Question on adding branch to a panel - how do you guys access the knockouts?

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DonL

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That is funny cacher_chick.

That may not be a bad idea tho.

Some people don't deserve to drive, especially when they have a phone stuck in their ear.
 

Ballvalve

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To pull a meter here is a big project with the utillity and co-ordination.

Of the 5 Electricians I know here, shutting off the main is their method, and often not even that. They only pull meters to change the entire service.

I shut off the main and add a non conductive shield over the area of the main and the incoming wires.

Once I went to work on a service entrance that had the meter pulled 32 years earlier. [by the utility] It had been open and hot all those years in the weather on a non occupied rural property. Amazing no one died.

A vineyard I worked on had a similar removed meter that the utility never looked at. They used a junk meter to run the irrigation pump and then set it aside.
 

DonL

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Good Point ballvalve.

Sometimes a open meter service connection can be far more dangerous that just turning off the main breaker and leaving the meter alone.

A non conductive shield over the area of the main and the incoming wires, is a great safety measure.

I Respect Electricity, and I work on Hot stuff all the time. Sometimes You just have to. Not a problem.

I have been hit by RF and other High Voltages, up to 30,000 Volts but that is why I don't use both hands while taking High Voltage measurements. Some of that stuff will reach out and grab you, No mater how much protective gear that you have.

The Meter Does not need to be Pulled to work safely. Good Electricians will rarely pull them, unless they are changing them.

Have a Great Day.

DonL
 

DonL

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Hello Group.

Sorry Probedude if your thread got blown out.

If that is a 100 amp service and has 2 extra circuits already, then you might want to install a new Main Breaker Box.

I have found that buying some of the old main breakers, Cost more than a new panel.

Most of us use far more electric than the older houses did. We waste to much, I think.

Around here if you do not have a 200 amp service, then it is old.

Sorry that your thread got lost in the BS.

Please come back and tell us your solution.

Good luck on your project.

Have a Great Day.

DonL
 
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DonL

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Hello All,

JW, You never did say if I passed Your test.

It takes one calorie of energy to raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Celsius. How many calories are there in 120 volts at 15 amps?

What was the point in asking it ? If I did not get my grade ? It is about time to graduate. Just in case I have makeup work.

My answer was;

Depends on the duration, of the 120 volts at 15 amps.

Assuming you are talking about the power of 1800 watts then;

1800 watts = approximately 430 calories / second at 1 atmosphere.

Please Correct me if I am wrong.


DonL
 
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JWelectric

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So far so good.

My point was how much heat energy in a 15 amp circuit. Now take a normal breaker with an AIC of 10,000 amps and figure out what could happen to a human body in the event of an arc flash and see if it is a good idea for an untrained person to be working on a live circuit, even taking a voltage reading with an uncategorized meter.

Remember that although people deal with this type work daily there were over 400 deaths last year (2009) of those trained to do electrical work.
God knows how many homeowners that were hurt as there are no records keep of this type of accident.

The temperature on a 240 volt single phase panel can be over 300 degrees 36 inches out from the blast.
 
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