Room Index - Just Wondering?

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wbalsam1 said:
I inspected a panel once for an "electrician" who simply labeled it "plugs", "lites", "stove", "SD", "H2O", "furnace", "kit 1", & "kit 2". :grin:

He went off on me a little bit when I asked him to be a little more specific. :smile:
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:grin: I love it how we still write lights as lites even in a panel. That 1 letter is such a time saver... :)
 
stickboy1375 said:
:grin: I love it how we still write lights as lites even in a panel. That 1 letter is such a time saver... :)
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Believe it or not, there are people who will go to a microwave to heat something up for 1-1/2 minutes. Instead of entering 90 seconds, they 'save time' be entering 88.;)
 
j_erickson said:
After powering everything, it takes about 3 minutes to label a typical panel with one guy running around and a little yelling.:smile:
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I worked for an EC that wired new homes exclusively and that's how we did it. We never labeled a single wire. Just run the home runs and dump them by the panel, and splice them in later. Anything that was a GFCI circuit (a hot tub) for instance, we would strip the end. It worked pretty well, unless you were using a nextel in bad service area (basically everywhere you go). :rolleyes:
 
480sparky said:
Believe it or not, there are people who will go to a microwave to heat something up for 1-1/2 minutes. Instead of entering 90 seconds, they 'save time' be entering 88.;)
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Guilty as charged.
 
Yep, I feel pretty much the same as John - trying to keep track of those stupid labels is a big pain in the rear, IMO. It's far quicker to strip all the 14's at once, and all the 12's at once, after the oddballs are set aside.

If you have a set pattern on every house, it's real easy to mark the home runs at the trim.

With the heap big grande houses (i.e. custom or close enough), then dealing with a label that's 3/4" long (with a two digit number) is way easier than one that's 4" long, keeps a neater panel, and makes determining when the first panel ends and the second begins way easier, IMO.

To each their own. :D
 
I found that marking at the time you pull to be the best all around it takes the guess work out and one person (apprentice) can then go back to label the door.
 
I make a line diagram for the whole job up front and number the HR's - much they way it would be done (like Iwire) if it were done for me. Then while labeling the panel I give it a name - not Chuck or Sue* ;) - M.Bed LTS, Kit. CT, ect. Sometimes I'm nice enough to leave my scratch set at the panel when done.

I don't know how many times I have opened a panel to find a breaker called "Jeff's room" as if I know who Jeff is, or his room... Only to be forced to ask, and get "Jeff who?" Makes me wanna reach back in time and smack someone.

I worked for a company that wanted all roughed through to trim out - breakers, j-boxes and switch legs marked simularly to rewire and Larry... (Not that I lasted long there for additional other reasons) It drove me nuts to watch a guy with a sharpie write labels for switch legs or carefully draw a receptical symbol on all device wiring - especially when I would get called to sort it all out after they had been soaked in paint. But the main reason is that it interupted my dance time - have 3 guys to feed work to, and when you expect them to be well done with it, they answer back - "Oh - I have to mark this wire..." That statement alone would mess with my groove.....

I'll start another topic about curls and twisted wire for device trim out - sure there are some interesting methods regionally out there.
 
480sparky said:
Believe it or not, there are people who will go to a microwave to heat something up for 1-1/2 minutes. Instead of entering 90 seconds, they 'save time' be entering 88.;)
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And I thought I was saving time by pressing 90 instead of 130!:grin: From now on it's 88 all the way.;) Or is that diminshed returns since the 9 is next to the 0 and is almost if not as fast as hitting two 8's.:confused: Be right back, going to go check it out.
 
I used to cut accrosse the rx with my Klines about 1/2 thru. 1,2,3, etc. wrote # of notches down on a piece of cardboard. Took a copy home. cardboard in the panel. When you stripped the rx, the notch was on the wire.
 
Cavie said:
I used to cut accrosse the rx with my Klines about 1/2 thru. 1,2,3, etc. wrote # of notches down on a piece of cardboard. Took a copy home. cardboard in the panel. When you stripped the rx, the notch was on the wire.
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I hope you used spaces to designate 10's, etc., like 2,6, rather than 26 notches, for ckt #26. I tried that, but the notches were often hard to "read".

Sometimes, I write the circuit numbers on the studs next to the panel, or even inside the panel itself, odds on the left and evens on the right.
 
LarryFine said:
I hope you used spaces to designate 10's, etc., like 2,6, rather than 26 notches, for ckt #26. I tried that, but the notches were often hard to "read".

Sometimes, I write the circuit numbers on the studs next to the panel, or even inside the panel itself, odds on the left and evens on the right.
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Like this

14/2 1 Mst bed
2 livingroom
3 bed 2
14/3 1 bed 3/4
2 den/familyroom
3
12/2 1 kit
2dinning
3
10/2 1 w/h
2 a/c

This didn't post like I typed it but I think you got the idea.
 
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When you stripped the rx, the notch was on the wire.
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That's the way I was taught in the 70's


If you do it in a logical order (alphabetical/geographic etc) you might not have to write anything down. Unlike the marker method it takes NO extra time.
 
"I feel your pain..."

"I feel your pain..."

wbalsam1 said:
I inspected a panel once for an "electrician" who simply labeled it "plugs", "lites", "stove", "SD", "H2O", "furnace", "kit 1", & "kit 2". :grin:

Ever tried doing service work on a FEMA spec mobile home or park model trailer? That's what I've been doing for the last 2 years in South LA after Katrina. The guys who build these trailers are...let's see, how to best put this-MORONS!!!!!! There are only about 1 or 2 manufacturers who actually label the panel cover correctly and legibly. The rest, well, good xxxxxx luck! I've spent a couple of hours before trying to identify the correct circuit and figure out how these idiots wired the dang thing so I could fix the problems. I am a little above average on troubleshooting skills, but man, sometimes this crap blows your mind.
I use a "fox and hound" wire tracer sometimes, and once found a wire in a ceiling that went nowhere. Everything in the trailer worked, there were no shorts, but this wire was live up to a point in the ceiling and then just dissapeared. Interesting... Also once had a trailer where the range would not work. Troubleshooting showed that the wire was hot leaving the panel but dead at the receptacle. Only answer was the wire was burnt or broken. Went to purchase wire, returned and removed some of the insulation under the trailer, found that the cable had been cleanly cut right under the panel! Dryer was discovered to be the same way.
Anyway, got a little sidetracked. I prefer to write on the jacket on the romex and make a temp. panel schedule, then write it all on the perm. panel cover. I usually don't relabel individual wires in the panel itself though. No real reason, just don't in residential. Used to do a lot of industrial elect./instrumentation, where labelling was a hard, fast rule. I guess, as someone said earlier, to each their own, but think of the next guy to come along, 'cause it might be you!:wink:
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On a semi-related note, how about breaker space assignment? What I mean is that I always stack the 2-pole breakers down one side, usually the left (odd numbers) and the single-poles down the other side, with the largest at the top (assuming top MB/lugs).

I ask because I often find overheated lugs where larger 2-poles are installed head-to-head, especially electric-heat 60a-circuit breakers and other HVAC-related ones, such as the A/C compressor, which sometimes still runs during aux. heat-strip operation.
 
LarryFine said:
On a semi-related note, how about breaker space assignment?
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Come on Larry.....you know there is no 'right' answer to that question. :grin:

It's like asking us all what our favorite color is. :)

I will say that we must follow the manufacturers instructions which sometimes limit us to no more then 100 amps per 'stab'

Two 60 amp breakers 'head to head' would be 120 amps per that stab and be a violation.
 
I install a lot of service upgardes and like my 2-pole breakers at the top. Smaller singles at the bottom.

I have on occassion when the owner plans on adding additional loads (C/A, Hottubs, etc.) left the blanks in the middle, kinda looks like a breaker sandwich when done. I assume this is permissable since I have never had an inspecter question it.

Makes it easy for the next guy when adding the 2-poles which is ussually me. :)

Jeff
 
I install the larger breakers at the top and then 20 Amp. then 15 Amp breakers. Naturally I like to keep all the bedroom arc-faults togather and the breakers feeding the kitchen togather ( seems to make marking the panel easier).

It really has nothing to do with breaker placement but I like a neat uncluttered look. I run the larger cables to the outside so there in a minimum of cable and bending in the panel. The longest cables in the panel will always be the smallest and take up less room.

I like for the panel wiring and the area around the panel to really look good because that's probably going to be the only thing noticed in the future.

For commercial work I really do good pipe work around the panel and exposed areas, if I'm going to get sloppy it's going to be where no one will ever see it.
 
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