numbers for panel wiring

[charlie tuna]

when i do a condo --there is a system in terminating the panels -- the panel scheduals are typed and printed out, then glued inside the panel covers.

but when i'm doing a custom home i have always used paper tags as i'm roughing the house............ i like this system with the romex sheathing. panel covers are one of the last things that get installed as i see it.......

 

[quogueelectric]

rhino labeler

rhino labeler

There is a wrap function associated with this labeler that will print horizontily with the wire thus taking up less space. You can get 3/4 " tape cartridges to print this function. You must obviosly be on a job such as a powerplant which is requiring you to label in the spec. The heat tube is rarely shrunk just landed in the marshalling or bailey cabinets to properly identify where each conductor travels. after you do your work a qc team will surely audit the work for acuracy and proper labeling. It had better be acurate or you will pay dearly or never be allowed back for the spoils again. Labeling may be unimportant to someone resi however in a powerplant every single wire should be properly labled because when something goes wrong you need to find the problem and fix it asap at the price tag of possibly 2million a day in revenues lost. Be acurate and be sure the engineers are counting on you.

 

[jute]

If you're looking to label the breaker conductors, here's what a lot of us do:

The NM sheath pieces were originally written on the unstripped home runs and were slid over the black (and white for 2p, GFCI, AFCI, etc.) wires when stripping and terminating them.

Thanks, this looks like a great idea and the way I'll be doing it in the future, but this job is an upgrade and all wires are stripped back except for (5) new home runs that are hanging by the panel from the remodel... Thanks, JB

 

[jute]

I just have to ask.

Why in the heck would you bother doing this other then it looks kinda neat?

You do have a panel schedule on the door right?

No Panel schedule to speak of but I think it looks kinda neat also, which makes for a more professional looking job IMO... But the main reason I'm doing this is probably to save any confusion after I pull the panel out... I'd like an "as is" or "as was" pic and layout... so if I have any problems I can go back and see how it was originally made-up....after I do 10/20 of these this step might not be as important to me...Thanks to all for the help... JB

 

[quogueelectric]

panel change

panel change

Now you are talking. whenever I do a panel change the first thing I do is a quick panel schedule on a page of a composition book notating what size breaker is in each spot and the position of each breaker as to on or off. then I take a brady marking book and double mark each wire as to the number of the spot 1-42. I then snip each wire between the 2 wire markers. Now you have a record of where each wire was when the panel change was started. You also have a record of every tripped/off breaker so you cannot be tricked into fixing anyones preixisting problems for free. I then snnip all of the neutrals and grounds and check with a tick tracer for backfeeds. Then strip the panel and save it for reference when you do the reinstall. this gives you a record of what breaker each wire was on each breaker and cannot get mixed up. It only takes about an extra half hour to mark out completely and never have a problem on the reinstall.

 

[jute]

Label/ panel pics

Label/ panel pics

Thanks to all for the help... I posted some pics for the panel I was changing out, I put shrink wrap on each wire and made a form that had the details. The wire number I came up with was> wire#/breaker space#/phase/breaker size and type...I know that many of you think this was unecessary but it sure made it easier when made up the new panel... Thanks again JB

 

[jrclen]

No Panel schedule to speak of but I think it looks kinda neat also

I'm trying to understand this. Do you guys mean once the panel cover is on, no one has a clue what each breaker is for? That would never pass inspection around here. Or am I missing something? I've seen wires labeled like that, but there also is a panel directory filled out on the door.

 

[JohnJ0906]

I'm trying to understand this. Do you guys mean once the panel cover is on, no one has a clue what each breaker is for? That would never pass inspection around here. Or am I missing something? I've seen wires labeled like that, but there also is a panel directory filled out on the door.

When cutting in the feeds (during rough-in) I use small pieces of romex jacket on the ungrounded conductors to label the circuits. When I install the breakers and land the conductors (in final stage) I leave the jacket pieces on, but label the directory as I go. I think its easier if someone (me!) has to work on it later without referring to the directory and counting breakers to figure out what breaker to what circuit.

 

[jrclen]

When cutting in the feeds (during rough-in) I use small pieces of romex jacket on the ungrounded conductors to label the circuits. When I install the breakers and land the conductors (in final stage) I leave the jacket pieces on, but label the directory as I go. I think its easier if someone (me!) has to work on it later without referring to the directory and counting breakers to figure out what breaker to what circuit.

OK, I misunderstood and thought there would be no panel directory. I do write on the jackets on rough in, but never slipped them over the wires. I have seen it done though.