Service Panel Thats 25 Years Older Than Me

ManicMechanic

Hello, I'm new to the forum and I know you frown upon DIYers posting here but, I thought I'd ask some pros before starting this one. I'm an automotive tech and I know a lot about electricity and have successfully completed many a home wiring project in the past but now I'm between a rock and a hard place. I have a 16 slot breaker box that has some rust and is practically falling apart, the main for the house is outside (the box is inside) and that looks all clean and dandy. The box has a date of 3-1961 on it. There is also a subpanel with 4 fuses connected to it (directly to the hot bus bars, no breaker). The original panel seems in not so great shape but the sub panel is where the trouble started, there was a loose connection behind one of the fuses causing the fuse to heat up and come apart. The fuse holder shows signs of severe arcing. My question, should I replace just the subpanel or the whole service panel? Other than keeping track of all the wires and amperages is there anything else I need to beware of on this undertaking?

stars13bars2

If you want that service panel to ever be 26 years older than you, hire an electrician. Electrical work is not a hobby or a handimans job. With your knowledge and skills, could you get it to work, probably, would it be safe probably not. That is the simple truth. Don't take it as an insult as much as good free information.

sage

I second that.
Mechanic, Everyone seems to think it's no big deal until something catastrophic happens, does it always happen when electric is DIY'ed? NO, But do you want to be one of the statistics? Pay the licensed guy to do it and sleep well at night. It's not like you'll need to take a second mortgage by the sound of it. Panel change, What usually $700.00-$1100.00.

__________________
-Lead from the front, or dont lead at all-

snapper21

I'll third that motion as I did, long ago, take over a job that a GC fried himself on wiring recessed lights in. Simple task but anything can happen.

Atricaudatus

Yes, MM. There are a LOT of things that need to taken into account in order to do this safely and correctly. The advice the others have offered is right on target here: Hire a Pro for this one. If this were installing a cielig fan or running a circuit for an appliance, I would be the first to encourage you to tackle it yourself and offer you advice on how to do it safely; BUT this project not a good one for a DIYer, no matter how handy he may be.

The condition you describe indicates a serious potential hazard and ought to be addresed by a pro at the first opportunity.

__________________
-Rhett
Licensed electrician and plumber

RobertWilber

me too, me too ...
I always tell everyone that electrical work is 95% mechanical work ...

Want me to fix the brakes on your wife's car?
[I always wanted to fix a transmisheeeown...]
If that thing is from 1961, and the sub has arcing due to loose connections from age, I'll wager the Service Entrance cables, meter and subfeed cables have had it too!

I will also bet that the circuits in the subpanel are overfused.

I agree that I would also like to tell you to take a swing at it, but agree that this is nothing to fool around with.

You aren't walking away from this for any $1000, either.
I would bet on a service change- $1200+?
new subpanel-$350~
sub feed cable -distance and size tells the tale here. If it is practical, it may be cheaper to get a big panel [30 circuit] and refeed the circuits that are now on the subpanel.
Permits, inspections...

Be interested in what you decide to do...

ManicMechanic

I talked to an electrician today and had him inspect the panel and the work I have done thus far. He told me that its not nearly as bad as I thought and while there is some damage on the subpanel from the loose connection, the main panel is in decent shape. I have a 100amp feed to the house with a main shut off on the outside and he said all of that is in good shape. He also said that upgrading to a single larger panel would be a simple matter of trimming a few pipes and replacing the box and reconnecting everything. He said 200amp service is not nessecary for the size and power requirements of my house. Does this sound like accurate advice? Does anyone know of a good electrician in the nw chicagoland area I could contact to confirm this?

RobertWilber

Glad to hear your equipment is ok
The only reason you might need a 200 amp service would be if you are all-electric or just decided to build a machine shop in your basement ...
Sorry, don't know anyone out your way
you might try servicemagic or one of the other lead services
I used to subscribe to them, but got tired of paying for dead leads
Just remember that everyone who calls you will have paid for the lead
or try craigslist

fridaymean

Which suburb are you in?

We may be able to help.

ManicMechanic

Well I know you all told me not to, but I did the swap. I knicked a few wires in the process and had to splice, but other than that 12 hours later it went well. I checked every outlet, 119.6 to 120.2 vAC in the whole house, anything else I should check before I seal everything up for another 25 years?

stars13bars2

Your fire and life insurance policies.

kapena

Hi MM,

You mentioned that you spliced a few knicked wires.
Are the splices located inside the new panel or inside some other junction box?

ManicMechanic

I spliced them in a box a few feet before they get to the panel. The splices are nutted and taped and then run in two pipes out of that box instead of having one pipe with 7 wires in it. Why?

kapena

You seem to have got it done MM.
It might be a good idea to check if the panel has the single-pole breakers set up for a balanced load. You want to try to get both hot legs of the panel to be pulling a reasonably even amount of current at the same time during normal use.