Panel Changeout

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DudeElectric

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Montana
I am looking at doing a Job for a friend and am unsure about weather or not i will have to update his breakers to AFCI.

I have to change out his main service and add a main disconnect. His inside panel is and old FedPac panel and is located awkwardly in the middle of the stairs heading down stairs. Currently the old main service goes up his wall into his attic and then feeds down to that small panel in the stairwell. He is finishing a basement and the where the service is is just above the floorboard. It would be very easy for me to eliminate the current feed through the attic and just feed downward from the new service panel into a new panel downstairs. He wants to eliminate the panel in the stairwell so my plan is to just use that panel as a junction point for all of the current circuits. If i junction in that box and move all of the circuits to the new panel down stairs do i need to use AFCI type breakers? This is an older house... 50s house that appears to have been updated in the 70s.
 
Under the '14 and '17 Codes, if you alter the circuit by extending it (on either end) you must follow the AFCI rules. There is an exception where the extension is not more than 6ft but it does not look like that would apply in your situation.
 
However i feel that it would actually be cheaper for me to move where my panel is going to be as to avoid having to use AFCI breakers. With it being an older house everything is tied up oddly. Bathrooms with hallways ... appliance circuits with lights etc.
 
Given that you will be adding AFCI to existing branch circuits, may I recommend the GE single-pole, combination-type AFCI, which can be used with a handletie on multiwire branch circuits. Take a look at: www.geindustrial.com/AFCIadvantage. This is the only AFCI that is "pure" AFCI only, with no ground fault sensing component, which helps with putting AFCI protection on circuitry of unknown workmanship.
 
JudeSaint said:
There is going to be no inspection though.
Click to expand...

JudeSaint said:
However i feel that it would actually be cheaper for me to move where my panel is going to be as to avoid having to use AFCI breakers. With it being an older house everything is tied up oddly. Bathrooms with hallways ... appliance circuits with lights etc.
Click to expand...

Having bathrooms tied to hallways and lights on appliance circuits may not meet todays code but that will not automatically trip an AFCI combination breaker.

If there is to be no inspection then check to see if that area has actually adopted the NEC.

I would move that panel out of that stairwell even if the owner doesn't want AFCI breakers. One code violation is as bad as another and one of them could break your neck. I hate panels in stairwells.
 
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