show me your neatly wired panels?

dkliman · 08-29-2010, 05:07 PM

Hi,

I just wired my first 200 amp panel, with a 100 amp sub panel... please tell me what's wrong with it, if anything? it already passed inspection, but I'd like to know for future reference... and i'd love to see pictures of your most neatly wired panels, switch boxes (especially with 3+ gang, such as 5 gang 3 way switches) and any other interesting residential stuff...

I've read repeatedly on various forums that it's okay to have "more than one nm cable in certain connectors." so looking at my photos here, have i done this right? i just can't imagine how to neatly do this with twice as many connectors...

I am still going to neaten up the wires above the panels, even though those will be behind a soffit...
are there any other problems with this work that i should address?

as for overloading, i would like to note that many of these circuits are for things like high hats that will never use nearly 20 amps, and the inspector noted that...

a7ecorsair · 08-29-2010, 05:23 PM

The panel looks nice but that bowl of spaghetti on top needs some garlic and cheese.

dkliman · 08-29-2010, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by a7ecorsair

The panel looks nice but that bowl of spaghetti on top needs some garlic and cheese.

i know!!

but i will get to that later on tonight or tomorrow and hopefully since none of the wires cross anymore, i can neaten them up with stackers or staples.... that's the plan at least...

allow me to show you what it USED to look like, before I renovated it... it all started out on the stone wall to the left in this picture, and was an atrocious, scary mess... so i built this little panel wall so i could neaten it up... hopefully i'm going in the right direction at least.

a7ecorsair · 08-29-2010, 05:34 PM

Is this a residential location? That original setup is a disaster

dkliman · 08-29-2010, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by a7ecorsair

Is this a residential location? That original setup is a disaster

Yes I was scared for my life heh.

frenchelectrican · 08-30-2010, 02:35 AM

Did you use the KO cover to cover up the unused KO's ??

And you should have NM nail on clip above the load centres withen 12 inches top of the load centre.

I have to dig up a photo what I did with large load centre { it have 3 panels yeah .,, 200 amp 3 phase set up 208Y120 volt set up }

How big this house this is ??

Merci.
Marc

dkliman · 08-30-2010, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frenchelectrican

Did you use the KO cover to cover up the unused KO's ??

And you should have NM nail on clip above the load centres withen 12 inches top of the load centre.

I have to dig up a photo what I did with large load centre { it have 3 panels yeah .,, 200 amp 3 phase set up 208Y120 volt set up }

How big this house this is ??

Merci.
Marc

oh please do show your photos! i would love to see neatly wired panels, switches, etc. that was the whole idea of this thread!

I have the knockout covers in a box. i'm putting them in this morning. there have to be 30 open knockouts

.

as for nail on clips... do you mean like caddy cable grippers? i'm not sure if that's what you're talking about, but i plan to tackle the wire above the box today. i untangled it all before putting in the box, so hopefully nothing is crossing anymore. i know i should have worked from the top down, but (just look at that before picture) it was a daunting task to clean this all up. I think i have 20 lbs of extra wire that i can give to the recycler.

Jim Port · 08-30-2010, 09:21 AM

The cables need to be secured within 12" of the panel. Staples or stackers should be acceptable.

Scuba_Dave · 08-30-2010, 10:06 AM

Whats the yellow right before each breaker ?

Jim Port · 08-30-2010, 10:15 AM

I think they labeled the circuit name of a piece of the NM jacket and slipped it over the wire.

dkliman · 08-30-2010, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scuba_Dave

Whats the yellow right before each breaker ?

here's a closeup... i have yet to finish numbering the wires and straightening them out... actually while i'm here, is there a more proper nomenclature for these circuits that professionals like to use? for example "outlets: liv room north" vs let's say, "Living room north outlets?" or is there an abbreviation for lights or outlets i could use?

Scuba_Dave · 08-30-2010, 11:30 AM

Nice idea
Working in IT we had little plastic clips that could attach to wire for labeling purposes
NM sheath works just as well
I wasn't sure if there was a code reason for not having the sheathing in the panel
As I have always heard it should not extend more then an 1" or so inot the panel

I use an excel spreadsheet to outline everything a breaker shuts off
With an older house some circuits cover multiple rooms

As long as the labels are generic
IE ...not Johns bedroom...outlets near aquarium
My last house was labeled like that

cgoll · 08-30-2010, 12:47 PM

No spagetti here!

I take no credit for this work; I don't even remember where I got the picture.

dkliman · 08-30-2010, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cgoll

No spagetti here!

I take no credit for this work; I don't even remember where I got the picture.

I WANT

Gotta love wire prn haha.

xxPaulCPxx · 08-30-2010, 01:03 PM

In my panel, I put a map detail what each room was, and where the subpanel in the garage was... it included the words "You Are Here". All the electricians who've seen it got a kick out of that.

At the junction box in the attic, I have the spreadsheet of what each circuit does/goes.