"Cletus Milsap" wrote in message
...

Howdy,

Just got me a new home and some troubles as well. Labor of Love one
should
not wonder.

I could barely insure the home. It has 60A in this 1959 house. They want
125A. At least that's what the insurance said. (Home is in Solano County.)

I went shopping for panels. I'm no wizard with Electricity. (Note the
respectful big "E") But I do get by. I understand what is what in a
circuit. Clear on how them breakers work and wiring in general.

But I'm no expert electrician. Still I know with some good help I can do
this job.

First I got a permit. Was not too tough. And have a call in to PG&E to
talk to an inspector about requirements and the like. What I need is a
step
by step by someone who does this routinely. What's next?

I had conflicting bids from electricians on the upgrade. Some said -
$1200
to $1500. When they had found out the main power is coming in from the
bottom, they just laughed and said "All you need is the panel, Cletus."
The
present panel is a single panel with the meter on the top part and the
breakers under it. Got the Spa wired to 220V on a bridged 40 amp breaker.
The rest is small potatoes. 20A breakers running to simple outlets and the
like. I was told by Home Depot, I need a separate breaker for the Spa,
located 6' or less from the Spa, and that the way it is in the main box,
is
a violation. Ugh. (That'll be tough, as the Spa is on the Patio, away from
the wall by 15' or so.)

I'm willing to buy the box for that as well though.

I need to be pointed to a step by step, or if it's not too much trouble,
post one here. I'd like to be clear on the steps to take.

Can I surface mount the 125A box? The present one is recessed into the
wall. The box I was looking at requires a BIG hole! I'd like to just get
the wires in on the bottom, and cover up the present little hole with the
big box.

All help will be appreciated with extreme prejudice.

Cletus


Bytolier®

If the people at Home Depot told you that your disconnect must be 6' or
closer to the spa, run, do not walk, away from that place. You were grossly
mis informed.
For you spa to meet current code, you must have a GFCI breaker protecting
the power to the spa. You can put this GFCI breaker in your main panel if
you want to. A GFCI breaker is rather expensive, though, at maybe $80 or
more, depending on the brand of breaker you need. This breaker can go in
your main panel if you want.

You must also have a form of disconnect within line of sight, but no closer
than 5' to the water in the spa. This disconnect does not have to be fused,
if you have the GFCI breaker in your main panel. It is okay to mount this
disconnect 15' away from the spa. The disconnect must not be closer than
5', but it can be as far away as 50' if it is within line of sight of the
spa.

You can use a simple 60 amp rated a/c disconnect if you want. Or you could
keep the existing breaker that is in your panel, and mount a spa panel no
closer than 5' to the spa, and put the GFCI breaker in there as your
disconnect. You can get a not sure if you can get a spa panel with a 40 amp
GFCI breaker, though. Most of the ones I've seen are 50 amp.

There are other code requirements for you spa, depending on your specific
situation, and what the electrical code you will be held to. Mine was a new
installation, and our city is inspecting to the 2002 NEC. Your situation
may be different. Spa wiring codes can get kinda picky, so check out what
they'd require from you in your situation.

Sorry I cant help you with the replacement panel question.
Dave