Replacing Main Panel

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hermantobar

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I have a 1932 Tudor (I live in NYC) wired with 14/2 BX (cloths wrapped wires 100 Amp Service). The feed comes in from underground into a splice box where it is spliced to wires that go into the meter. From the meter they enter the main service panel which has a 100 Amp Breaker. The Meter and Main Panel are right next to each other as well as where the power comes in. I'm having problems in that location with water leaking and rusting all the BX. I want to move all the circuits to a new panel 10-15 feet away. I plan on treating the new panel as a subpanel. Then move the circuits into the new subpanel 1 at a time whenever I have spare time (16 total). The new subpanel will really end up being the main panel with all the house circuits. The subpanel will have a 100 Amp breaker to shut it off. When alls done the main panels will only have 2 double breakers, one for the main power, the other for the new sub-panel. Is it ok to have the double breaker in the subpanel as well as the main panel feeding it? That means I can shut down the house power from 3 breakers the main in the main panel the breaker feeding the sub-panel and the main breaker in the sub-panel. My other question is, is it OK to eventually replace the main panel and splice the wires right through to the sub-panel, there by making the sub-panel the main panel. Sorry if this is confusing. Is the 15 foot distance from the meter a problem? What size wire is ok for 100amps.
 

Speedy Petey

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As far as I know NYC still has a strict "license ONLY" policy. I would NOT touch anything electrical if I were you.
 

AnthonyL

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License only, but

I live in a license only state too, but, no offense, after getting shoddy work on two occasions (one being extremely dangerous) I decided to do a lot of reading and examination of the electrical systems in my own houses. Having a degree in engineering helped as well.

Anyways

(1) what is the cause of water leakage? That needs to be fixed!!!

(2) do not splice the wires directly through to your subpanel. Maintain the main panel in its current location. The 15 foot between meter and main is the issue

(3) you MUST have the double-pole breakers in both the main panel and the subpanel. Or, are you using a panel that is setup for use as a sub only? (a main breaker isnt supplied with the panel and there are screw connections for the hot bus bars)

(4) Dont forget one primary difference between the mainpanel and a subpanel is that the neutral and ground buses are jumped together in the main and they MUST NOT BE JUMPED IN A SUBPANEL!!! VERY, VERY, VERY IMPORTANT.
 

Speedy Petey

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Anthony, no offense to you, but RI is not NYC.
NYC is another whole world when it comes to mechanical systems and construction work.
 

Billy_Bob

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With main service wires, there is a LOT of amperage flowing through these. They are torque bolted down in main service and meter panels to a certain foot pound tightness. If this is not done, the connections can become warm or hot. (So you can't just make a jumper connection like you could with regular house wiring.)

Then as pointed out, there is a difference with the grounding/neutral wiring in a main panel as opposed to a subpanel.

Also everybody tends to use more electricity than in days past. A 200 amp main service is common these days. (Maybe 100 amps is just fine for your situation? I don't know...)

Anyway I would recommend having an electrician install a new 200 amp meter and new main panel where you want it located, then make the old panel the subpanel. Then take your time to move each wire to the new panel and eventually disconnect the old panel.

Note that it is not much more expensive to get a breaker panel with 40 slots as opposed to a panel with 20 slots. There never seems to be enough breaker slots, so might as well get a 40 slot main panel.
 

Marv

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I agree with Billy Bob. If you have a splice in your service cable before the meter, this is a big danger. Have an electrician put in a 200 amp service.
 
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