool.
Maybe add a bolard to protect the meter?
I hope to do that in the future.
do not kid yourself about, "YOU THINK" just about anybody can do this...tanks for sharing
Great video as it explained the permitting process. $4k for the utility company to bury the underground cable is a good choice.
PS: the anti-oxide is not required as the modern aluminum wire is not pure aluminum but an alloy metal which does not oxide. Using noalox is old habit. 1960’s aluminum wires need it.
Thanks, and thanks for the info Andy!
The Panels I've seen in Canada have a Neutral AND Ground Bus Bar on each side of the Panel so you don't run into the problem you had with the Arc-Fault Breakers...
In the Panels up here, you'd just feed the Breaker Neutral Wire into the left Neutral Bus instead of having to move the entire Breaker to the Right side so the wire will reach...
Admittedly, that does sometimes lead to a LOT of crowding since Neutrals, Grounds AND Hots are all running through the same volume in the Panel, but if you keep your excess Conductor Length to a minimum, it is manageable...
You pointed out the green bonding screw on the main panel. But did you make sure you had a bonding screw on your hundred amp panel?
I had the same question. Since you used PVC conduit the 100 amp panel enclosure must be bonded to the ground bus.
He did a pretty good job putting your electrical panel and the only question I got for you is when it comes to aluminum wiring at least our area you’re supposed to put the ox compound on those wires to keep your aluminum wire from oxidizing overtime. This will also cause if you don’t do this, cause your terminals to heat up overtime as current passes through that and resistance is pulled through it by your load on your house maybe your area is different. I don’t know, but I doubt itand not expensive it’s in the apartment where we would’ve found the wire so I don’t know check into it and you can always still add it even though you’ve already told your wire. It’s not a big deal so I will check into that.
Any time one turns on a new installation or really any time you turn on a breaker you should have the cover on or at least stand to the side and not be facing the breaker when turning on. Try to stay out of "the line of fire".
YES YES , I couldn't believe he didn't shield him self or have all the breakers off before switching on the main after all the rewiring that was done, not thinking can kill.Standing on a pallet wearing rubber shoes is a must.
That is great advice!
Nice you got the expansion joint
Easy way to get a pull line into conduit is tie a plastic bag on the end of a ball of string and stick the bag into the conduit. Go to the other end of the conduit and use a shop vac to suck the bag and string through. Attach cable and pull string back.
I installed a 400 amp meter socket in Oregon to my relatives house with two 200 amp electric panels in parallel to give him the power for a 6000 square foot house !
Nice!
When drilling any stone or cement spray a little bit of water it’ll help cut through
No, you don't need aluminum oxide cream /jell Those terminals are rated for direct contact with aluminum or copper, remember those cables are not like old one's these new cables are series 8000 bi metal.
What I learned from this video is that despite the sticker shock, I'll probably buy the core bit of I have to do this (I have hundreds of linear feet of retaining walls to build, I'm definitely going to need it)
Love the thoroughness of your videos, literally my biggest peeve of youtube DIY'ers is they snap cut out all the dirty parts of the job.... which is literally why your watching in the first place... On a side note I noticed your hands looked a little battered before the gloves came out, was it trying to wrestle wires through and scrapping against "all the edges"?
Thanks :-) ... And yes! my hands were starting to burn from all the little (almost invisible) nicks and scratches. Thanks for the comment!!
I’d have used the duct seal around the hub and top cover, as well.
I also put tape around the ends of bundled wires before pushing to make a rounded/smooth edge.
In some areas (code?) the ground wire needs to be protected with conduit from the box to the dirt.
Thanks for the tips!
Nice job Dave . Question did ya ever tape the neutral with white tape on both ends? Its been a year lol
Thanks. .... And doh!! I did tape it on in the smaller panel, but ... until you said "both ends" ...🤔
For 200 amp that looks awfully small alumunum cable. 15 years ago here in Ont. Canada I had to install UMD90 4/0 now today a new 200 amp service I have to run MDM 250 alumunum witch is way bigger then the 4/0. The new 200amp sub panal is feed from a new 400amp service were I had to run 2 runs of MDM 250 out of the 400am meter base trench 69' to the road Hydro pole an leave 40' of both 250 cable an 40' x2 = 80' 3" pvc pile an straps an 2 3" weather heads for Hydro one to run up there pole an hook my lines to a 25kvw transformer they install on road pole. I also had to push a 3/4"x 8' ground rod close to there pole for there transformer c0pper stranded ground wire. Also 2 same ground rods minimum 10' a part. If I made the alumunum connections as you did I'd fail the inspection on 2 counts. 1- Must be minimum 6" cable loop before termination 2- no nolux Paste on each conductor entering each lug.. oh as you can see the power company will not do or supply any thing related to your new service you have to do an pay for everything even up the pole. But you can't put anything on the road pole but you have to have everything on the ground next to the pole that they need. Once you pass inspection you have to pay $1200 for them to conect you. If it a new service you also have to pay $250 for Hydro one to set up your account. So you can get your monthly bill.
It's Best Practice to wire ALL Panels as if they were the Main Distribution Panel and keep the Neutral and Ground Conductors on their own separate Bus Bars...then if you need to change a Panel's "Location" in the Electrical System (Main vs. Sub), all you need to do is connect the System Ground and disconnect the Ground-Neutral Connector Bar in the new Main Panel while disconnecting the System Ground and connecting the Ground-neutral Connector bar in the Old main, now Sub Panel...by already having the Ground and Neutral Conductors separated in the Panels, you don't need to do a complete rewire of all the Circuits fed by that Panel if you swap a Main and Sub Panel around...
Also, you should NEVER have wires for anything except the Main Power Feed to the Panel in the Panel's Main Breaker area...in fact each Panel should have a piece of sheet metal dividing the Main and Load sides of the Panel and building Circuit Conductors should NEVER cross that internal wall...all Circuits should enter the Panel in the Load side ONLY...this reduces the risk of a Load Circuit Conductor or Ground wire contacting the lugs for the Main Breaker. It also reduces the risk of a DIY Electrician (Cough, HOME OWNER, Cough) ever touching the Main Lugs while adding, modifying or removing a Circuit in the building and killing themselves in a truly, ReVoltingly Shocking manner...
Remember, when turned on, Mr. Bus Bar is NOT your Friend and not only can EVERYTHING in that Panel Kill you, it WILL HURT LIKE HELL THE ENTIRE TIME YOUR DYING!!!
😄😁😆😅😂🤣
theres a round tool for split ac holes for brick, might've wanted to use one of those
Your hammer drill looks exactly like the one I have. And I too have the same problem, with the drill bits constantly coming loose.
Amazing effort! One thing I missed was the underground cabling. Did the utility do all of that? Direct burial? At their expense?
Thanks! Yes, the utility bored and pulled the underground cable, but cost me almost $4k :-/. The city had an incentive to aid with burial, and it would have probably been a lot cheaper had mine not been completely beneath concrete.
Like Gas Meters, you can have your Electrical Meter in an area a car could hit it, but ONLY if it had protective barriers installed on either side of it so any stray vehicles hit (and FAR more importantly, STOP) them before they hit the Meter(s)...
Still, it's FAR wiser (and as he mentioned, possibly Legally Required) to place them away from vehicular traffic...
meterboxes in my area dont have the breaker option on them as far as i know they are not required as we have the typical square or rectangular meter can....i noticed that one the pole that you could see a 2 so that is likely a 25 KVA transformer (100amp) so sadly you wont actually get 200 amp service but your 200 amp service ready if they ever replace the transformer with a 50KVA
Good job. I'll save all the "I would have" but since it has been 1 year I'd suggest going back & snugging everything back up.
Thanks! You sure though? The "would have" bandwagon is still taking passengers ;-)
You did a very good job. It is not a good idea to keep the extension cord all rooled up, it is better to spread it.
That is so weird, here in Oh, the feed from the power pole would not be allowed like your old 100 amp system. A buddy of mine in Georgia has a setup like that and most of his power is connected before the meter.
In the State of new mexico, you have to take a homeowner electrical exam and pass it with 75% or better, and you must be owner of said property, not anyone else , no boyfriends, brother, father's etc you must be on homeowner deed /paper all legal.
interesting
We had to go from underground to overhead to upgrade our service. The utility company underground wire gauge was rated for 100A and apparently it was direct burial instead of conduit. It would have cost thousands of dollars to dig up the street where the utility vault was located.
Interesting.
You need to coat the alum wire with anti corrosion paste, do a proper torque too TWICE. Wrong shoes for the concrete work.
Supper professional DIY project! Great content to share with us. The meter socket is with disconnect itself, would you mind sharing the model name? I want to pick it for my next project. Thank you, Dave.
Thanks! ... I believe it is this one www.amazon.com/Midwest-R281CB1-Ringless-Entrance-Equipment/dp/B008KNL9UE/ref=asc_df_B008KNL9UE/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=533377585108&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12807214568194563070&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9010604&hvtargid=pla-1409564462626&psc=1&mcid=44f2dc3270883d24bda0bdeb1ccff2e4&gclid=Cj0KCQiAxOauBhCaARIsAEbUSQQ1fj-soGmL4NmMqdldIL49qaubeuZlUa159t_EyAlQupeY4YQNiaYaAj2BEALw_wcB
Thank you!@@FamilyFriendlyDIY
As an alternative to bending the pvc 45 degrees back to something less you could have just cut the bend to the right angle maybe? Cutting it half way the bend makes a 22.5 degrees angle for instance.
It does have a slight issue if i come to think of it a little more. Half way te bend there will not be a straight bit of pipe tot fit in the next pipe to. In europe they do sell 22 degrees bends.
I am in NC and I use a Co-Op for electric. When I called them they told me I had to hire an electrician to swap out my meter. I have another house in Laurinburg that also will not allow me to switch the base. I am going to try and find an electrician that will let me supply my own parts for the upgrade.
I hate that for you, but all the best on your upgrades.
In California the homeowner DIYer is allowed to do it but you have to live in it for a few years, if you own a rental I don’t think you’re allowed. I replaced an old 100A Zinsco box at my old house with a square D 200A and asked utility to increase the line side service cables gauge also. Had to do it after I installed central air system in my home, I also just finished installing my own 10KW solar system. Any DIYer can do it you just need to really really know what you’re doing, know proper wiring methods, know about proper loading, know codes. This is t something you do if you have even just 1 doubt.
Good advice.
25:49 I know I'm a year late for this tip, but if there is a chance the PVC will be in direct sunlight and/or in an environment that stays at 72 F or more constantly, strap it MORE than the minimum recommended distances...so if it says strap your conduit every 5 feet, then spend the extra 3-4 dollars and strap it every 2 feet or even every foot...that way you reduce the chance of sagging (if you've ever looked at a PVC pipe bolted to a wall and it looks like a wavy pond, it wasn't strapped often enough an d the sections between the straps got hot enough to soften and the pipe bent down where it wasn't supported...that puts a huge amount of stress on the joints and bends and that pipe will eventually crack and leak...
PVC Conduit Straps and Tapcon screws don't cost that much, spend a little more and make sure the conduit can't sag in between straps...
The higher the Schedule Number (20, 40, 80 etc.) the thicker the pipe wall and the more resistant the pipe is to crushing or sagging, but the more expensive it is...if you're running PVC to divert downspout drain water away from the foundation, Schedule 40 is the MINIMUM you should be using (especially if it's buried close to the surface of the lawn, you don't want a ride-on mower crushing it after all), for surface electrical conduit, use either schedule 40 or 80 depending on how big a risk there is of the pipe getting hit by something...
It is on the ceiling of a underground room under a car port, I didn't see any windows.
Liked the video. Only issue i seen is that you did not mark the black wire that you connected the neutral bars with white tape. That would not pass an inspection where i am located.
Thanks, and yes, you're right ... I've since gone back and marked one side, but still have to do the other.
I bought a 600a Transformer and upgraded for 100a to 600a. I can now charge 2 electric vehicles and run my 85a plasma cutter while welding and the wife runs the electric dryer and heat pump. I never would have thought a service upgrade would make such a difference. I wish I would have spent the extra $6k to get 3 phase because when I do it later I will have to buy 3 Transformers instead of the additional 2 I would have needed if I did it all at once. So 3 phase will cost $10k more 😢. At the time I didn't think I would need it but all the That is single phgoes for a fortune because every home owner that likes to work in his garage. Wants to buy it, but the 3 phase ones go for very cheap because most people can't run them at their house. Look later there's a three phase Pole 50' from my property. Was told that's very rare that it's brought out this far into the country and that there is literally no one else on that line and they have no clue. Why it was ever brought out this way.
😮
Really not bad for a DIY job. I enjoyed watching it. Now as an electrician I have to point out my observations. We are obligated to do so.
The panel work is messy. #6 wire would have worked for the ground rods #4 wire is required to the water pipe if you have public water. #8 copper ground wire would have worked for the 100 amp subpanel, no giant lugs necessary. Torqueing the 200 amp lugs with a harbor freight allen wrench was probably not ideal, but seems like it worked out ok. You already seem to have been aware of some of these things. Overall really not bad man.
Thanks for the input Jay!
First, I sure hope you put noco on the copper ground you connected to the aluminum lug outside.
Second, when connecting stranded cable to a lug, you should tighten it down, loosen it back up, then tighten it down again. This settles the strands more densely and reduces the chance of them settling from heat cycles and going loose over time.
Thanks for the tips!
You never work on Live panel Energised
Isolate First
Safety first
Also you need to protect your copper earth wire you connected to your ground rods copper and concrete don't go well together
high alkalinity level
Make sure you follow the code in you're installing ours is 2020 NEC in new mexico
What brand and model was your meter base?
Nice work! But you really need to clean up the panels, they are messy.
Does this exemption apply to the entire state of SC, or is it just in the city of G.V.?
Thanks :-) Mine is for the city ... I'm not sure what the rules are outside the city.
So the meter cannot be in a carport or cars passed through but yet at 53:12 there’s literally a car right there, so do you have two carports two entrances? I’m so confused on the layout of this house on the outside either way great freaking job came out phenomenal. I personally would’ve never went across a ceiling. I would’ve spent the extra few dollars and went along the edges, granted that would’ve caused more 90° turns more resistance. I attributed it to the path of lease resistance, but you made this look like a freaking pro.
good job Dave! id say your work rivals alot of the local residential sparkies in my area
another utuber with the handle wranglerstar came up with the title "professional homeowner" and i think it fits
Ha, I like that 😄. Much appreciated.
You need to mark the neutral in the panel with white tape
Very true.
The breaker at your meter base IS your Main Disconnect. Your Grounding and your Grounded conductors should be separated in the first panel as well.
Both interior panels are ungrounded. The larger one was already ungrounded because it was initially being used as a sub of the smaller one.
Not true one outside is just a main disconnect
Wouldnt it be good if the fuseboxes was smaller? to me the boxes looks like they are 20 times too big, good size fuse tho :)
You didn't have to move the arc fault breakers could wire nut type wire in place ( via pig tail )
Use the wheel barrel for mixing concrete!
At 1:19:31 in the video you are using a solid black wire for a neutral to go from the main box to the sub panel and then shortly after that in the video you are using a black wire with a white stripe to go from the main box to the sub panel for one of the hot leg's it appears. According to code to keep from getting confused between a hot leg and a neutral the neutral always has the white stripe. When I installed my sub panel the inspector looked for that and said it was correct just a thought.
Yes. I said I needed to put white electrical tape on the black wire I used for the neutral. But I never did it. Someone else reminded me of that. I still have to go back and do that. Good call out. Thanks.
SURE YOU CAN, just follow codes. and make sure to buy that costly 200 amp cable along with main panel upgrade
what size wire did you run? I'm doing the same on my home with a disconnect and upgrading the 100AMP to 150AMP. Trying to figure out what whether it's a 2/O copper wire that I need for the main service?
4/0 Aluminum. ... I think you can just google what gauge service wire for what Amperage.
43:20 I've seen TY Landscaping using a leaf blower to blow the concrete dust away and keep the blade cool when cutting concrete.
🤔👍
Flatten the shank on the drill bit so it holds better !
For the most part you did pretty good. The only issues i have with what you did is 1. You used aluminum instead of copper. I know it’s more expensive but in the long run it would been a heck of a lot better. 2. Since you used aluminum you should have noaloxed all the connections to protect against corrosion. 3. You stripped back way too much wire on your connections. You only need to strip back an inch if that. Leaving as much as you did sticking out is actually dangerous and i don’t recommend that at all.
Thanks for the advice!!!
First of all I congratulate him for taking on this and other projects. Too many armchair quarterbacks... I think it is fine for homeowners to take on projects such as this even if they do not have a license as long as it is done correctly. That is how I inspect. Too many times "licensed" professionals do not do things correctly... They are probably the ones most critical of DIYers. Of course your jurisdiction may have rules and codes and fees... Often "professionals" are threatened by the DIYer. Again as long as it is done correctly and within your local, "honey may I" rules. Just my thoughts. I would have done aspects of this project differently but thats me. Does not make it wrong.
You're comment is much appreciated!
Interesting. In Burbank, you can just apply for a permit as a homeowner. They give you a bunch of statements to agree to, but no notarization required.
It very much depends on the location. Panel installation in St. Louis County, MO requires a licensed and approved electrician to apply for the permit. I live in Illinois, where I can work on my own house with a permit.
Nice.
Crazy. I'd have thought Montana would have been more relaxed.
after it leaves the main outside panel..... it needs to be sub panels rest of the way. Isolated neutrals
Been out of the trade for 10 years. Why put a meyers hub on pvc male adapter entering enclosure below any live parts. Still rated "rain tight" unless code has changed. I can see it if metal conduit used for bonding purposes, even then could have used lock rings (or sealing lock ring) and bond bushing.
I'm looking to do the same thing in California just trying to figure out how and what permit do I have to apply for
Oh man. California? I feel for ya😳… so many regulations. I hope there is a provision to do it yourself. 🙏
I just did it. Get to know your inspector and your utility provider. Make sure you choose a panel that complies with the utility company EUSERC number for socketed meter combo panels.
5ft spacing WILL start saging within a year. At least double up on straps. Wire weight will cause that. Aluminum wire "may" get by with 5ft spacing
So not only did you get underground power you got the power company to come out and do their actual job and replace the effective polls not all heroes wear capes