Brian Mahaney wrote:

I'm upgrading my service entrance and panel to 200 amps. I currently have
an old Push-a-matic service panel. Inside this panel, all the ground wires
(bare coppers) and neutrals are attached to the neutral bus which is located
at the very top of the panel only four or five inches from the point where
all the circuits enter the panel. So the obvious problem is that the wires
will all be too short for the new panel.

I have done a short search of this group and found at least one post stating
that it is ok to splice the wires inside the panel. The question is: what
is the standard way to do this? Can I simply use bare, crimped butt splice
connectors on the ground wires and insulated ones on the neutrals? Is there
a more acceptable way to accomplish this? Is it, in fact, acceptable to
splice the wires inside the panel? Should I bother my very busy inspector
with this question just to be sure of his opinion, or is there standard
procedure that is acceptable across all jurisdictions?

Thanks,
Brian

You better ask him beforehand. All those splices will take up
a lot of room.

Another possibility: Is there space to put a new panel *beside*
the old one? If so, fab a blank cover for the old panel and
use it as a giant splice chamber. The new panel will be neat
as a pin inside.

Jim