It's done. Here's the report.

A few years ago, we had a 200-amp service box replaced on one half of a
duplex. The cost then was $850.

Time to do it for the other side. Bids from three large electrical
contractors were from $950 - $1050. Here's what we did instead:

1. BOUGHT (total $205)
A. A "kit" from HD - $149.00 (Square D brand)
B. Extra breakers not included in the kit. Mostly double-20amp to
substitute for the single 15-amp breakers in the kit
C. Six feet of 2/0 wire
D. Ten feet of 10g wire in case of splicing
E. A box of 100 wire nuts (two were used to hook up whole-house surge
protector)
F. Packet of sticky wire-numbers (they wrap around the wire to assign it a
number).
G. Can of "Great Stuff" to seal hole in brick.
2. Called the power company to remove meter seal (their standard is to
respond in 6 hours or less). In our city, Houston, no permit is required.
3. Tools needed: Seemingly everything I owned. One tool that was handy was a
Greenlee chassis punch to get a hole in the breaker box, in the right place,
for an external conduit. Also a large Allen wrench to secure primary lines
plus a big-ass screwdriver. Masonry bits. Unexpected: Chisel and sledge to
remove brick.

2. PROJECT.
A. Saturday noon, removed meter and began.
B. Removed each wire from existing circuit breakers, labeling each black
or red with a number and noting to what size breaker it was attached. Also
paying attention to which wires were attached to double breakers (mostly the
240-type red-black pairs).
C. Removed old breaker box.
D. Oops. New box has no hole remotely close to where wires come from wall.
E. Using Dremel, cut a 2"x3" hole in back of new breaker box to
accommodate wires. Still not good enough. Remove one brick up. Now the
existing wires will reach. NOTE: Electricity is required for Dremel and
maybe drill. Long extension cord and compliant - or ignorant - neighbor
needed.
F. Mount box using two 1/2" masonry anchors (on hand)
G. Following chart created in step B, attach house wires to appropriate
breakers. It's easier to attach the wire to the breaker(s) before inserting
the breakers into the box.
H. After all the breakers in place, go back and attach all the white and
green wires to the grounding strap.
I. Dress all the wiring neatly, making sure nothing is rubbing where it
shouldn't - much like a chaperone on a senior trip.
J. Make hole in box to attach one external bit of conduit (here's where
the chassis punch came in handy). Hook his wires up.
K. Punch out hole in bottom of box to attach whole-house surge suppressor.
Had to extend existing wires using wire nuts and tape.
L. Last step: Re-visit EVERY screw and tighten the hell out of it.

3. Smoke test
A. All switches in off position.
B. Replace meter. Look for smoke.
C. Turn on master 200-amp switch. Look for smoke.
D. Flip on each breaker, in turn, pausing to look for smoke.
E. Attach cover, then door.
F. Squirt Great Stuff in any cracks. Plan on caulking to further
waterproof in a couple of days.

4. Have beer while picking up and returning several hundred tools to their
proper places. Finished 5:00 pm.

5. Tally stuff left over: 8 circuit breakers (mostly 15 amp), 98 wire nuts,
4 feet of 2/0 wire, misc screws, couple of unknown thingies, Spanish
language stickers. Lots of wire numbers.

Total time elapsed for two people: Five hours. Money saved: ~ $800, plus the
satisfaction in a job well done; if I might say so, better than the
"professional" job done on the other half of the duplex.

TO DO:
Call power company on Monday to replace meter seal.

CONCLUSION:
This is a non-trivial, but straightforward project. Total curse-words
necessary were less than ten! In our case, there was very little backing and
filling. That is, if we had it to do over, we might be able to shave an hour
off of the event. Still, it was not rocket surgery and a fairly competent
DIY person should be able to save big bucks.

"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
It's done. Here's the report.

A few years ago, we had a 200-amp service box replaced on one half of a
duplex. The cost then was $850.

Time to do it for the other side. Bids from three large electrical
contractors were from $950 - $1050. Here's what we did instead:

1. BOUGHT (total $205)
A. A "kit" from HD - $149.00 (Square D brand)
B. Extra breakers not included in the kit. Mostly double-20amp to
substitute for the single 15-amp breakers in the kit
C. Six feet of 2/0 wire
D. Ten feet of 10g wire in case of splicing
E. A box of 100 wire nuts (two were used to hook up whole-house surge
protector)
F. Packet of sticky wire-numbers (they wrap around the wire to assign it
a
number).
G. Can of "Great Stuff" to seal hole in brick.
2. Called the power company to remove meter seal (their standard is to
respond in 6 hours or less). In our city, Houston, no permit is required.
3. Tools needed: Seemingly everything I owned. One tool that was handy was
a
Greenlee chassis punch to get a hole in the breaker box, in the right
place,
for an external conduit. Also a large Allen wrench to secure primary lines
plus a big-ass screwdriver. Masonry bits. Unexpected: Chisel and sledge to
remove brick.

2. PROJECT.
A. Saturday noon, removed meter and began.
B. Removed each wire from existing circuit breakers, labeling each black
or red with a number and noting to what size breaker it was attached. Also
paying attention to which wires were attached to double breakers (mostly
the
240-type red-black pairs).
C. Removed old breaker box.
D. Oops. New box has no hole remotely close to where wires come from
wall.
E. Using Dremel, cut a 2"x3" hole in back of new breaker box to
accommodate wires. Still not good enough. Remove one brick up. Now the
existing wires will reach. NOTE: Electricity is required for Dremel and
maybe drill. Long extension cord and compliant - or ignorant - neighbor
needed.

Probably to late to mention that running romex into a panel with out labled
and listed protection is not a accepted pratice. ( The NEC has a couple of
sections that deal with this ) I have never seen a square bushing. If the
hole is above the busing you have lost the U.L. listing of the can you
bought and it is serious violation of the NEC.
Also probably to late to mention that 2/0 is not rated for 200 amps.
Especially in a service.


F. Mount box using two 1/2" masonry anchors (on hand)
G. Following chart created in step B, attach house wires to appropriate
breakers. It's easier to attach the wire to the breaker(s) before
inserting
the breakers into the box.
H. After all the breakers in place, go back and attach all the white and
green wires to the grounding strap.

Only a novice connects the hots before the grounds. If it is grounded your a
lot safer.
When did you connect the ground, water bond and the bond to the metallic
piping?

Time will tell, glad you made it out alive.

I hope you only put 20 amp breakers on 12 gauge wires

RBM wrote:
Since it sounds like no one is going to inspect your work, I would
just want to be clear on a few points. It sounds like this is just a
panel replacement, and not a service increase, so the 2/0 copper is
because the existing wire is to short? You were careful to install
current carrying legs of three wire circuits on opposite phases of
the panel?

Yes, a panel replacement. The original was manufactured by a company that
evidently came into existence just long enough to supply the builder for our
subdivision. The buss bars were corroded, the breakers themselves were
flaky, and, if you had to replace one, cost north of $50 for a single
15-amper. The building was constructed in 1965. One would think a breaker
box/panel would last longer than forty years.

Yes. One of the existing three leads from the meter to the box was too short
for the new box. (The guy at HD huffed and puffed, using a dinosaur toenail
clipper, to snip off my 10' piece. I found you can cut 2/0 wire with a
Dremel!) The new panel we used is Square D, model HOMVPRB1. Lotsa room in
the box. Just did a Google search on the box by model number. SRP is $795!
(Home Depot sells it for $145.)

The box cleverly arranges adjacent breakers to be on opposite legs. That is,
each buss is an "S" shape such that the legs alternate between breakers. If
you place the new breakers side-by-side, their position automatically
balances the load.



"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
It's done. Here's the report.

A few years ago, we had a 200-amp service box replaced on one half
of a duplex. The cost then was $850.

Time to do it for the other side. Bids from three large electrical
contractors were from $950 - $1050. Here's what we did instead:

1. BOUGHT (total $205)
A. A "kit" from HD - $149.00 (Square D brand)
B. Extra breakers not included in the kit. Mostly double-20amp to
substitute for the single 15-amp breakers in the kit
C. Six feet of 2/0 wire
D. Ten feet of 10g wire in case of splicing
E. A box of 100 wire nuts (two were used to hook up whole-house
surge protector)
F. Packet of sticky wire-numbers (they wrap around the wire to
assign it a number).
G. Can of "Great Stuff" to seal hole in brick.
2. Called the power company to remove meter seal (their standard is
to respond in 6 hours or less). In our city, Houston, no permit is
required. 3. Tools needed: Seemingly everything I owned. One tool that
was
handy was a Greenlee chassis punch to get a hole in the breaker box,
in the right place, for an external conduit. Also a large Allen
wrench to secure primary lines plus a big-ass screwdriver. Masonry
bits. Unexpected: Chisel and sledge to remove brick.

2. PROJECT.
A. Saturday noon, removed meter and began.
B. Removed each wire from existing circuit breakers, labeling each
black or red with a number and noting to what size breaker it was
attached. Also paying attention to which wires were attached to
double breakers (mostly the 240-type red-black pairs).
C. Removed old breaker box.
D. Oops. New box has no hole remotely close to where wires come from
wall.
E. Using Dremel, cut a 2"x3" hole in back of new breaker box to
accommodate wires. Still not good enough. Remove one brick up. Now
the existing wires will reach. NOTE: Electricity is required for
Dremel and maybe drill. Long extension cord and compliant - or
ignorant - neighbor needed.
F. Mount box using two 1/2" masonry anchors (on hand)
G. Following chart created in step B, attach house wires to
appropriate breakers. It's easier to attach the wire to the
breaker(s) before inserting the breakers into the box.
H. After all the breakers in place, go back and attach all the
white and green wires to the grounding strap.
I. Dress all the wiring neatly, making sure nothing is rubbing
where it shouldn't - much like a chaperone on a senior trip.
J. Make hole in box to attach one external bit of conduit (here's
where the chassis punch came in handy). Hook his wires up.
K. Punch out hole in bottom of box to attach whole-house surge
suppressor. Had to extend existing wires using wire nuts and tape.
L. Last step: Re-visit EVERY screw and tighten the hell out of it.

3. Smoke test
A. All switches in off position.
B. Replace meter. Look for smoke.
C. Turn on master 200-amp switch. Look for smoke.
D. Flip on each breaker, in turn, pausing to look for smoke.
E. Attach cover, then door.
F. Squirt Great Stuff in any cracks. Plan on caulking to further
waterproof in a couple of days.

4. Have beer while picking up and returning several hundred tools to
their proper places. Finished 5:00 pm.

5. Tally stuff left over: 8 circuit breakers (mostly 15 amp), 98 wire
nuts, 4 feet of 2/0 wire, misc screws, couple of unknown thingies,
Spanish language stickers. Lots of wire numbers.

Total time elapsed for two people: Five hours. Money saved: ~ $800,
plus the satisfaction in a job well done; if I might say so, better
than the "professional" job done on the other half of the duplex.

TO DO:
Call power company on Monday to replace meter seal.

CONCLUSION:
This is a non-trivial, but straightforward project. Total curse-words
necessary were less than ten! In our case, there was very little
backing and filling. That is, if we had it to do over, we might be
able to shave an hour off of the event. Still, it was not rocket
surgery and a fairly competent DIY person should be able to save big
bucks.

That's not what I'm referring to. Pretty much all modern circuit breaker
panels have buss from each leg adjacent to one another, so double pole
breakers will connect with each phase. My question is that you installed red
and black wires of three wire Edison circuits on opposite phases. These are
not necessarily on double pole breakers. Also, did you install or connect
the bonding jumper which attaches the neutral buss to the panel?


"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
RBM wrote:
Since it sounds like no one is going to inspect your work, I would
just want to be clear on a few points. It sounds like this is just a
panel replacement, and not a service increase, so the 2/0 copper is
because the existing wire is to short? You were careful to install
current carrying legs of three wire circuits on opposite phases of
the panel?

Yes, a panel replacement. The original was manufactured by a company that
evidently came into existence just long enough to supply the builder for
our subdivision. The buss bars were corroded, the breakers themselves were
flaky, and, if you had to replace one, cost north of $50 for a single
15-amper. The building was constructed in 1965. One would think a breaker
box/panel would last longer than forty years.

Yes. One of the existing three leads from the meter to the box was too
short for the new box. (The guy at HD huffed and puffed, using a dinosaur
toenail clipper, to snip off my 10' piece. I found you can cut 2/0 wire
with a Dremel!) The new panel we used is Square D, model HOMVPRB1. Lotsa
room in the box. Just did a Google search on the box by model number. SRP
is $795! (Home Depot sells it for $145.)

The box cleverly arranges adjacent breakers to be on opposite legs. That
is, each buss is an "S" shape such that the legs alternate between
breakers. If you place the new breakers side-by-side, their position
automatically balances the load.



"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
It's done. Here's the report.

A few years ago, we had a 200-amp service box replaced on one half
of a duplex. The cost then was $850.

Time to do it for the other side. Bids from three large electrical
contractors were from $950 - $1050. Here's what we did instead:

1. BOUGHT (total $205)
A. A "kit" from HD - $149.00 (Square D brand)
B. Extra breakers not included in the kit. Mostly double-20amp to
substitute for the single 15-amp breakers in the kit
C. Six feet of 2/0 wire
D. Ten feet of 10g wire in case of splicing
E. A box of 100 wire nuts (two were used to hook up whole-house
surge protector)
F. Packet of sticky wire-numbers (they wrap around the wire to
assign it a number).
G. Can of "Great Stuff" to seal hole in brick.
2. Called the power company to remove meter seal (their standard is
to respond in 6 hours or less). In our city, Houston, no permit is
required. 3. Tools needed: Seemingly everything I owned. One tool that
was
handy was a Greenlee chassis punch to get a hole in the breaker box,
in the right place, for an external conduit. Also a large Allen
wrench to secure primary lines plus a big-ass screwdriver. Masonry
bits. Unexpected: Chisel and sledge to remove brick.

2. PROJECT.
A. Saturday noon, removed meter and began.
B. Removed each wire from existing circuit breakers, labeling each
black or red with a number and noting to what size breaker it was
attached. Also paying attention to which wires were attached to
double breakers (mostly the 240-type red-black pairs).
C. Removed old breaker box.
D. Oops. New box has no hole remotely close to where wires come from
wall.
E. Using Dremel, cut a 2"x3" hole in back of new breaker box to
accommodate wires. Still not good enough. Remove one brick up. Now
the existing wires will reach. NOTE: Electricity is required for
Dremel and maybe drill. Long extension cord and compliant - or
ignorant - neighbor needed.
F. Mount box using two 1/2" masonry anchors (on hand)
G. Following chart created in step B, attach house wires to
appropriate breakers. It's easier to attach the wire to the
breaker(s) before inserting the breakers into the box.
H. After all the breakers in place, go back and attach all the
white and green wires to the grounding strap.
I. Dress all the wiring neatly, making sure nothing is rubbing
where it shouldn't - much like a chaperone on a senior trip.
J. Make hole in box to attach one external bit of conduit (here's
where the chassis punch came in handy). Hook his wires up.
K. Punch out hole in bottom of box to attach whole-house surge
suppressor. Had to extend existing wires using wire nuts and tape.
L. Last step: Re-visit EVERY screw and tighten the hell out of it.

3. Smoke test
A. All switches in off position.
B. Replace meter. Look for smoke.
C. Turn on master 200-amp switch. Look for smoke.
D. Flip on each breaker, in turn, pausing to look for smoke.
E. Attach cover, then door.
F. Squirt Great Stuff in any cracks. Plan on caulking to further
waterproof in a couple of days.

4. Have beer while picking up and returning several hundred tools to
their proper places. Finished 5:00 pm.

5. Tally stuff left over: 8 circuit breakers (mostly 15 amp), 98 wire
nuts, 4 feet of 2/0 wire, misc screws, couple of unknown thingies,
Spanish language stickers. Lots of wire numbers.

Total time elapsed for two people: Five hours. Money saved: ~ $800,
plus the satisfaction in a job well done; if I might say so, better
than the "professional" job done on the other half of the duplex.

TO DO:
Call power company on Monday to replace meter seal.

CONCLUSION:
This is a non-trivial, but straightforward project. Total curse-words
necessary were less than ten! In our case, there was very little
backing and filling. That is, if we had it to do over, we might be
able to shave an hour off of the event. Still, it was not rocket
surgery and a fairly competent DIY person should be able to save big
bucks.

BTW, all single phase 240 volt loads are inherently balanced. It's the 120
volt loads that have to be manually balanced



"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
That's not what I'm referring to. Pretty much all modern circuit breaker
panels have buss from each leg adjacent to one another, so double pole
breakers will connect with each phase. My question is that you installed
red and black wires of three wire Edison circuits on opposite phases.
These are not necessarily on double pole breakers. Also, did you install
or connect the bonding jumper which attaches the neutral buss to the
panel?


"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
RBM wrote:
Since it sounds like no one is going to inspect your work, I would
just want to be clear on a few points. It sounds like this is just a
panel replacement, and not a service increase, so the 2/0 copper is
because the existing wire is to short? You were careful to install
current carrying legs of three wire circuits on opposite phases of
the panel?

Yes, a panel replacement. The original was manufactured by a company that
evidently came into existence just long enough to supply the builder for
our subdivision. The buss bars were corroded, the breakers themselves
were flaky, and, if you had to replace one, cost north of $50 for a
single 15-amper. The building was constructed in 1965. One would think a
breaker box/panel would last longer than forty years.

Yes. One of the existing three leads from the meter to the box was too
short for the new box. (The guy at HD huffed and puffed, using a dinosaur
toenail clipper, to snip off my 10' piece. I found you can cut 2/0 wire
with a Dremel!) The new panel we used is Square D, model HOMVPRB1. Lotsa
room in the box. Just did a Google search on the box by model number. SRP
is $795! (Home Depot sells it for $145.)

The box cleverly arranges adjacent breakers to be on opposite legs. That
is, each buss is an "S" shape such that the legs alternate between
breakers. If you place the new breakers side-by-side, their position
automatically balances the load.



"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
It's done. Here's the report.

A few years ago, we had a 200-amp service box replaced on one half
of a duplex. The cost then was $850.

Time to do it for the other side. Bids from three large electrical
contractors were from $950 - $1050. Here's what we did instead:

1. BOUGHT (total $205)
A. A "kit" from HD - $149.00 (Square D brand)
B. Extra breakers not included in the kit. Mostly double-20amp to
substitute for the single 15-amp breakers in the kit
C. Six feet of 2/0 wire
D. Ten feet of 10g wire in case of splicing
E. A box of 100 wire nuts (two were used to hook up whole-house
surge protector)
F. Packet of sticky wire-numbers (they wrap around the wire to
assign it a number).
G. Can of "Great Stuff" to seal hole in brick.
2. Called the power company to remove meter seal (their standard is
to respond in 6 hours or less). In our city, Houston, no permit is
required. 3. Tools needed: Seemingly everything I owned. One tool that
was
handy was a Greenlee chassis punch to get a hole in the breaker box,
in the right place, for an external conduit. Also a large Allen
wrench to secure primary lines plus a big-ass screwdriver. Masonry
bits. Unexpected: Chisel and sledge to remove brick.

2. PROJECT.
A. Saturday noon, removed meter and began.
B. Removed each wire from existing circuit breakers, labeling each
black or red with a number and noting to what size breaker it was
attached. Also paying attention to which wires were attached to
double breakers (mostly the 240-type red-black pairs).
C. Removed old breaker box.
D. Oops. New box has no hole remotely close to where wires come from
wall.
E. Using Dremel, cut a 2"x3" hole in back of new breaker box to
accommodate wires. Still not good enough. Remove one brick up. Now
the existing wires will reach. NOTE: Electricity is required for
Dremel and maybe drill. Long extension cord and compliant - or
ignorant - neighbor needed.
F. Mount box using two 1/2" masonry anchors (on hand)
G. Following chart created in step B, attach house wires to
appropriate breakers. It's easier to attach the wire to the
breaker(s) before inserting the breakers into the box.
H. After all the breakers in place, go back and attach all the
white and green wires to the grounding strap.
I. Dress all the wiring neatly, making sure nothing is rubbing
where it shouldn't - much like a chaperone on a senior trip.
J. Make hole in box to attach one external bit of conduit (here's
where the chassis punch came in handy). Hook his wires up.
K. Punch out hole in bottom of box to attach whole-house surge
suppressor. Had to extend existing wires using wire nuts and tape.
L. Last step: Re-visit EVERY screw and tighten the hell out of it.

3. Smoke test
A. All switches in off position.
B. Replace meter. Look for smoke.
C. Turn on master 200-amp switch. Look for smoke.
D. Flip on each breaker, in turn, pausing to look for smoke.
E. Attach cover, then door.
F. Squirt Great Stuff in any cracks. Plan on caulking to further
waterproof in a couple of days.

4. Have beer while picking up and returning several hundred tools to
their proper places. Finished 5:00 pm.

5. Tally stuff left over: 8 circuit breakers (mostly 15 amp), 98 wire
nuts, 4 feet of 2/0 wire, misc screws, couple of unknown thingies,
Spanish language stickers. Lots of wire numbers.

Total time elapsed for two people: Five hours. Money saved: ~ $800,
plus the satisfaction in a job well done; if I might say so, better
than the "professional" job done on the other half of the duplex.

TO DO:
Call power company on Monday to replace meter seal.

CONCLUSION:
This is a non-trivial, but straightforward project. Total curse-words
necessary were less than ten! In our case, there was very little
backing and filling. That is, if we had it to do over, we might be
able to shave an hour off of the event. Still, it was not rocket
surgery and a fairly competent DIY person should be able to save big
bucks.

entire box should be mounted on plywood to keep box way from moist
concrete

if he didnt connect 240 breakers properly the worst that will occur is
240 wouldnt work. I did this accidently my 5hp compressor wouldnt even
start

RBM wrote:
That's not what I'm referring to. Pretty much all modern circuit
breaker panels have buss from each leg adjacent to one another, so
double pole breakers will connect with each phase. My question is
that you installed red and black wires of three wire Edison circuits
on opposite phases. These are not necessarily on double pole
breakers.

I think so. By putting a red-black pair on a double breaker, I thought I
guaranteed opposite phases (since each of the double breaker connects to a
different phase).

Also, did you install or connect the bonding jumper which
attaches the neutral buss to the panel?

I think so. Unless it's about 6" long, made of balsa wood, and is painted
chartruese.

SQLit wrote:

Probably to late to mention that running romex into a panel with out
labled and listed protection is not a accepted pratice. ( The NEC
has a couple of sections that deal with this ) I have never seen a
square bushing. If the hole is above the busing you have lost the
U.L. listing of the can you bought and it is serious violation of
the NEC.

Good point. I forgot to mention I used do-it-yourself grommet material to
shield the incoming wires from the raw metal of the box. The existing
bushing was 2.5" and the closest I could get with a hole punch was 2.25". I
COULD have made a trip to the store and got a couple of 2.25" bushings or a
2.5" hole saw. I didn't. I apologize.

Also probably to late to mention that 2/0 is not rated for 200 amps.
Especially in a service.

It's close enough (190 amps). It's what was there. 3/0 wouldn't fit.


F. Mount box using two 1/2" masonry anchors (on hand)
G. Following chart created in step B, attach house wires to
appropriate breakers. It's easier to attach the wire to the
breaker(s) before inserting the breakers into the box.
H. After all the breakers in place, go back and attach all the
white and green wires to the grounding strap.

Only a novice connects the hots before the grounds. If it is grounded
your a lot safer.

Good point. I'll do that next time. Thanks.

When did you connect the ground, water bond and the bond to the
metallic piping?

Yeah, I did that. A BX cable, solid copper wire that goes directly down to a
ground rod.


Time will tell, glad you made it out alive.

I figured if I got through the first three minutes with no smoke, things
look good for the long run. Besides, what could go wrong?

Yes, it does, and although you shouldn't necessarily install Edison circuits
on double pole breakers, it's perfectly safe. The bonding jumper can be a
large screw or a strap, and would not come installed or connected as it's
not used if the panel is not the main service panel. It sounds like you've
done OK. The only other thing would be how you determined the wire size to
be sure you install the correct size breaker. You indicated that you marked
what was existing, but that assumes that others working in the panel knew
what they were doing, it's always best to check for yourself, (which, maybe
you did)


"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
RBM wrote:
That's not what I'm referring to. Pretty much all modern circuit
breaker panels have buss from each leg adjacent to one another, so
double pole breakers will connect with each phase. My question is
that you installed red and black wires of three wire Edison circuits
on opposite phases. These are not necessarily on double pole
breakers.

I think so. By putting a red-black pair on a double breaker, I thought I
guaranteed opposite phases (since each of the double breaker connects to a
different phase).

Also, did you install or connect the bonding jumper which
attaches the neutral buss to the panel?

I think so. Unless it's about 6" long, made of balsa wood, and is painted
chartruese.

I missed the business of the square bushings and home made stuff, but 2/0
copper is proper for a 200 amp service



"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
SQLit wrote:

Probably to late to mention that running romex into a panel with out
labled and listed protection is not a accepted pratice. ( The NEC
has a couple of sections that deal with this ) I have never seen a
square bushing. If the hole is above the busing you have lost the
U.L. listing of the can you bought and it is serious violation of
the NEC.

Good point. I forgot to mention I used do-it-yourself grommet material to
shield the incoming wires from the raw metal of the box. The existing
bushing was 2.5" and the closest I could get with a hole punch was 2.25".
I COULD have made a trip to the store and got a couple of 2.25" bushings
or a 2.5" hole saw. I didn't. I apologize.

Also probably to late to mention that 2/0 is not rated for 200 amps.
Especially in a service.

It's close enough (190 amps). It's what was there. 3/0 wouldn't fit.


F. Mount box using two 1/2" masonry anchors (on hand)
G. Following chart created in step B, attach house wires to
appropriate breakers. It's easier to attach the wire to the
breaker(s) before inserting the breakers into the box.
H. After all the breakers in place, go back and attach all the
white and green wires to the grounding strap.

Only a novice connects the hots before the grounds. If it is grounded
your a lot safer.

Good point. I'll do that next time. Thanks.

When did you connect the ground, water bond and the bond to the
metallic piping?

Yeah, I did that. A BX cable, solid copper wire that goes directly down to
a ground rod.


Time will tell, glad you made it out alive.

I figured if I got through the first three minutes with no smoke, things
look good for the long run. Besides, what could go wrong?

You may also want to research whether or not the plywood has to be fire
rated. In canada, there was a requirement to place some forms of
electrical equipment on fire rated plywood. Although, I do believe
this has been retracted in recent code.

Regards, JW


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Date: Sun, Apr 9 2006 8:16 pm
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entire box should be mounted on plywood to keep box way from moist
concrete

if he didnt connect 240 breakers properly the worst that will occur is
240 wouldnt work. I did this accidently my 5hp compressor wouldnt even
start