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That is hands down, the most organized service/sub panel that I have ever seen and I've inspected hundreds through the years. I find myself faced with upgrading my son's out of date electrical panel and decided to refresh by watching TH-cam vids. Your methods and explanations are top-notch. People find it odd that most inspectors are not electricians, we are just code enforcement and actually doing the work may seem straight forward, but you've done a great service here and I appreciate it.
Hi Fred, although different subjects, I loved this video almost as much as I like your fantastically educational videos. Kudos and many thanks to both of you.
I was an electrician my first 12 of 20 years in the military. We always made things nice, easy and neat for the next electrician. It’s always nice going into a non rat nest. Unfortunately most companies only care about getting to the next job and speed. Great video!
Over 30 years since I did my first and I learned a lot! Now in my fifties I think I am turning OCD and I love the tips you gave. Love to see a young chap so clean and professional. Thank you!
I learned wire work in machine tools. This service center is nothing special. It is done the correct way and nicely labeled. It is done the way I expect it to be done. If you have a contractor doing rats nests, simply fire the guy and get another sparkie. If he can’t do his gutter work neatly, I can imagine the other issues you can’t see!
You are very meticulous, an impressive job. One tiny suggestion for your consideration: when putting a pair of romex in the same connector, I like to have the rearward one protrude beyond the frontward one by 1/4" or so - this lets me easily see which romex a wire comes from if I'm tracing wire paths.
good job guy. I'm a certified master electrician and can appreciate your attention to detail also really nice to see I'm not the only one that enjoys the gift of being able to work . we are supposed to work with our hands God bless
@@BearStar1 you are wrong!!!! He says TECHNICALLY it is a sub panel since he has a shut off panel next to METER that is GROUNDED and that ground is ran to the new main box thus you remove green grounding screw and if not for the panel outside, wire your GROUND TO NEUTRAL BAR WITH GREEN SCREW IN PLACE!!!! So take grounding screw out of PANEL BOX!!! I guess you missed the first 5 minutes of explanation!!!! Then you forgot to read the heading "How To Wire a House Main Electrical Panel Load Center & Layout Tips Full Step By Step Process 200Amp"!!!! Suggest you watch this other video to help you understand more fully on ground screws!!! What Is a Neutral Bonding Screw in a Main or Sub Panel Load Center & Should It Be Used or Removed?
Joe Finley sorry bothering you guy. I have a question. If I connect the ground and neutral at the disconnect panel. That’s mean the main panel becomes a subpanel and I must connect separated the ground and the neutral ?
Definitely helped. I’m a first year apprentice, I’m 27 went to college got my bachelors but wasn’t happy and made thus career change. Couldn’t be happier. I wired my first sub panel yesterday, it was for condensers and I mounted disconnects at each unit. Looked great, my foreman was super impressed. But just showed me how to make things a little bit neater. And this video really helped me.
In all my years of residential, commercial and heavy industrial wiring, I have always taken the time to make my panels look like art work, simply due to I love my craft. Good job on taking the time to make you panel look great as well. No matter what anybody will ever tell you, example, "it takes too long" or "it doesn't matter", etc... screw them!!!! The amount of time it takes to make a panel look well organized and clean, vs, the amount of time when you come back many years later, heck, a few months later, for the next upgrades or expansion via the customers request, you will then save so much time.... And yes, you will be back to these locations, that is, if you do a fine job. Take pictures of everything you wire, at the start, during, and of course, when finished, spend a few hours snapping photos and videos. You insurance company will love you for it!!!... Upon a side note.. put some high voltage shrink tubing on your screw drivers, even though you have the main locked out, the magnetic nutdriver tip screw drivers, love to pull you to locations that you do not desire to go ((ZAP))... or, invest into high end quality electrical grade tools, as those often times will already be rubber laminated on the drive shank of each screw driver... Thank you for taking the time to appreciate your craft, and a job well done, it looks really good!!!
When doing main panels I like putting all of the high amp 2 poles on the top and going down in order of amperage, 50, 30, 20 and so on. Just seems neater to me seeing all the breakers cascade down like that. Great install and very clean, you really should be proud of this, seen units installed by "qualified" electricians that don't look nearly this good.
@@lassaut6794 Interesting, I wonder why. Perhaps to reduce potential heating issues? Here's we'd generally want to put the heaviest loads, the stove, the dryers and water heaters, closest to the utility incomers and the lightest, eg lighting circuits, furthest away to minimise the current travelling the length of the bus bars.
Nice clean job. I have been a Electrical contractor since Nov 1984. 37 years. An electrician for 45 years. I'm currently 63 years old.Still licensed but semi retired. After seeing your work I would hire you in a heartbeat. Great job, your a well respected craftsman in this old timers opinion.
Hello Sea Breeze!i really need an answer to this:i am a tenant having lots of issues in the property,i got a leak under my bathtub due to a damaged kitchen waste pipe.when all this started,i noticed that my fuse box started to trip,until i got no lighting in the property.an electecian came around told me that the issue might be a light bulb faulty...he came 3 times,still no lighting back,keep on replacing some part of the fuse box,keep on checking lights and switches in room close to the kitchen he even changed the smoke alarm(was perfectly working)..after day1 checks,diagnostic was a rewiring is needed because there were no more connection ,power to the fuse box..when asked about which lights was faulty,no idea...day 2 they rewired a part of the flat close to the box,the hallway,i thought i will be over,no!need more rewiring to do..they plan to come back,cos they suspect that the faulty light is the one in the bathroom.they want to rewire in the bathroom using trunking..the leak issue is not sorted yet and i asked them if it was wiser to wait until this issue was fixed first(apparently a 2 days job)they told after or before wasnot an issue...the bathroom is very small with a poor ventilation(only a small window),room subject to mould:is it safe to rewire in a bathroom??i am rather nervous about that so far..they keep on pressurizing me to get the green light from my landlord for the job....please ,please let me know your opinion,in easy term,as i am just a single mum who need lighting after 7 days now.Many many thanks for your advices!😉👍🏽😇
Finally !!! As someone who began a career right out of high school in the low voltage industry, and years later becoming an owner/operator of a Custom Mobile Electronics Installation company, and a Residential Systems Integration company (95% low voltage centric), *_rarely_* do I see electrical panel installations completed at this level. It's encouraging to see someone in the high voltage trade that plans, documents, and performs a quality installation as the norm. All finished electrical panels should look like yours. Providing well documented, high quality installations has been the core principle in my endeavors from day 1, and has become our *_"signature,"_* per se, while paying untold dividends. Please promote these high level installation practices and attention to detail to customers, your peers and any apprentices you may have. Hopefully, the quality in workmanship, installations and finished product will improve, industry wide. Much continued success...!
Last spring we had a master electrician come in and totally replace the 1981 100 amp panel with an updated 200 amp. Then in the fall, an electrical contractor came in and installed the connections for portable 13kw generator, and fully upgraded the panel for power management and control. The panel looks amazing. I was glad to have highly skilled folks who got our electrical system in top shape.
@@BenjaminSahlstrom thanks. I always check licenses, insurance and customer ratings plus I meet with them first and then decide. When it comes to electrical and plumbing, I know what my limitations and want to make sure it meets NEC and city codes. Being a retired firefighter and having seen a lot of fires from electrical faults, I want my home to be absolutely safe.
I was an electrician for 10 years ago. I got injured not from electric but from a car accident since then I cant work anymore.so now all I do is just love watching the electrician brothers whose taking the time and pride in their work . I myself do the same thing its feels good knowing the next person will soon come through your work and said nothing but wow who ever did this panel should be proud of it . So keep up your good work and share your knowledge so everyone will learned the good work u do
I had a friend who was an OCD electrician. His work looked like this but every wire was labeled, lamented page for a reference and every breaker labeled on inside of door. No guessing which breaker went where...It was pure artwork as this is...keep it up.
As someone who inspects panels daily, your comment about the tag being perfect since nobody will see it gave me a good laugh. Its so true and I can say I absolutely love when I pull a deadfront and its done so cleanly. Nice work 👍
As a fellow electrician, I enjoyed watching your video and appreciate your attention to detail. The plug on neutral panels are making it a bit easier and less cluttered than the pigtails. Stay safe out there!
I just want to say that was a nice job. I’ve been at it for 23 yrs. myself. I’ve struggled over the years on whether to loop down and come back up to the CB or just go straight to it. I’ve done both. I like the look of going straight to the CB and I’ve RARELY regretted it. In the extremely rare event that you wish you could move the wire to a CB further down, you can always nut are butt-splice a wire to lengthen it. But like you said ,a very personal choice and I never criticize personal choices. I actually like your reason for doing it which is why I still sometimes do it. I also really appreciated your point about not bending the wires too tight before you enter a CB. I had an idiot working for me once and I could not get him to stop doing it. He actually used a needle nose and put the tightest right angle on the wire. I couldn’t get any support from any other manager to get him to stop. You are absolutely correct and again, I appreciate you pointing that in your video; very important. Anyway, again, nice job.
Just a tip from a 25 year licensed Electrician. Use plastic romex connectors(such as RC-50's or Eqv) Die cast romex connectors are more expensive and take longer to install. They can also introduce another area of a possible future shorts. Also, land bare equipment grounds as close to where the romex enters the panel first if possible. Then land the rest on the farther away ground bar if necessary. This keeps the minimum amount of exposed bare wire inside of the panel. Great video. Thanks Russ from Oregon.
I’ve done a few myself, advanced DIYer, and I thought I did clean work...and I pride myself in doing cleaner work than most licensed electricians, but then I saw your work and said to myself, now there is a clean install, you did an excellent job!
I love what you do, I worked with an electrician guy that took his time doing a great job like you . Now I’m installing my first self panel in my sister garage that it’s gonna become a two storage building that why I’m installing a 100 amp breaker from my main panel and I been learning a lot from you thanks for teaching the young and old generation 😊👌
You're very good at anticipating what people may be wondering about as they watch and listen to your instructions. I've noticed that in a couple of your other videos also.
I have nothing but good to say about what I saw in this video. Your attention to detail and apparent knowledge of Code relevant to this installation was very impressive, especially for a young Electrician. Your video was excellent, as were your detailed and clear explanations. I have 32 years in the trade and after my first couple of years, it has been almost exclusively commercial and industrial. I am admittedly not up to speed on residential Code or even some of the equipment in use currently, so I learned something with the "plug on neutral" panel and even with the arc-fault breakers - thank you. I have developed a reputation for doing extremely clean work and also for producing a clean job, even as supervision. Attention to detail is one of the most lacking traits I see in the trade and I have a real problem with that. Honestly, I think many in the electrical industry should probably go do something else less critical. You, on the other hand, have at least some of the rare traits to become truly top-notch in this industry. Super-clean panel; probably as clean as my own. If you knew me, you'd know what a compliment that is haha. I'd be very interested to know where you are receiving your training. VERY IMPRESSIVE...BRAVO!!!
I loved how you asked for that thumbs up, it felt genuine and humble. Before even watching the video I decided in that moment to just go ahead and do it. Thanks for not being like everyone else on youtube and just telling your audience to do it. Loved the video, gained a lot! Beautiful beautiful job.
while you were talking about marking grounds, neutrals and hots, I noted that I always mark the various wall plates used in the houses I wire. while It doesn't help electricians a lot it certainly helps helps homeowners who might likely have to discover what circuit a malfunctioning receptacle is on. You might believe, however, how many calls I've gotten thanking me for making that so easy to find.
Bought an older home and gutted all the wiring, old old aluminum and a small panel. Upgraded to 200amp And is a fairly small home so just went 12-2 and 12-3 with lights and plugs. I’m not an electrician but wanted to take on the challenge. So doing homework on building out the panel I enjoyed the tips and the neatness, along with 5 star comments. I think I will watch your video and reference it as I do mine. Lol your 10hrs I’m guessing this will be a weekend project for me. I’ve already passed rough inspection (First visit from inspector) he preferred panel to have been built but would be inspecting it next visit. Great video and hopefully mine will be close as neat as your turned out.
So great! Would love to see a picture of your finished product! You can email me at bensahlstrom@gmail.com if you feel like sending one. Keep up the good work!
No sir, passed all inspection on first go. Inspector mentioned looked better than some professionals. Granted it was a simple wiring job and I spent more time and added few more circuits not to over load anything. Did put in a generator inlet With the panel safety device. And appreciate if you respected someone one for researching and trying to do a correct and neat job. Some Electrical guys really put them selves up on a pedestal, legend has it a lot of them fall off. Have a good evening. ( asshole)
No Name Well, creds for doing it yourself! Yes I agree! Workmanship is only as good as the effort that is made to keep organized and do clean work! good night jerk
Impeccable wiring in that panel! For those here looking to learn and save money on their own project, those AFCI breakers are a huge unnecessary expense for 99.99% of people. Save your money, just buy the traditional style breaker.
About sixty percent of electrical fires resulting in loss claims are caused by confirmed arc faults. The NEC is clear regarding AFCI breakers in section 210.
Hi, Benjamin. Thank you for putting the time and effort to put such an informative video together for our reference. I have been trying, little by little, to understand the workings and update the electrical system in my home since having an issue with the dryer about a month ago. Apparently, I had my dryer hooked up to an outdated 3-prong outlet ran on 10/3 wiring. It worked well for years until it died last month and that's when I realized it should be run on a 10-4. When replacing the wiring, I realized that the breaker tied into the dryer was a 2-pole 50A and that's when I realized that I needed to do learn about this a little more if I'm going to protect my family and our home. I currently have a 200A Eaton MB2040P200BTS and it appears to be maxed out, even though I only have a 1,300 sq. ft. single family home. According to my research, my panel is also a 40 space model - but only appears to have 26 breakers of all varying amperage and sizes , ranging from 20A half size to 20A full size all the way to 60A double pole (which I fear is also greatly oversized). Would you think that it would be possible to rewire the existing panel more efficiently? For example, is there any reason why all of the 20A full size breakers can't be swapped out for 2 half sized breakers, in order to free up some spaces? Also, what would be the best way to properly identify which breaker is going to which appliance? Needless to say, there is no schedule attached to my panel. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
Such a good clean install. It looks great. I'm having to put on extenders on all the wires of my upgrade because all the wires are too short for my new long box. One comment to anyone watching don't wear your metal ring around electricity. This guy knows he's good because the power is off but it happens more often than not you think you are safe and you loose a finger. Low voltage might not pass through the skin but it will a ring and the high amperage will take the finger right off.
Really great workmanship and also great planning. I've been doing this 40+ yrs but still like to see a good workman and a job that looks like a machine did it. Your new nickname is "the machine".
Great job good explaining everything. I like the way you detailed all your circuits and categorize them I don't think I could have done a better job myself. I don't like those arc fault Breakers cuz they tend to trip when motors are plugged up to them
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. It is nice to see someone that takes pride in their work without being told to do so. I am always writing a correction that requires all circuits to be identified and labeled. Besides the #6 copper to the two ground rods over 6 ft apart, our county in L.A., CA. also requires a #4 copper from the panel continuously to the cold water within 5ft entrance to the front of the building for a 200 amp service and for a 100 amp service #8 copper. Another correction I am usually writing is when two circuits are sharing a neutral they shall be on a single pull double throw circuit breakers. Also #14 AWG shall only be on a 15 amp circuit breaker and #12 AWG may be on a 15 or 20 amp breaker, normally would be on a 20 amp breaker. Also another correction I write up is mis-match circuit breakers ( square D is only allowed in a square D panel ) or ( Siemens panel is allowed to have Murray or Siemens, but the NEC 2020 is only allowing Siemens breakers now ) or ( General Electric panel is only allowed General Electric breakers ) and ( Eaton panels you need to read the label inside the panel ) Each panel shall have a label from the manufacturer that states what is or is not allowed, if that label is removed then the panel will need to be replaced. Do not remove the manufacturer label.
I'm not an electrician but I have studied it and I try to keep up with the local code in my city. I've always had an interest in electricity and the different wiring methods and procedures employed by different individuals. I do my own minor wiring but anything major and I call a licensed electrician. I really appreciate the very neat way that you run your conductors.
In my opinion is is very valuable to understand at least the basics of residential electrical. You never know when the information might come in handy! Thanks for the comment! Subscribe if you want to see more in the future!
Recommendation for MN homes like yours. I've built three homes in MN and one thing I always did was to add several circuits for backup baseboard or wall mount electrical heat, each with its own thermostat. Always one in the basement utility room where most of the plumbing is, and usually at least one in the area of the kitchen and bathrooms. Yes, I have returned from winter vacations or weekend trips more than once, to find the furnace off and the backup heat keeping the house plumbing from freezing. Usually it's a failed igniter or sensor in the furnace. I did this after seeing the results of two friends homes fill with water when their pipes burst. Looks like you have plenty of room in the panel.
Great point. Also, install a ball valve shutoff in if it doesn't exist. It's a good idea to turn off the water heater and shut off the supply to the rest of the house. In the unlikely situation where the supply to the house bursts or the water heater leaks, at least the damage is limited to the basement
Honestly I see why Russians are always angry it's fuking cold there, their vehicles are gawd awful ugly, I'd imagine they have no music and their accents are funny. I'd be pissed too. Honestly feel bad for them and I simpathize.
I'm faced with replacing a 35 year old service panel. I've been trying to decide if I want to DIY, hire it out or a combination thereof. Your video was extremely helpful.
Real nice job! Im not an electrician but I have helped wire up a number of panels. I always try to keep it neat and wires easy to trace. A great friend was a mentor to me ondoing things right, perfect and neat. A little thing i add on the inside of the panel door above the braker layout is a small sign that says 'incase of fire call 9-1-1' and i include the address. Plus i put a piece of red tape on the fire alarm/smoke detector breaker so it doesnt get shut off accidentally. Being a past fire chief, people understand to kill the electric if the fire involves an appliance but forget to call the FD and cant remember their oun address sometimes.
Epic video, just awesome. I'm making a 5 part video series on how I installed a back up generator for my house but not with this level of detail. I put a lot of work into it too but not to this level as I do not want the liability of someone doing it wrong. Thanks for posting, I learned a lot, even after doing my sub-panel and generator with my electrician, I still learned a ton from this video, well done!
I really appreciate the cleanliness of this panel, I just have one statement/suggestion. As someone who does ALOT of residential remodels, the zip ties are sometimes a pain if you ever need to take anything apart or remove/change anything inside the panel. I used to use them as well when I mostly did new construction rough-ins, but now I do a lot more remodels and I’m in a lot of situations where I have to add wires and sometimes remove wires and the zip ties can be a nuisance. Not saying you should or shouldn’t use them though, just adding my two cents. I think even if you did it all the same and just didn’t zip tie everything, it would still look just as clean. And yes, you can always just cut them off, but obviously that adds a risk of someone knicking a wire. Anyway, looks very good though, I really appreciate the cleanliness! I’d much rather come across something like this than some of the nightmares I find when I pull the cover off a panel in a remodel lol.
Ben, you have my compliments on the workmanship, and it's uncommon to see a panel install that meets my expectations this thouroughly. Leaving slack in the wires to allow for future rearranging is the ticket. I think the only two differences between what the two of us would have done here are no cable ties and I prefer the cable be labeled inside the panel (e.g. well pump, boiler, living rm, kitchen, bedroom, etc) so that you can see what's there without depending on the directory.
Beautiful job... That panel will be very safe to service later. The next guy that has to work on that will be so grateful that you took the time to make it so neat and accessible.
Your work is incredible and I’m so appreciative that you shared your knowledge. I’m a DIYer and have spent a lot of time researching codes and methods online but it’s much harder to find clear, practical how-to’s. And I sadly find that a lot of electricians jealously guard their expertise so they can prevent handy homeowners from feeling confident enough to tackle big projects like this. I learned SO much watching this video and can’t say enough how much I appreciate the way you teach.
I'm not an electrician and most of what you said was greek to me. However, since I am pretty OCD, I was simply amazed at how awesome that box looked. I found this video while trying to figure out how many conductors can go into one hole on the top of a panel box (an electrician ran 4 into a 2.5" hole on the top of a sub panel box in my shop) and I couldn't stop watching this. Fantastic job. Makes me wanna have an electrician come out and redo both of my panels. I would first show them this video and tell them to make mine look like this box. ha! great work.
I was ultimately told by a very qualified and reputable electrician in my area that the number of 4 into the knockout was okay. it was the fact that the first electrician had not inserted a bushing into the knockout nor secured the cables to a stud within 12" of the box was not okay. So the second electrician fixed it and I was good to go. @@codyharney2997
I don't do the wire tags on upgrades but when I was wiring houses it made it convenient. It's rare for me to say that this is how it should be done but this is how it should be done. Good job.
Great job Sparky! It’s refreshing to see a competent Electrician who takes pride in his work. Although no one will most likely ever see the inside of the panel box and the over current device installations, the Electrician knows that he did the job to the best of his abilities, taking the time to make it presentable! Did you forget about the 2-pole over current lock-outs?
Ben, sometimes you learn this one the hard way as I did many years ago: Be sure the areas behind the holes for the panel cover screws are clear of all wires, particularly the hots. The screws can dig into a wire causing a short and you won't know this until the circuit is energized. Otherwise, Great Job!! I really enjoyed your video!
Very pleased to find this vid. I'm interested in upgrading my electrical panel due a need for additional breakers and a generator interlock kit for safety purposes. This will be my first attempt at this. I have a billion questions, but this clarifies many. It would be a blessing to find a box closely formated to the one I'm removing. This will save time and hopefully negate much of the mystery. Because of this vid, I'm willing to try it. Thanks Ben!
Man, MOST guys are probably much faster, but none of them have anywhere near the pride/workmanship in their end product! Some clients will gladly spend more money for this level of perfection. You have to find that line for yourself.. For the average home-gamer watching, you're an inspiration and a Godsend! You set the bar extremely high for electrical work .
Really good video, with great sound editing and visuals. The techniques are really good, and the tips on running the cables that extra length are appreciated. All of the tips were great, and how you've set your panel up so neatly has me excited. I'm in an electrician course, and we're going in to wire a house the college is building. If I end up on the team that does the panel wiring, I will be sure to do a lot of the things you did here, because you really did a great job of making it look clean. Great Video, keep up the good work.
Excellent Ben, just the video I needed! I am replacing a Federal Pacific box with a new 200 amp Square D QO box almost identical to yours except, fortunately, I was able to get a box with plug in neutral bars. I am replacing all the 15 and 20 amp breakers with dual function ones with no pig tails. On the negative side the location of the box is inside a wardrobe, that's how they did things back then😠 You have set me a high standard to match. Thanks again Ben.
Thanks for this video. I dress all my panels the same way. Try to make them look like the wiring of a CH-46 chopper. All my signal wiring in a telecom central office had to be combed, dressed and laced perfect. Great job!!!
I have a small tip, as you noted the utility knife could still damage wire while removing the sheathing. I buy carpet cutting blades that are double sided and fit in a regular utility knife, but they have a hooked blade that is only sharp on the inside radius. Simply start in the flat middle of the sheath and pull to the cut end. Since I started using these I have never had a wire damaged. As everyone else has said, you did an award winning job!
I have done the same, works great and less nicks to insulation than standard rippers; maybe slightly slower to use well but more versatile as a tool i.e. not just a single use tool.
I’m in school rn for my electrician certification. I’ll be done in 6 months so I’m doing everything to learn it all. And everything you said and done I’ve read in the text. It’s pretty cool ! Amazing job
Thank you for the detailed video. The main take away was learning about the neutral bonding screw not used in the the sub panel. My situation is similar to your video, in that my sub panel is basically the main, because my main is on the outside on my service pole. Thanks again!
Badass as hell, continue with more videos please. I’m a 2nd year getting through school, need the knowledge thank you 🙏🏻 clean work by the way, the right way to do it
It doesn't look bad at all. My only concern was the termination compound (I didn't see any used) as well as the torque specs. I wonder how long it took?
This is beautiful man great work for sure. I install security and burglary systems for Walmart and this is how mine come out. My instructor is a stickler for organization and if they ain't 90's he won't let it slide. I could be in a box for the whole day only to hear it's to messy clean it up. Even when I don't think it could be done he shows me something new. Maybe after this video i could beat him to it next time panel day comes around. Thanks for your hard work and dedication keep it up brother.
I LOVE nice clean panels and boxes like this! This is what I try to make mine look like and yes, people give me static for it sometimes but its a nice feeling when the inspector takes a pic of it on his phone right before he passes it on first inspection.
Every box should be like that. its called pride in ones work. If the person doesn't care enough about what they do to do it well and show that they are proud of their work then why would I trust them? Before returbing to college I used to refurbish industrial equipment, mainly massive parts washers and industrial pressure washers and trailer rig setups used to clean the ends of drilling pipe and clean the oil platform rigs during drilling and generally used all throughout the drilling process and people were always shocked at how good it all looked and worked when I was done. Sure I could charge more when putting them up for sale thus larger commission on my end but mainly its my pride in my own work and trust me customers come back when they see you have pride in your work. You show them you are worthy of trust. That you dont cut corners and rush shit.
Super neat looking panel. Very impressive. I'm installing the exact same panel along with a meter socket and service entry cable this weekend. Would you be able to tell me what that smaller sized allen nut to the left of the neutral is for.
Thank you for making this video! I am an apprentice electrician, but I do industrial maintenance. I found your video very interesting and insightful. I will be implementing some of your tips and processes in the work that I do. It is amazing how many different avenues one can go as an electrician, loving the trade more and more every day :)
when you do commercial work, they tag their wires with numbers to identify the phase by circuit numbers. You can note the numbers to the side of the blanks on the dead fronts. On a single phase circuit, you have A and B phase. 1 and 2 are A and 3 and 4 are B and they continue to alternate 5 and 6 are A etc. You can actually go to Locke Supply or pretty much any electrical supply house and get a book of numbers that have adhesive on the back when you peal them off and wrap them around the wire. Very handy. I always put them toward the end of the wire, especially when it's a junction box, to make sure that it is visible in the box after make up. It's actually a good practice, especially if you want to use it for something else down the line; all you have to do is change the ledger on the panel! That's actually a good practice, Ben. Great job on the panel. You should have your Master's now 4 years after this. You should have plenty of hours in by now!
That panel is a work of art! Very courteous for anyone who has to work on that panel in the future. I'm almost envious lol... the previous HO where I live got ripped off by whoever he hired. Looked more like the "rat's nest" you showed us early on except possibly even worse. A total rewire is financially out of the question for a while (even DIY'ing it would cost over $3k the way I want it done) but in the meantime it's made adding any circuits a nightmare.
Looks good. I'm installing a sub panel on my shop and I did get some things out of the video. I'm not an Electrician, just a home owner. Thanks. It's nice to see an up to date video.
The extra bit of work to do it nicely is hugely appreciated. Every panel should look like that. I have a bunch of rental houses. You'd be amazed how horribly people wire things when you pull covers off panels.
GREAT video Ben! The only thing I might suggest (in case you haven't covered it in ANOTHER one of your fine videos : ) is that when we go to switch all the breakers on - one by one of course if it's a whole panel install - is that we look AWAY from the panel as we move each breaker to the ON position JUST as a precaution IN CASE there is an ARC from any given breaker which can literally BLIND us if we are looking straight at it. Yes, I know it IS unlikely that that will happen IF all is done properly and all the equipment is functioning correctly but better safe than sorry! Keep up the great work and videos! Thank you! (from a subscriber : )
I’ve got a question: How much wire did this job require? Feet, yards or meters... Very professionally executed electrical install and, the video was top notch too! Thanks a million for your contribution! Subscribed👍
I'm from Germany and I always love to see how electrical is done in other countries. I'm not an electrician myself, but at 0:44 there's a closeup of some ultrafine stranded conductors screwed into a terminal block as-is. Now I don't actually know if this is required by code here, but electricians here generally always put end ferrules on stranded conductors. I'm not one to tell you how it should or shouldn't be done, but I find it interesting just how different the mentality towards this is in different parts of the world. In Germany, even if it passed the inspection, it would be frowned upon because it's considered a hazard to not use end ferrules.
I’m convinced all electrical videos have 6 types of commenters. 1. The “you did x, y and z wrong” These guys are “master electricians” that for some reason found themselves watching a video on a subject matter they claim they are already experts on. The mistake they often point out is not a code violation yet they are convinced it will turn your house into charcoal. 2. The “safety police”. These guys are the guys that complain about not seeing enough safety related things in your videos. Examples include, “always wear your eye pro”, “I didn’t see you check that circuit was really de- energized”, “take off that ring”, “omg that screwdriver is not completely insulated”. 3. The “licensed electricians only” This guy, honest to goodness, believes that there is not one homeowner in the world smarter enough to do his job. He thinks that he’s been touched by the hand of God and thus is able to learn on a level the DIYer just never could. He may find no fault whatsoever in the instruction but still hates the video. He feels as though electrical knowledge should be a black art. 4. The “reiterating a point already made” These guys point out something you already said in the video that somehow they didn’t hear at all. You might say “check your local codes” and they would say, “local code can be different!” You might say “call the power company to disconnect your meter” and they would say, “only the power company should disconnect the meter!” 5. The “foreigner” These guys are my favorite. Somehow they have found themselves watching a video of an American wiring something and now see fit to comment how “this would never pass code in their country”. They think that all America houses are just a ticking fire bomb. They also somehow forget that America literally invented the idea of household wiring. Americans were likely dancing under an Edison bulb while these this commenter’s great grandfather was milking a goat by candlelight but NOW they think their country is just ahead of the curve on this electrical stuff. It’s worth mentioning that any of these comment styles can combine for a hybrid of sorts. And there is one more type, guys like me that appreciate that hard work that went into the video, that will bolster it with further research and that are inspired to do a better job on their next project. Thanks for the video friend!
Then there's the guy like me. The stickler for when you are turning a phrase. You used the term "ahead of the curb". This is not the correct phrase. The phrase you meant to use is "ahead of the curve" as in the "learning curve". When you are describing a person's position in the store of knowledge in their head about a particular topic.
@@Grisehoved great ..show us some Danish magnificence ..pretty easy right??? go to your Danish electric panel ..take a picture..post to a free site..give us a link ......or are you talking out of your Danish ass ???
Wow! One of the neatest wiring jobs I’ve ever seen. 50 years ago I worked in a telephone central office. Your wiring reminds me of the way Western Electric installers wired the old stepping switch machines. Many thousands of wires gathered into neat bundles and laced together with waxed twine. Much lighter gauge wire of course, but a lot more of them. Our main distributing frame was about 12 feet tall and half a city block long. The horizontal side had shelves about 15” apart with soldered connection blocks for five exchanges (50,000 phone numbers). The vertical side had columns about the same distance apart where all the outside cables for downtown and near downtown Nashville appeared.
I will be wiring in a complete 3 bedroom 1 bath house in a couple days. Got a few 3 way switches to run and it's crucial to get a good Game plan and make this job as neat as possible. Love the Vid.
In reference to sparkplug1018 comment, I agree with him. I was told that it's nice to have the bigger loads closest to main disconnect end of the panel, in your case the top of the panel, to make the travel as short as possible. I was also told that it can help reduce light flickering by following this method. Not sure if that is true or not. The work you did is exceptional and very neat! Nice work. Thanks for posting. Safety first!
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Love watching you work You are an absolute genius. God bless you
I almost killed my self
@@themoddingmuffin148 really?
That is hands down, the most organized service/sub panel that I have ever seen and I've inspected hundreds through the years. I find myself faced with upgrading my son's out of date electrical panel and decided to refresh by watching TH-cam vids. Your methods and explanations are top-notch. People find it odd that most inspectors are not electricians, we are just code enforcement and actually doing the work may seem straight forward, but you've done a great service here and I appreciate it.
All inspections should start with that. "Hi, I'm not an electrician, I am code enforcement. "
Hey do you have ark-fault breakers?
I too have inspected may panels and have only seen two, other electricians, do work like this. However; this is the best! Wow!
He would have failed inspection for bundling.
Hi Fred, although different subjects, I loved this video almost as much as I like your fantastically educational videos. Kudos and many thanks to both of you.
I was an electrician my first 12 of 20 years in the military. We always made things nice, easy and neat for the next electrician. It’s always nice going into a non rat nest. Unfortunately most companies only care about getting to the next job and speed. Great video!
I love that. I'm the same way!
@@lloyd899 it’s a good way to be!!
I start classes next month. That's how I'm going to do. Thank's bro.
@@lloyd899 you’re welcome. Best wishes to you in your career.
Thanks appreciate that! God bless!
Over 30 years since I did my first and I learned a lot! Now in my fifties I think I am turning OCD and I love the tips you gave. Love to see a young chap so clean and professional. Thank you!
Having OCD makes the Best Electricians. You know we gonna run everything labeled and organized above and beyond
really ever try to trace a wire that has zip ties on it, bundling is for clowns, plus it makes heat
As a 30 year GC this is clearly the best looking panel I’ve seen .... You must have had an awesome teacher ....keep up the good work !!
Yes beautiful electrical work. I worked under the old Bell telephone co. And we followed the BSP (bell system practices).
really ever try to trace a wire that has zip ties on it, bundling is for clowns, plus it makes heat
I learned wire work in machine tools. This service center is nothing special. It is done the correct way and nicely labeled. It is done the way I expect it to be done. If you have a contractor doing rats nests, simply fire the guy and get another sparkie. If he can’t do his gutter work neatly, I can imagine the other issues you can’t see!
You are very meticulous, an impressive job.
One tiny suggestion for your consideration: when putting a pair of romex in the same connector, I like to have the rearward one protrude beyond the frontward one by 1/4" or so - this lets me easily see which romex a wire comes from if I'm tracing wire paths.
@nofertrunions I love that suggestion! Super simple but I've only done a few panels over 2.5 years so I haven't thought about it yet. Thanks man!
10 hour job with the cameras rolling. My experience is cameras double the time required to do a task. Nice work. New subscriber here.
good job guy. I'm a certified master electrician and can appreciate your attention to detail
also really nice to see I'm not the only one that enjoys the gift of being able to work . we are supposed to work with our hands God bless
lol
@@BearStar1 yeah ? !
@@BearStar1 you are wrong!!!! He says TECHNICALLY it is a sub panel since he has a shut off panel next to METER that is GROUNDED and that ground is ran to the new main box thus you remove green grounding screw and if not for the panel outside, wire your GROUND TO NEUTRAL BAR WITH GREEN SCREW IN PLACE!!!! So take grounding screw out of PANEL BOX!!! I guess you missed the first 5 minutes of explanation!!!! Then you forgot to read the heading "How To Wire a House Main Electrical Panel Load Center & Layout Tips Full Step By Step Process 200Amp"!!!! Suggest you watch this other video to help you understand more fully on ground screws!!! What Is a Neutral Bonding Screw in a Main or Sub Panel Load Center & Should It Be Used or Removed?
Plot twist: You're a resi-electrician and u aint certified to do shit but wire up bedrooms all day XD
Joe Finley sorry bothering you guy. I have a question. If I connect the ground and neutral at the disconnect panel. That’s mean the main panel becomes a subpanel and I must connect separated the ground and the neutral ?
Definitely helped. I’m a first year apprentice, I’m 27 went to college got my bachelors but wasn’t happy and made thus career change. Couldn’t be happier. I wired my first sub panel yesterday, it was for condensers and I mounted disconnects at each unit. Looked great, my foreman was super impressed. But just showed me how to make things a little bit neater. And this video really helped me.
Wow, One of the best ever!! No stone is left unturned. Thanks a Million.
In all my years of residential, commercial and heavy industrial wiring, I have always taken the time to make my panels look like art work, simply due to I love my craft. Good job on taking the time to make you panel look great as well. No matter what anybody will ever tell you, example, "it takes too long" or "it doesn't matter", etc... screw them!!!! The amount of time it takes to make a panel look well organized and clean, vs, the amount of time when you come back many years later, heck, a few months later, for the next upgrades or expansion via the customers request, you will then save so much time.... And yes, you will be back to these locations, that is, if you do a fine job. Take pictures of everything you wire, at the start, during, and of course, when finished, spend a few hours snapping photos and videos. You insurance company will love you for it!!!... Upon a side note.. put some high voltage shrink tubing on your screw drivers, even though you have the main locked out, the magnetic nutdriver tip screw drivers, love to pull you to locations that you do not desire to go ((ZAP))... or, invest into high end quality electrical grade tools, as those often times will already be rubber laminated on the drive shank of each screw driver... Thank you for taking the time to appreciate your craft, and a job well done, it looks really good!!!
When doing main panels I like putting all of the high amp 2 poles on the top and going down in order of amperage, 50, 30, 20 and so on. Just seems neater to me seeing all the breakers cascade down like that.
Great install and very clean, you really should be proud of this, seen units installed by "qualified" electricians that don't look nearly this good.
What about keeping the bus bars balanced ?? Thanks for passing knowledge forward.
Siemens panels prohibit breakers higher than 25A next to the main breaker
@@lassaut6794 Interesting, I wonder why. Perhaps to reduce potential heating issues?
Here's we'd generally want to put the heaviest loads, the stove, the dryers and water heaters, closest to the utility incomers and the lightest, eg lighting circuits, furthest away to minimise the current travelling the length of the bus bars.
Nobody cares what you do.
Nice clean job. I have been a Electrical contractor since Nov 1984. 37 years. An electrician for 45 years. I'm currently 63 years old.Still licensed but semi retired. After seeing your work I would hire you in a heartbeat. Great job, your a well respected craftsman in this old timers opinion.
Hello Sea Breeze!i really need an answer to this:i am a tenant having lots of issues in the property,i got a leak under my bathtub due to a damaged kitchen waste pipe.when all this started,i noticed that my fuse box started to trip,until i got no lighting in the property.an electecian came around told me that the issue might be a light bulb faulty...he came 3 times,still no lighting back,keep on replacing some part of the fuse box,keep on checking lights and switches in room close to the kitchen he even changed the smoke alarm(was perfectly working)..after day1 checks,diagnostic was a rewiring is needed because there were no more connection ,power to the fuse box..when asked about which lights was faulty,no idea...day 2 they rewired a part of the flat close to the box,the hallway,i thought i will be over,no!need more rewiring to do..they plan to come back,cos they suspect that the faulty light is the one in the bathroom.they want to rewire in the bathroom using trunking..the leak issue is not sorted yet and i asked them if it was wiser to wait until this issue was fixed first(apparently a 2 days job)they told after or before wasnot an issue...the bathroom is very small with a poor ventilation(only a small window),room subject to mould:is it safe to rewire in a bathroom??i am rather nervous about that so far..they keep on pressurizing me to get the green light from my landlord for the job....please ,please let me know your opinion,in easy term,as i am just a single mum who need lighting after 7 days now.Many many thanks for your advices!😉👍🏽😇
Finally !!! As someone who began a career right out of high school in the low voltage industry, and years later becoming an owner/operator of a Custom Mobile Electronics Installation company, and a Residential Systems Integration company (95% low voltage centric), *_rarely_* do I see electrical panel installations completed at this level. It's encouraging to see someone in the high voltage trade that plans, documents, and performs a quality installation as the norm. All finished electrical panels should look like yours. Providing well documented, high quality installations has been the core principle in my endeavors from day 1, and has become our *_"signature,"_* per se, while paying untold dividends. Please promote these high level installation practices and attention to detail to customers, your peers and any apprentices you may have. Hopefully, the quality in workmanship, installations and finished product will improve, industry wide. Much continued success...!
Well documented? It’s a panel, calm down
Last spring we had a master electrician come in and totally replace the 1981 100 amp panel with an updated 200 amp. Then in the fall, an electrical contractor came in and installed the connections for portable 13kw generator, and fully upgraded the panel for power management and control. The panel looks amazing. I was glad to have highly skilled folks who got our electrical system in top shape.
Finding an excellent electrician isn't always easy. Glad they did good work for you!
@@BenjaminSahlstrom thanks. I always check licenses, insurance and customer ratings plus I meet with them first and then decide. When it comes to electrical and plumbing, I know what my limitations and want to make sure it meets NEC and city codes. Being a retired firefighter and having seen a lot of fires from electrical faults, I want my home to be absolutely safe.
I was an electrician for 10 years ago. I got injured not from electric but from a car accident since then I cant work anymore.so now all I do is just love watching the electrician brothers whose taking the time and pride in their work . I myself do the same thing its feels good knowing the next person will soon come through your work and said nothing but wow who ever did this panel should be proud of it . So keep up your good work and share your knowledge so everyone will learned the good work u do
This is the level of neatness I want to be at as an apprentice. Frickin beautiful panel.
A panel like this needs some nice lighting inside and a clear acrylic cover. It's a shame not to display this work of art.
Brings a tear to the eye....
Art work, absolutely!
Well done conduit is another form of art.
I just love the pride that certain craftsman put into their product. I don’t care if it took you 10 hours, I think it was worth it too.
That was more than 10 hrs
Me too!!!
Wait until there's an extra grand on your bill, then you will probably be bitching.
@@CC-jv3wm LOL so true
Neatness doesn't have to take long once you get the hang of it. I could tie in a panel fairly neat in 1 hour
I had a friend who was an OCD electrician. His work looked like this but every wire was labeled, lamented page for a reference and every breaker labeled on inside of door. No guessing which breaker went where...It was pure artwork as this is...keep it up.
VERY NEAT and PROPERLY DONE. A job to be proud of. Kudos - John 14:6
As someone who inspects panels daily, your comment about the tag being perfect since nobody will see it gave me a good laugh. Its so true and I can say I absolutely love when I pull a deadfront and its done so cleanly. Nice work 👍
As a fellow electrician, I enjoyed watching your video and appreciate your attention to detail. The plug on neutral panels are making it a bit easier and less cluttered than the pigtails. Stay safe out there!
The level of pride in your work is amazing. All panels should look like that neat.
I just want to say that was a nice job. I’ve been at it for 23 yrs. myself. I’ve struggled over the years on whether to loop down and come back up to the CB or just go straight to it. I’ve done both. I like the look of going straight to the CB and I’ve RARELY regretted it. In the extremely rare event that you wish you could move the wire to a CB further down, you can always nut are butt-splice a wire to lengthen it. But like you said ,a very personal choice and I never criticize personal choices. I actually like your reason for doing it which is why I still sometimes do it.
I also really appreciated your point about not bending the wires too tight before you enter a CB. I had an idiot working for me once and I could not get him to stop doing it. He actually used a needle nose and put the tightest right angle on the wire. I couldn’t get any support from any other manager to get him to stop. You are absolutely correct and again, I appreciate you pointing that in your video; very important.
Anyway, again, nice job.
Just a tip from a 25 year licensed Electrician. Use plastic romex connectors(such as RC-50's or Eqv) Die cast romex connectors are more expensive and take longer to install. They can also introduce another area of a possible future shorts. Also, land bare equipment grounds as close to where the romex enters the panel first if possible. Then land the rest on the farther away ground bar if necessary. This keeps the minimum amount of exposed bare wire inside of the panel. Great video. Thanks Russ from Oregon.
I’ve done a few myself, advanced DIYer, and I thought I did clean work...and I pride myself in doing cleaner work than most licensed electricians, but then I saw your work and said to myself, now there is a clean install, you did an excellent job!
Thanks! I probably went overboard on this one. I really enjoy the final product though!
I love what you do, I worked with an electrician guy that took his time doing a great job like you . Now I’m installing my first self panel in my sister garage that it’s gonna become a two storage building that why I’m installing a 100 amp breaker from my main panel and I been learning a lot from you thanks for teaching the young and old generation 😊👌
You're very good at anticipating what people may be wondering about as they watch and listen to your instructions. I've noticed that in a couple of your other videos also.
Yes I have a comment,killer work man,it’s nice to see others that have pride and do quality work! Be safe and keep being a perfectionist!
The OCD in me so greatly appreciates the attention to detail in this panel. Thank you sir and well done :)
Your patience is astounding. That panel looks great. Great job.
I have nothing but good to say about what I saw in this video. Your attention to detail and apparent knowledge of Code relevant to this installation was very impressive, especially for a young Electrician. Your video was excellent, as were your detailed and clear explanations. I have 32 years in the trade and after my first couple of years, it has been almost exclusively commercial and industrial. I am admittedly not up to speed on residential Code or even some of the equipment in use currently, so I learned something with the "plug on neutral" panel and even with the arc-fault breakers - thank you. I have developed a reputation for doing extremely clean work and also for producing a clean job, even as supervision. Attention to detail is one of the most lacking traits I see in the trade and I have a real problem with that. Honestly, I think many in the electrical industry should probably go do something else less critical. You, on the other hand, have at least some of the rare traits to become truly top-notch in this industry. Super-clean panel; probably as clean as my own. If you knew me, you'd know what a compliment that is haha. I'd be very interested to know where you are receiving your training. VERY IMPRESSIVE...BRAVO!!!
I loved how you asked for that thumbs up, it felt genuine and humble. Before even watching the video I decided in that moment to just go ahead and do it. Thanks for not being like everyone else on youtube and just telling your audience to do it.
Loved the video, gained a lot! Beautiful beautiful job.
You must have spent dozens of hours filming and editing this. Thank you. I'll be watching this more than once as well as your other videos.
while you were talking about marking grounds, neutrals and hots, I noted that I always mark the various wall plates used in the houses I wire. while It doesn't help electricians a lot it certainly helps helps homeowners who might likely have to discover what circuit a malfunctioning receptacle is on. You might believe, however, how many calls I've gotten thanking me for making that so easy to find.
Bought an older home and gutted all the wiring, old old aluminum and a small panel. Upgraded to 200amp
And is a fairly small home so just went 12-2 and 12-3 with lights and plugs. I’m not an electrician but wanted to take on the challenge.
So doing homework on building out the panel I enjoyed the tips and the neatness, along with 5 star comments. I think I will watch your video and reference it as I do mine.
Lol your 10hrs I’m guessing this will be a weekend project for me.
I’ve already passed rough inspection
(First visit from inspector) he preferred panel to have been built but would be inspecting it next visit.
Great video and hopefully mine will be close as neat as your turned out.
So great! Would love to see a picture of your finished product! You can email me at bensahlstrom@gmail.com if you feel like sending one. Keep up the good work!
Benjamin Sahlstrom Legend has it the guy burned the neighborhood down
No sir, passed all inspection on first go. Inspector mentioned looked better than some professionals. Granted it was a simple wiring job and I spent more time and added few more circuits not to over load anything. Did put in a generator inlet
With the panel safety device.
And appreciate if you respected someone one for researching and trying to do a correct and neat job.
Some Electrical guys really put them selves up on a pedestal, legend has it a lot of them fall off. Have a good evening.
( asshole)
No Name Well, creds for doing it yourself! Yes I agree! Workmanship is only as good as the effort that is made to keep organized and do clean work! good night jerk
Probably the greatest video on TH-cam in regards to wiring a panel. Thank you for the hard work and adding so much detail!! Seriously thank you bud!
Impeccable wiring in that panel! For those here looking to learn and save money on their own project, those AFCI breakers are a huge unnecessary expense for 99.99% of people. Save your money, just buy the traditional style breaker.
But will a none AFCI breaker pass code in 2020?
@@Anton-le7gd If you would rather not pay the extra 1000% for the AFCI breakers, you can discuss this with the inspector.
About sixty percent of electrical fires resulting in loss claims are caused by confirmed arc faults. The NEC is clear regarding AFCI breakers in section 210.
@@devmeistersuperprecision4155 Utah has rejected the NEC’s stance on AFCI breakers and are not required here. Thankfully.
Hi, Benjamin. Thank you for putting the time and effort to put such an informative video together for our reference. I have been trying, little by little, to understand the workings and update the electrical system in my home since having an issue with the dryer about a month ago. Apparently, I had my dryer hooked up to an outdated 3-prong outlet ran on 10/3 wiring. It worked well for years until it died last month and that's when I realized it should be run on a 10-4. When replacing the wiring, I realized that the breaker tied into the dryer was a 2-pole 50A and that's when I realized that I needed to do learn about this a little more if I'm going to protect my family and our home. I currently have a 200A Eaton MB2040P200BTS and it appears to be maxed out, even though I only have a 1,300 sq. ft. single family home. According to my research, my panel is also a 40 space model - but only appears to have 26 breakers of all varying amperage and sizes , ranging from 20A half size to 20A full size all the way to 60A double pole (which I fear is also greatly oversized). Would you think that it would be possible to rewire the existing panel more efficiently? For example, is there any reason why all of the 20A full size breakers can't be swapped out for 2 half sized breakers, in order to free up some spaces? Also, what would be the best way to properly identify which breaker is going to which appliance? Needless to say, there is no schedule attached to my panel. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
As product support for that panel and breakers, I must say you sir are very good pointing out what must and must not be done.
Such a good clean install. It looks great. I'm having to put on extenders on all the wires of my upgrade because all the wires are too short for my new long box. One comment to anyone watching don't wear your metal ring around electricity. This guy knows he's good because the power is off but it happens more often than not you think you are safe and you loose a finger. Low voltage might not pass through the skin but it will a ring and the high amperage will take the finger right off.
Really great workmanship and also great planning. I've been doing this 40+ yrs but still like to see a good workman and a job that looks like a machine did it. Your new nickname is "the machine".
I'll second that
Great job good explaining everything. I like the way you detailed all your circuits and categorize them I don't think I could have done a better job myself. I don't like those arc fault Breakers cuz they tend to trip when motors are plugged up to them
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. It is nice to see someone that takes pride in their work without being told to do so. I am always writing a correction that requires all circuits to be identified and labeled. Besides the #6 copper to the two ground rods over 6 ft apart, our county in L.A., CA. also requires a #4 copper from the panel continuously to the cold water within 5ft entrance to the front of the building for a 200 amp service and for a 100 amp service #8 copper.
Another correction I am usually writing is when two circuits are sharing a neutral they shall be on a single pull double throw circuit breakers.
Also #14 AWG shall only be on a 15 amp circuit breaker and #12 AWG may be on a 15 or 20 amp breaker, normally would be on a 20 amp breaker.
Also another correction I write up is mis-match circuit breakers ( square D is only allowed in a square D panel ) or ( Siemens panel is allowed to have Murray or Siemens, but the NEC 2020 is only allowing Siemens breakers now ) or ( General Electric panel is only allowed General Electric breakers ) and ( Eaton panels you need to read the label inside the panel ) Each panel shall have a label from the manufacturer that states what is or is not allowed, if that label is removed then the panel will need to be replaced. Do not remove the manufacturer label.
I'm not an electrician but I have studied it and I try to keep up with the local code in my city. I've always had an interest in electricity and the different wiring methods and procedures employed by different individuals. I do my own minor wiring but anything major and I call a licensed electrician. I really appreciate the very neat way that you run your conductors.
In my opinion is is very valuable to understand at least the basics of residential electrical. You never know when the information might come in handy! Thanks for the comment! Subscribe if you want to see more in the future!
Touche' young man for the exemplary visual and verbal job of guiding electrician novices. Well paced, clear, and understandable. Thank you.
Recommendation for MN homes like yours.
I've built three homes in MN and one thing I always did was to add several circuits for backup baseboard or wall mount electrical heat, each with its own thermostat. Always one in the basement utility room where most of the plumbing is, and usually at least one in the area of the kitchen and bathrooms.
Yes, I have returned from winter vacations or weekend trips more than once, to find the furnace off and the backup heat keeping the house plumbing from freezing. Usually it's a failed igniter or sensor in the furnace.
I did this after seeing the results of two friends homes fill with water when their pipes burst.
Looks like you have plenty of room in the panel.
Great tip, I'll have to remember that one
Great point. Also, install a ball valve shutoff in if it doesn't exist. It's a good idea to turn off the water heater and shut off the supply to the rest of the house. In the unlikely situation where the supply to the house bursts or the water heater leaks, at least the damage is limited to the basement
I am a Russian electrician in the US, and I approve of this video. Awesome work, comrade -- great execution, super neat, nothing to add.
Thank you! I would love to see how you guys do your electrical work in Russia some time. You should post a video about it! Blessings from the USA!
but.. don't you feel there isn't enough kalashnikov action in this video..
@@hvacstudent967 Understood, comrade. Let me know if this one works: th-cam.com/video/hfpfSLdu6qo/w-d-xo.html
@@Gruntled2001 You sir are a gentleman and a scholar, but as they say in russia... in old country car drive you...
Honestly I see why Russians are always angry it's fuking cold there, their vehicles are gawd awful ugly, I'd imagine they have no music and their accents are funny. I'd be pissed too. Honestly feel bad for them and I simpathize.
I'm faced with replacing a 35 year old service panel. I've been trying to decide if I want to DIY, hire it out or a combination thereof. Your video was extremely helpful.
This is hard work you gotta respect this
Real nice job!
Im not an electrician but I have helped wire up a number of panels. I always try to keep it neat and wires easy to trace.
A great friend was a mentor to me ondoing things right, perfect and neat.
A little thing i add on the inside of the panel door above the braker layout is a small sign that says 'incase of fire call 9-1-1' and i include the address.
Plus i put a piece of red tape on the fire alarm/smoke detector breaker so it doesnt get shut off accidentally.
Being a past fire chief, people understand to kill the electric if the fire involves an appliance but forget to call the FD and cant remember their oun address sometimes.
Epic video, just awesome. I'm making a 5 part video series on how I installed a back up generator for my house but not with this level of detail. I put a lot of work into it too but not to this level as I do not want the liability of someone doing it wrong. Thanks for posting, I learned a lot, even after doing my sub-panel and generator with my electrician, I still learned a ton from this video, well done!
I really appreciate the cleanliness of this panel, I just have one statement/suggestion. As someone who does ALOT of residential remodels, the zip ties are sometimes a pain if you ever need to take anything apart or remove/change anything inside the panel. I used to use them as well when I mostly did new construction rough-ins, but now I do a lot more remodels and I’m in a lot of situations where I have to add wires and sometimes remove wires and the zip ties can be a nuisance. Not saying you should or shouldn’t use them though, just adding my two cents. I think even if you did it all the same and just didn’t zip tie everything, it would still look just as clean. And yes, you can always just cut them off, but obviously that adds a risk of someone knicking a wire. Anyway, looks very good though, I really appreciate the cleanliness! I’d much rather come across something like this than some of the nightmares I find when I pull the cover off a panel in a remodel lol.
Removable zip ties would be the best of both worlds 👍
I'm a telephone tech secret to using zip ties is not to pull them tight this way your can easily remove them
Ben, you have my compliments on the workmanship, and it's uncommon to see a panel install that meets my expectations this thouroughly. Leaving slack in the wires to allow for future rearranging is the ticket.
I think the only two differences between what the two of us would have done here are no cable ties and I prefer the cable be labeled inside the panel (e.g. well pump, boiler, living rm, kitchen, bedroom, etc) so that you can see what's there without depending on the directory.
Beautiful job...
That panel will be very safe to service later.
The next guy that has to work on that will be so grateful that you took the time to make it so neat and accessible.
Nice work my dad used to be a electrician I'm 36 now he's in heaven now but did really good work
Wow - good job Ben. It is obvious that you put a lot of effort and thought into wiring this panel. It is good to see a neat, organized panel.
Your work is incredible and I’m so appreciative that you shared your knowledge. I’m a DIYer and have spent a lot of time researching codes and methods online but it’s much harder to find clear, practical how-to’s. And I sadly find that a lot of electricians jealously guard their expertise so they can prevent handy homeowners from feeling confident enough to tackle big projects like this. I learned SO much watching this video and can’t say enough how much I appreciate the way you teach.
One of the best electrical videos I've seen lately. Very informative. Very neat job!
I'm not an electrician and most of what you said was greek to me. However, since I am pretty OCD, I was simply amazed at how awesome that box looked. I found this video while trying to figure out how many conductors can go into one hole on the top of a panel box (an electrician ran 4 into a 2.5" hole on the top of a sub panel box in my shop) and I couldn't stop watching this. Fantastic job. Makes me wanna have an electrician come out and redo both of my panels. I would first show them this video and tell them to make mine look like this box. ha! great work.
Haha that's exactly how I ended up here, trying to find is 3 per knockout was good or not haha
I was ultimately told by a very qualified and reputable electrician in my area that the number of 4 into the knockout was okay. it was the fact that the first electrician had not inserted a bushing into the knockout nor secured the cables to a stud within 12" of the box was not okay. So the second electrician fixed it and I was good to go. @@codyharney2997
I don't do the wire tags on upgrades but when I was wiring houses it made it convenient. It's rare for me to say that this is how it should be done but this is how it should be done. Good job.
Great job Sparky! It’s refreshing to see a competent Electrician who takes pride in his work. Although no one will most likely ever see the inside of the panel box and the over current device installations, the Electrician knows that he did the job to the best of his abilities, taking the time to make it presentable!
Did you forget about the 2-pole over current lock-outs?
Not no one. Some of us will definitely see the panel, and will appreciate the hell out of it. Contractors have to get into the panel all the time.
Ben, sometimes you learn this one the hard way as I did many years ago: Be sure the areas behind the holes for the panel cover screws are clear of all wires, particularly the hots. The screws can dig into a wire causing a short and you won't know this until the circuit is energized. Otherwise, Great Job!! I really enjoyed your video!
Square D panels have blunt / flat screw ends
Holy smokes! I thought I did beautiful work. Hands down this is absolutely an electricians porn! Amazing my man! I am taking notes.
Thank you Sam
Surge breaker ( 3 4 sum pump
( 5. 6. Farnace
( 7 8 upstairs. Bath
( 9. 10 main. Bath level
( 11. 12. Upstair laundry
( 13. 19 basementlaundry
( 15. 16. Attic kid B/R
( 17 18 master B/R & hall
. ..
Thank you Sam.
(19. 20. Liviing. Dining /room
Dryer upstairs (
Very pleased to find this vid. I'm interested in upgrading my electrical panel due a need for additional breakers and a generator interlock kit for safety purposes. This will be my first attempt at this. I have a billion questions, but this clarifies many. It would be a blessing to find a box closely formated to the one I'm removing. This will save time and hopefully negate much of the mystery. Because of this vid, I'm willing to try it. Thanks Ben!
Man, MOST guys are probably much faster, but none of them have anywhere near the pride/workmanship in their end product! Some clients will gladly spend more money for this level of perfection.
You have to find that line for yourself..
For the average home-gamer watching, you're an inspiration and a Godsend! You set the bar extremely high for electrical work .
Really good video, with great sound editing and visuals. The techniques are really good, and the tips on running the cables that extra length are appreciated. All of the tips were great, and how you've set your panel up so neatly has me excited. I'm in an electrician course, and we're going in to wire a house the college is building. If I end up on the team that does the panel wiring, I will be sure to do a lot of the things you did here, because you really did a great job of making it look clean.
Great Video, keep up the good work.
That panel is a work of art.
You sir, are a legend! Your enthusiasm and professionalism are inspiring. Thanks a million for your amazing channel.
Excellent Ben, just the video I needed! I am replacing a Federal Pacific box with a new 200 amp Square D QO box almost identical to yours except, fortunately, I was able to get a box with plug in neutral bars. I am replacing all the 15 and 20 amp breakers with dual function ones with no pig tails.
On the negative side the location of the box is inside a wardrobe, that's how they did things back then😠
You have set me a high standard to match. Thanks again Ben.
Thanks for this video. I dress all my panels the same way. Try to make them look like the wiring of a CH-46 chopper. All my signal wiring in a telecom central office had to be combed, dressed and laced perfect. Great job!!!
I have a small tip, as you noted the utility knife could still damage wire while removing the sheathing. I buy carpet cutting blades that are double sided and fit in a regular utility knife, but they have a hooked blade that is only sharp on the inside radius. Simply start in the flat middle of the sheath and pull to the cut end. Since I started using these I have never had a wire damaged.
As everyone else has said, you did an award winning job!
I have done the same, works great and less nicks to insulation than standard rippers; maybe slightly slower to use well but more versatile as a tool i.e. not just a single use tool.
After seeing this video I aim to be just as meticulous and organized while wiring my garage. Thank you for your time, and for sharing your knowledge.
I’m in school rn for my electrician certification. I’ll be done in 6 months so I’m doing everything to learn it all. And everything you said and done I’ve read in the text. It’s pretty cool ! Amazing job
Is the school hard Like college?
Thank you for the detailed video. The main take away was learning about the neutral bonding screw not used in the the sub panel. My situation is similar to your video, in that my sub panel is basically the main, because my main is on the outside on my service pole. Thanks again!
As an electrician I appreciate it when a panel is organized and zip tied instead of seeing the rats nets, great job and explanation you did.
Badass as hell, continue with more videos please. I’m a 2nd year getting through school, need the knowledge thank you 🙏🏻 clean work by the way, the right way to do it
As an electrician for 37 years I thought you did a jam up job👍🏻
It doesn't look bad at all. My only concern was the termination compound (I didn't see any used) as well as the torque specs. I wonder how long it took?
Your wiring layout in that panel is truly a work of art! Thank you for the detailed video start to finish with added tips!
This is beautiful man great work for sure. I install security and burglary systems for Walmart and this is how mine come out. My instructor is a stickler for organization and if they ain't 90's he won't let it slide. I could be in a box for the whole day only to hear it's to messy clean it up. Even when I don't think it could be done he shows me something new. Maybe after this video i could beat him to it next time panel day comes around. Thanks for your hard work and dedication keep it up brother.
I LOVE nice clean panels and boxes like this! This is what I try to make mine look like and yes, people give me static for it sometimes but its a nice feeling when the inspector takes a pic of it on his phone right before he passes it on first inspection.
This is the neatest wire job I've ever seen. Wonderful!
Every box should be like that. its called pride in ones work. If the person doesn't care enough about what they do to do it well and show that they are proud of their work then why would I trust them? Before returbing to college I used to refurbish industrial equipment, mainly massive parts washers and industrial pressure washers and trailer rig setups used to clean the ends of drilling pipe and clean the oil platform rigs during drilling and generally used all throughout the drilling process and people were always shocked at how good it all looked and worked when I was done. Sure I could charge more when putting them up for sale thus larger commission on my end but mainly its my pride in my own work and trust me customers come back when they see you have pride in your work. You show them you are worthy of trust. That you dont cut corners and rush shit.
Super neat looking panel. Very impressive. I'm installing the exact same panel along with a meter socket and service entry cable this weekend.
Would you be able to tell me what that smaller sized allen nut to the left of the neutral is for.
Thank you for making this video! I am an apprentice electrician, but I do industrial maintenance. I found your video very interesting and insightful. I will be implementing some of your tips and processes in the work that I do. It is amazing how many different avenues one can go as an electrician, loving the trade more and more every day :)
Do you live in Oklahoma by chance? Looking to hire someone for a side job to help me do my panel.
Seriously a beautiful clean panel, never have I seen a panel so clean and tidy, excellent work. Glad to see someone who takes pride in there work.
when you do commercial work, they tag their wires with numbers to identify the phase by circuit numbers. You can note the numbers to the side of the blanks on the dead fronts. On a single phase circuit, you have A and B phase. 1 and 2 are A and 3 and 4 are B and they continue to alternate 5 and 6 are A etc. You can actually go to Locke Supply or pretty much any electrical supply house and get a book of numbers that have adhesive on the back when you peal them off and wrap them around the wire. Very handy. I always put them toward the end of the wire, especially when it's a junction box, to make sure that it is visible in the box after make up. It's actually a good practice, especially if you want to use it for something else down the line; all you have to do is change the ledger on the panel! That's actually a good practice, Ben. Great job on the panel. You should have your Master's now 4 years after this. You should have plenty of hours in by now!
That panel is a work of art! Very courteous for anyone who has to work on that panel in the future. I'm almost envious lol... the previous HO where I live got ripped off by whoever he hired. Looked more like the "rat's nest" you showed us early on except possibly even worse. A total rewire is financially out of the question for a while (even DIY'ing it would cost over $3k the way I want it done) but in the meantime it's made adding any circuits a nightmare.
Dude you are awesome. I am getting ready to do one for a family member, and will use your tips. Thank you for the detailed information.
Awesome! Good luck!
No permit or license good luck
@@GlitchedPepsi most jurisdictions allow a homeowner to perform their own wiring with a permit. I've helped multiple people here in Washington.
Looks good. I'm installing a sub panel on my shop and I did get some things out of the video. I'm not an Electrician, just a home owner. Thanks. It's nice to see an up to date video.
The extra bit of work to do it nicely is hugely appreciated. Every panel should look like that.
I have a bunch of rental houses. You'd be amazed how horribly people wire things when you pull covers off panels.
GREAT video Ben! The only thing I might suggest (in case you haven't covered it in ANOTHER one of your fine videos : ) is that when we go to switch all the breakers on - one by one of course if it's a whole panel install - is that we look AWAY from the panel as we move each breaker to the ON position JUST as a precaution IN CASE there is an ARC from any given breaker which can literally BLIND us if we are looking straight at it. Yes, I know it IS unlikely that that will happen IF all is done properly and all the equipment is functioning correctly but better safe than sorry! Keep up the great work and videos! Thank you! (from a subscriber : )
Also stand off to the side and use the door as a shield. Even more so powering up 3 phase motor starters in the MCC room.
I would pay you to work on my electrical any day! What an impressive video. Your quality of work is worth the extra time and money.
I’ve got a question: How much wire did this job require? Feet, yards or meters...
Very professionally executed electrical install and, the video was top notch too!
Thanks a million for your contribution!
Subscribed👍
I can tell you have a passion for your work, and you do a clean job, well done young man .
Guess what, I've been doing this 50 years and I still don't know it all, there is always more to learn.
Without a doubt. You should always be available to learn something new. We’re all human.
I'm from Germany and I always love to see how electrical is done in other countries. I'm not an electrician myself, but at 0:44 there's a closeup of some ultrafine stranded conductors screwed into a terminal block as-is. Now I don't actually know if this is required by code here, but electricians here generally always put end ferrules on stranded conductors. I'm not one to tell you how it should or shouldn't be done, but I find it interesting just how different the mentality towards this is in different parts of the world. In Germany, even if it passed the inspection, it would be frowned upon because it's considered a hazard to not use end ferrules.
I’m convinced all electrical videos have 6 types of commenters.
1. The “you did x, y and z wrong”
These guys are “master electricians” that for some reason found themselves watching a video on a subject matter they claim they are already experts on. The mistake they often point out is not a code violation yet they are convinced it will turn your house into charcoal.
2. The “safety police”.
These guys are the guys that complain about not seeing enough safety related things in your videos. Examples include, “always wear your eye pro”, “I didn’t see you check that circuit was really de- energized”, “take off that ring”, “omg that screwdriver is not completely insulated”.
3. The “licensed electricians only”
This guy, honest to goodness, believes that there is not one homeowner in the world smarter enough to do his job. He thinks that he’s been touched by the hand of God and thus is able to learn on a level the DIYer just never could. He may find no fault whatsoever in the instruction but still hates the video. He feels as though electrical knowledge should be a black art.
4. The “reiterating a point already made”
These guys point out something you already said in the video that somehow they didn’t hear at all. You might say “check your local codes” and they would say, “local code can be different!” You might say “call the power company to disconnect your meter” and they would say, “only the power company should disconnect the meter!”
5. The “foreigner”
These guys are my favorite. Somehow they have found themselves watching a video of an American wiring something and now see fit to comment how “this would never pass code in their country”. They think that all America houses are just a ticking fire bomb. They also somehow forget that America literally invented the idea of household wiring. Americans were likely dancing under an Edison bulb while these this commenter’s great grandfather was milking a goat by candlelight but NOW they think their country is just ahead of the curve on this electrical stuff.
It’s worth mentioning that any of these comment styles can combine for a hybrid of sorts.
And there is one more type, guys like me that appreciate that hard work that went into the video, that will bolster it with further research and that are inspired to do a better job on their next project. Thanks for the video friend!
Then there's the guy like me. The stickler for when you are turning a phrase. You used the term "ahead of the curb". This is not the correct phrase. The phrase you meant to use is "ahead of the curve" as in the "learning curve". When you are describing a person's position in the store of knowledge in their head about a particular topic.
Patrick Perry good catch on that typo
you are soooo correct here ..
To be fair you have a shitty way of doing electrical work compared to Danish standards 😂
@@Grisehoved great ..show us some Danish magnificence ..pretty easy right??? go to your Danish electric panel ..take a picture..post to a free site..give us a link ......or are you talking out of your Danish ass ???
Wow! One of the neatest wiring jobs I’ve ever seen. 50 years ago I worked in a telephone central office. Your wiring reminds me of the way Western Electric installers wired the old stepping switch machines. Many thousands of wires gathered into neat bundles and laced together with waxed twine. Much lighter gauge wire of course, but a lot more of them. Our main distributing frame was about 12 feet tall and half a city block long. The horizontal side had shelves about 15” apart with soldered connection blocks for five exchanges (50,000 phone numbers). The vertical side had columns about the same distance apart where all the outside cables for downtown and near downtown Nashville appeared.
That is so cool. Back when more people took serious pride in their work!
I will be wiring in a complete 3 bedroom 1 bath house in a couple days. Got a few 3 way switches to run and it's crucial to get a good Game plan and make this job as neat as possible. Love the Vid.
In reference to sparkplug1018 comment, I agree with him. I was told that it's nice to have the bigger loads closest to main disconnect end of the panel, in your case the top of the panel, to make the travel as short as possible. I was also told that it can help reduce light flickering by following this method. Not sure if that is true or not. The work you did is exceptional and very neat! Nice work. Thanks for posting. Safety first!