On 3 Jul 2006 10:32:30 -0700, "dpb" wrote:


wrote:
Good point, around here most panels are surface mount, in garages and
such.

Is OP around there??? Do you know what OP's mount is?

He's explaining why he said what he did. No thread is just for the
OP. Now's a good time to take his explanation as it was intended.

... replace the service drop, meter can ...

Those are external to the panel which is the item under discussion. If
those must be replaced, they have to be done irrespective of the panel
itself so no difference afaics.

As for the "guts" of the panel vis a vis replacing a panel, having the
wire already pulled and in place _is_ a sizable time-saver.

As for rust, if the box is in a place so wet that it's rusty enough to
need replacement, that's yet another problem that is totally unrelated
to subject question and needs to be addressed and selecting either a
new box or a retrofit kit doesn't address that problem/symptom (other
than masking it by putting a new box in a unsuitable location).

He's still explaining why in many cases in his experience it's worth
replacing the whole box. That's all. The OP should be able to read
and decide if he has a lot of rust or not.