upgrade of service panel

[mjf]

I am planning to upgrade a service panel. In the past I have always done this from a new wall so there were no issues with wires or getting to the circuits.
This time I need to replace an existing panel. I would like to pull the existing circuits out of the old box and move them to the new box however the wires are not long enough. I do not want to break into walls and find the first Jbox in the chain the replace the wire and the old service is in such poor shape that I do not want to use is as a subpanel.
This must come up all the time with service panel replacements or upgrades.
Question, how do you extend the individual circuits to get the extra 3 to 5 feet of wire to connect to the new service?

Your post gives me the impression that you have experience pretty much only with NEW construction service installation and wiring.

You state that you are going to upgrade the service. I assume from 60 or 100 amps to 200 amps. If this is the case than you will be replacing EVERYTHING. Weatherhead, service wire, meterpan, ground rods/wire, cold water bond wire, feeder wire, etc, etc, up to and including the panel.

In most every case, I've installed my new panel in the same spot as the old panel, and a majority of the existing circuits will reach their new respective destinations. As others have said, wire nutting extensions in the new panel will solve most "short" wires. If a cable or 2 doesn't reach the panel at all, I usually just install a JB above the new panel and extend from there.


Keep working space and clearances in mind. There have been those times when I find the existing panel over and behind the 275 gallon oil tank, etc.

 

[kwired]

Wire nuts are one of the most common splicing methods & yes they are legal to use in a panel. Some electricians consider their panels

to be works of art and would consider wire nuts in the panel an abomination. However the electricity doesn't care about appearances.

The only ones to care would be anal electricians and after the cover is put on who cares.

Those guys would order panels with Clear covers if they were an option:happyyes: I like to keep them reasonably neat, it makes it easier to work on at a later time, but am not anal about every single detail and trying to make a masterpiece item for placement in an art gallery.

There seem to be a lot of people who think you can't splice in a panel and I don't know where that myth started unless it was considered poor workmanship. You can as long as you don't exceed a certain amount of butter fill (I think it is 75%). Pretty hard to exceed 75% fill in most panel gutters, although my house panel is a mess because the previous "electrician" left much of the Romex jacket on the cable for 6 or 8 inches in the panel before terminating or splicing it. Technically, the gutter isn't 75% full by calcualtion, but there are so many stiff and abandoned cables that running any more would be difficult.

I was not aware you could put butter in a panel, I guess it could easily happen in a butter processing facility:lol:

 

[bobbymari]

Those guys would order panels with Clear covers if they were an option:happyyes: I like to keep them reasonably neat, it makes it easier to work on at a later time, but am not anal about every single detail and trying to make a masterpiece item for placement in an art gallery.



I was not aware you could put butter in a panel, I guess it could easily happen in a butter processing facility:lol:

good for pulling:lol:

 

[kwired]

good for pulling:lol:

Tastes better too if you get any in/around your mouth.

 

[craff]

Panel upgrade

Panel upgrade

Is this a panel that's semi flush-mount in stucco or siding? If you're replacing with a larger panel, then both the qhole in wall and subsequent new panel will be taller. That typically gives you the added wire length needed.

 

[kwired]

Is this a panel that's semi flush-mount in stucco or siding? If you're replacing with a larger panel, then both the qhole in wall and subsequent new panel will be taller. That typically gives you the added wire length needed.

If upgrading from 60 to 100+ or even from 100 to 200 often the new panel is taller than the old and allows wires to at least reach into the new panel a significant length - some splicing may be necessary for some conductors.

 

[GoldDigger]

Tastes better too if you get any in/around your mouth.

Cross reference to this thread (warning: Campfire Chat).

 

[bobbymari]

Cross reference to this thread (warning: Campfire Chat).

now thats funny

 

[Aleman]

Wire nuts are one of the most common splicing methods & yes they are legal to use in a panel. Some electricians consider their panels

to be works of art and would consider wire nuts in the panel an abomination. However the electricity doesn't care about appearances.

The only ones to care would be anal electricians and after the cover is put on who cares.

I like wire nuts myself. The engineers at my work despise them no matter what I tell them. Other than a peckerhead on a motor they disapprove of wire nuts. They do like butt splices. I tend to think a properly done wire nut connection would be better than the butt splice. Are butt splices code compliant?

 

[John120/240]

I don't know any reason butt splices would not work. Polaris taps, split bolts, wire nuts, all of them are legal to use in a panel. The

biggest drawback is cost for Polaris taps. For 14 AWG, 12 AWG , 10 AWG & 8 AWG wire nuts are the way to go IMO.

 

[Aleman]

I don't know any reason butt splices would not work. Polaris taps, split bolts, wire nuts, all of them are legal to use in a panel. The

biggest drawback is cost for Polaris taps. For 14 AWG, 12 AWG , 10 AWG & 8 AWG wire nuts are the way to go IMO.

For larger wire those Polaris connectors are great. I think they are worth the money.

I bought some high temp wire nuts and they had a ferrule with a set screw so while they looked like wire nuts they didn't actually screw onto the wire.

 

[carleaux]

I personally think that using the old panel as a junction box would be the lazy thing to do. Put the new panel in the same place or beside it and extend the wires in he box. The benefit to going beside is that you can temp in circuits by backfeeding until you're ready to changeover. It's easier to extend conduit in Illinois because we can't use NM anyway.