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.
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 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?
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.
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.
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 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!
Very useful video that covered all the important elements. Doesn't the Circuit Breaker Panel require at least 3 feet clearance on all sides? Thanks for posting this video and explaining all the steps in detail.
I stuck around. From minor house circuits to adding an interlock and generator receptical. (Went with 8 gauge over the 10). Love learning, from cutting back armored cable with deteriorating cable to making sure you put in bushings. And the codes and the wonderful NJ DCA ;) Great work. Whats average cost, and I understand all the implications and asking a question like that but I mean is a 200 amp upgrade somewhere that's around 2k, 4k etc these days?
Home reno videos in the southern US often show houses with the entire breaker panel mounted outside on the wall, where it is vulnerable to weather, vandalism, power and copper theft. It always looks strange to us northerners.
Ron Nj licensed electrician up in morris county, I know March 6 the rehab code was to be updated and then get a 6 month grace period from there taking us to September however the 2017 NEC grace period ended march 6. I have inspectors in Essex and Morris demanding the emergency shit off and surge protection already. These disconnects are impossible to find and every single source is price gouging them . lowest i find is around $350 between that and the surge protection with the extra install time going to have a hefty increase in price for customers. Just wondering what was going on down in your end. Also is PS still handing out meter can if you show permit?
Tell the electrical inspector to call code assistance (609-984-7609) because the rehabilitation sub code (chapter 6 of the U.C.C.) has not adopted the 2020 NEC. Not until 9/6/23 and I hear even after that date there'll be a 6-month grace period. NO EMERGENCY DISCONNECT's as defined by 230.85 for existing service upgrades. On your permit application you should write up at the top "2017 REHAB SUB CODE - NO EMERGENCY DISCONNECT."
man people should just spend the exrtra money and use conduit. i get services all the time with exposed neutrals and we have to have them replace the service entrance wire the sun beats that cheap wire jacket
Any home with more than (1) air-conditioning condensing units. Unless you want to risk tripping the 100A main breaker on the hottest day of the year. It’s up to you.
@@electricianron_New_Jersey Hi Ron, Thanks for replying to my comment. I still don't understand the math. Even two air-conditioning units should draw no more than 6kW each which is well below the 24 kW available from 100 amp service. Breakers can withstand surge startup currents beyond their rated capacity for short periods. I understand that you are being conservative and safe in your recommendations but I still think that older smaller homes with 100 amp service might not need to upgrade to 200 amps.
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.
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 RU-vid who see my videos enquirer about having their panels upgraded. It’s really remarkable.
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.
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.
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 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.
I find it very difficult to comprehend why you would rip apart SE cable and replace it with more SE cable. Why don't you use PVC polyvinyl chloride conduit with a 2in PVC Weatherhead directly into a hub top of the electrical meter? SE cable sucks. Water gets inside that so easily and you know it why are you taking the easy and cheap way out?
You just don’t know how to install it properly because if you did you’d find a use for it too. Then again, you’re probably not allowed to use it where you work as an electrician.
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
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.
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!!
I wasn't aware an electrician was allowed to pull the meter. In my area, its the power company that will pull the meter and then reinstall it when you're done.
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!
What did you use for weatherproofing the LB into the siding/rim joist? And how did you run the grounds from outside? What about the new code requirements of an external disconnect at the meter? Last question, aren't you required to upgrade to AFCI's? Great video brother!
The LB into the siding is tight and a small piece of duct seal is around the top. The ground rod GEC’s were brought in through two separate holes. One was the old telephone line that had to reamed a bit to fit the #6 AWG THE other ground rod GEC picks up the bonding bridge and goes through a new hole to panel inside.
@@electricianron_New_Jersey Thanks Ron! I'm moving a meter socket to the side of a brick wall and wasn't sure if the PVC had to go all the way to the interior of the wall. Any comments on the external disconnect? You would think the mfrs would design a socket/disconnect in one box.... All I can find is a combo box with a 200A disconnect and 16 breakers...
Ron when installing a service panel how do you solve the problem if the branch conductors are not long enough to land on the OLPD(breaker)? Especially when multiple branch circuit conductors are too short?
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.
Thanks again for a great video! Hope sone can HELP! I'm replacing an old Federal Pacific 100-amp panel with a 200-amp Square D Hameline panel, so I will need to upgrade the service entrance cable and want to use 2/0 THHN copper. The outdoor meter can/box is mounted low, (30" off the ground at bottom edge of can) outside, so if I use the bottom rear 2-inch knockout of the meter can, it will put the hole through the wall below the bottom edge of the new breaker panel by about 8 inches, so I will have to make a vertical 90 upwards turn from hole in wall to bottom knockout of the new panel. I cannot find a 2" close 90 PVC electrical fitting so I'm guessing they don't make one. My question is: how do I make that vertical 90 turn upwards? It will eventually be covered in drywall. Do I need to have the inside copper leads in conduit at all? If I use switch to 4/0 aluminum, do I need conduit inside the wall cavity? thanks in advance!
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
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.
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..
Great content explaining how to install and upgrade a 200 AMP service panel. I do, however, have a few questions: One, why are the neutral and ground wires for the ground and neutral bars not reidentified with white and green electrical tape? Second, why are there some hot wires attached to both the neutral and ground bars? Maybe it is just the lighting of the camera, but it's something I noticed in the video.
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?
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 up grading to a 200 amp service, and my outside meter and mr inside panel are over 6 ft apart I’m going to use steel conduit. DOES MY DISCONECT have to be fuseable ? I was going to buy a blade box and put emergency disconnect on panel. I live in Detroit
Ron, thank you for your videos. They are vey helpful. I am a frustrated electrician who always wanted to be but life got in the way. So my questions are NOT criticism, just trying to know what you did somethings that I was surprised a bit as a result. In one of your videos you installed service to a hot tub. You had the feeds running through conduit (PVC Schedule 40). I would have thought that those conduits needed to be buried 18" or deeper, not left on the surface. Help me understand how that works? On another video you cut the connection from the pole (never saw which transformer that lines came from. I believe that a licensed electrician can disconnect the service. I didn't know that the reconnect can be done by a contractor. I thought PSE&G required that they made the connection from the pole? Please explain. Also, while a contractor can work with the electrical system, and experienced people often take risks that an average or homeowner should NOT do, it appears that your safety precautions seemed less than required, experienced or not. Remember, no criticism intended AT ALL, just wondering what your perspective is. Lastly, the fact that you are a one man band, I salute you for the terrific results that your videos demonstrate. Keep up the great work.
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!
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.
Im getting a few inspectors in NJ siting out Section 230.85, Emergency Disconnects, says that there must be a readily accessible disconnecting means located outdoors on all one- and two-family dwellings. Are you doing this on new 200 amp upgrades.
Ron Nice work and share. Help me understand how you kept track of the individual power feeds and the required breaker? I didn’t see any of that in you content. It jumped directly to new panel breakers installed, hots landed and nothing on the door legend? To me a clean panel door legend is all the customer sees so I think it’s important. Not that it matters but I’m an licensed PE (electrical) in Fla and worked 30 years for FPL before retiring
Nice once you got all that spaghetti Cluster f___ re-done in the main power panel. That was a nightmare So scary Freedy crooger would run away on Friday the 13th. Did you take the time to label the breakers what does what? Yes time consuming but its valuable to the customer to know whats what. I hate it when you dont know. At least leave the stickers behind im sure your toolbox is full of them. At least the customer can find them and put the stickers on. Its a pain in the ass to try and print them with a pen. Tiny lines.
Hey... just curious. Did you pull a permit on this job? How were you able to remove the meter without the electric company not having an issue with a broken tag? Did you really grab the service drop without gloves to connect the butt splice? Just curious. Also, does the new service panel not need at least 2 ground rods to be place a minimum of 6ft apart?
Over 10v need an electrician!, glad I am not in NJ. Even the nec relaxes below 50v, so bell wiring, network wire and cable are a lower class, not reasonbly able to create a fire. So a jobs program for the licences thst give graft to the politicians to make rules good for them. And they wonder why people ignore it, make the rules reasonable.
i will do a lot of job's diy but when it comes to electricity or natural gaslines i will ALLWAYS Pay a licensed professional, how much is your life or your family's life worth....
Just curious, in Texas it is required EMT (metallic conduit) above the meter socket and also between the meter socket and service panel . Above meter socket must extend a minimum of 3 feet above roof and conduit extends through roof (usual overhang) to meter socket.
