Service change question.

[zappy]

Do you usually leave the old main and riser on the house and just mount the new one next to it?I saw one service change where they did this.There was the old riser and weather head sticking out the roof and there was the new one next to it.When you give a estimate for this type of job do you include removing the old equipment or is it a extra charge.

 

[buddhakii]

I would leave it if it penetrates the roof since I'm not a roofer. If it doesn't penetrate it usally only takes about 15 extra minutes to tear it off and throw it out.

 

[JacksonburgFarmer]

Yes....we remove the old equipment....
First of all, the old riser through the roof will give a hole for the new riser....I see no good reason to leave old equipment hanging there....other than to have power while building new service, and the once change over is done, then remove all the old stuff....but that is a lot of work....and I have a big generator for stuff like that....even though it only takes a small one...

 

[aline]

In a lot of cases when I do a service upgrade I'm required to relocate the service to meet the power company requirements. I install the new service, run the wire from the new service location to the panel location and call for an inspection. The power company will not come out and energize the new service without the inspector calling them. After the inspector calls the power company they call me to set up a time to switch the power over to the new service. That's when I come back and remove the old service equipment.

Yes. I include removal of the old service equipment in my bid. I have a roll of starter shingle that I use to patch the hole in the roof if there is one.

 

[mikeames]

As a customer I would be upset if I paid for a complete professional job and they left the old right next to the new.

 

[dreamsville]

Would their be any requirements dictated by code relating to having to remove the old wiring? Maybe some of our inspectors can tell us their experiences? Could they possibly twist it around to fall under workmanship section 110.12? :smile:

 

[electricmanscott]

Do you usually leave the old main and riser on the house and just mount the new one next to it?

If you're a hack you do.

 

[480sparky]

Depends on if the customer wants to pay electrician prices (license, insurance, other related costs) to patch a roof compared to a roofer (some guy with a truck and ladder).

If my original price includes removing the old riser through the roof puts the customer through the roof (pun intended!), then that's one item I can negotiate out of the price.

Odds are, if the place needs a new service, it's due for a new lid anyway. I'd rather let the roofer deal with it.

 

[Fulthrotl]

Do you usually leave the old main and riser on the house and just mount the new one next to it?I saw one service change where they did this.There was the old riser and weather head sticking out the roof and there was the new one next to it.When you give a estimate for this type of job do you include removing the old equipment or is it a extra charge.

if the old service riser is sufficient to hold the new feeders, i've cut
the old can out, and slid the new one in under it, but it's rare for
that to be possible. i've only done it twice in 30 years. obviously,
nothing lines up well enough for that to work well, if at all.

i had one old house in torrance i had to put a new service on, and
the original was 40 amp fuse type. the service entrance was a 1"
rigid down the eave to the back of the house, where the new
service was going.... i set a new service on the back of the house,
surface mount, with the riser up thru the eaves. after edison heated up
the new panel and killed the old one, i pulled out the service entrance
conductors from the 1" rigid, piped it into the new panel, and pulled
the branch circuits from the new panel to the old panel to feed the
existing wiring. then i gutted the old panel, set a terminal strip, and
landed the six circuits for the existing wiring.... then had my sheet
metal guy bend up a piece of #14 stainless for a nice cover for the
old can, so it was just a smooth surface, and looked tidy.

so if you can incorporate it for a clean look, that's one thing.
if it's there cause someone was too lazy to finish the job, that's
quite another.......

 

[tonyou812]

I usually build the outside first and if I have to move the service for some reason than maybe I leave on the old one while I build the outside but thats only happened once in one year so far. Of course you have to take away the old service. that would be like going to a restaurant were they leave the old plates on the tables .....

 

[electricguy45]

We usually schedule accordingly in these cases for a sameday disconnect/ reconnect, with both the inspector and the power company. This gets the job done in one trip and everyone is happy.

 

[Cow]

Do you usually leave the old main and riser on the house and just mount the new one next to it?I saw one service change where they did this.There was the old riser and weather head sticking out the roof and there was the new one next to it.When you give a estimate for this type of job do you include removing the old equipment or is it a extra charge.

Are they nippling into the side of the old service panel out of the new one to refeed the branch circuits? That doesn't seem very professional. Otherwise, like Fulthrottl said, I'd only leave it if the new one was being relocated and it made sense to reuse it as a j-box.

We tear everything off and try and reuse the existing roof penetration if possible. If the homeowner is lucky the new panel will even cover the bare spot behind the old panel where it was never painted.:wink:

 

[infinity]

As a customer I would be upset if I paid for a complete professional job and they left the old right next to the new.

I agree and if I were the HO I would hire the guy who removed the old stuff as part of the job.