Service Entrance Equipment Mounting Board Covering?

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paullmullen

Senior Member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
Electrical Engineer & Master Electrician
I am mounting the meter cabinet and disconnects for a new service to a piece of plywood to permit insulation between the entrance equipment and the wall sheathing. The picture tells the story. My question is "What are people using to treat the plywood or cover it so that it becomes maintenance free" (no painting needed in the future).

Options considered but problematic in some form:
- marine painted board. (Still needs painting in the future.)
- Stainless steel covering. (Pretty, but $$$, and and extra EGC for just the cover.)
- PVC over plywood (Nice solution, but PVC is usually not long-term UV stable)
- Aluminum (Galvanic corrosion with steel components mounted to it)
- Powder Coated something or other ($$$)

What have others done?
Screenshot 2025-11-16 195707.png
 
My wife suggested brick, but that doesn't match the customer's aesthetic.

Still brainstorming options.
 
retirede said:
Cover the board in aluminum to match.
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I'm concerned about galvanic corrosion (deterioration when dissimilar metals are in contact) when the steel enclosures and fasteners are in contact with an aluminum substrate. Maybe I'm over thinking it, but cursory research finds others worried about this too.
 
paullmullen said:
I'm concerned about galvanic corrosion (deterioration when dissimilar metals are in contact) when the steel enclosures and fasteners are in contact with an aluminum substrate. Maybe I'm over thinking it, but cursory research finds others worried about this too.
Click to expand...
Commonly done all the time around here. Even with vinyl siding replacing aluminum almost exclusively, the boards still get wrapped with aluminum, usually done by the sheet metal sub hired to do the soffits and fascias. I’ve not noticed signs of corrosion, but I can’t say I’ve really looked for it.
 
NEMA 3R components are one thing, but protrecting what they're mounted to is important too. If you're curious to see what we eventually did, you can find it here. A couple of caveats:
  1. This video is as much about protecting the structure as it is about the electrical components themselves.

  2. This installation includes temporary breaker panels and a couple of utility receptacles. The location for the future final breakers is not yet built, so these are here to give us some juice until a permanent home for full-sized breaker panels is ready. Yes, the top breaker is 6'7" exactly from the ground, and yes, the inside boxes are 100A main breaker boxes. The final installation will be 2 x 200A MLO boxes.
This was my first service entrance design/install since getting my license. And we passed. I've used a lot of tips from people in this forum. Thanks for the helpful engagement.

After this, I had to go clear brush to have a clear right-of-way for the electric company to make a connection through the woods to the meter cabinet. Electrical work seems to be electro-mechanical work plus landscaping sometimes.
 
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