New service to house?

Hi
When you have an overhead 100 amp service and the city is going to provide a new underground so i can put in a 200 amp box, they bring it to the house and a new meter socket, but do not take the overhead out of the roof, this is the piping i am referring to, i am confused on the existing entrance as to how a new one takes over and replaces the one i have , how do you treat the old 100 amp, the wires there may not be long enough to enter the new box, does it stay as a junction box, or how do you splice the wires etc, i am not going to be wiring it, but looking for an explanation. if i am not making myself clear, tell me so i can clear it up more. thanks

 

Good evening Centerfield. The power co. will disconnect your leads from the power line to the stack on your roof. Most likeley they will also disconnect the wires coming down the stack into your present meter base. The new meter base will be mounted and fed from below and your electrician will have to supply and install the conductors from the meter base to your panel. That leaves a dead stack on the roof for you to remove and repair the hole and shingles on the roof.

 

thanks

i'll prob leave the roof mast or stub it down, , i have a new roof,
my concern is all my feeds to the existing 100 amp i have now are handled how to the new 200 amp, does the 200 amp go right where the 100 amp is, or is there a new entrance,, how are the wires handled if they are not long enough to feed the 200 amp, thats my dilemma. does the 200 go beside the 100 amp as a junction box?
thanks

 

Most of the wires coming from one side of the house will reach, some can be replaced to a first jbox and sometimes j boxes are added and sometimes old panels are used for j boxes. I did an upgrade for a friend a bit ago and somehow only one or 2 couldnt be routed to reach,, its simply amazing! It was just about like yours, old 60 came in overhead and we put new 200 fed underground. In this case the new panel went right where there were a couple one arm bandits that fed a water heater and cloths dryer so those were long enough. He was out of power for about 20 mins while the poco made the changeover and heated the new panel. We had it already and while they were trenching I moved the water heater dryer and range ver, when the cut the power we move some branch circuits over and were done about the same time they heat the new one.

 

thanks,
how long did it take you to get it ready, you say out 20 minutes, my 100 is full, i had a guy hookup a circuit for me today and he was talking 2 days to get it ready? how much is a ball park cost to convert a full 100 to the 200 plus 3 0r 4 breakers?

wi.

i can buy the material , just wondering what your price may have been finished

 

Boy the electricians must be pretty slow in your area. Oh yeah! hourly rate! If you arange to have the electrician there the day the service wires are changed it shouldn't take any more than 5 hours to remove the old panel and install the 200A panel in the same spot. The electrician will install the new conductors from the meter base as soon as the poco has it installed. Any electrician that says it'll be more than 6 hours to do the changeover is less than honest or doesn't want the work.

 

I dont know where he is from and in my area there is inspection. I hear downstate things are different and insps are swamped,, but here we mount the meter base, install conductors to panel and grounding, then call for insp. Service upgrade only. Insp is all done then poco comes and runs the new stuff and does hookup. I like undergrounds for upgrades,, lots easier than installing a new mast, all at ground level. Takes me a half a day to install a panel and mount base,, give or take depending on the location in the house. I can wrap the whole thing in a day's work,, usually a half for the entrance and another half when its heated doing changeover, odds and ends, little re-routing and such, so I am there twice. But,, I am early 40 something and proffecient, some retired guy you hiring on the side could doodle around longer and I have seen some fool around charging by the hour too. The best thing to do is get a couple estimates,, ask around, they can really vary. The area you live in has a lot to do with it, as does demand. I had a neighbor who I just met (just after he did a new install) who got a price to install a meter base for a 100a on a modular.. the quote was 1100,, ha,, he did it himself. It was new,, the mechanic wouldnt even had to come back,, mount the base, run feeders to the panel and ground, I am not sure that include hooking up the well. The entrance was underground.

 

thanks 220's.

i've never done a changeover, this guy does me small stuff, he quoted me a grand , providing everything, he said he would get it ready the day before, finish the next?
i had a small need so he was here recently , haven'ty shopped yet, appreciate your input, all i've ever done is sales on new homes never seen this done or had it priced, they are doing the whole town here, and i fortunately need a 200 amp.
thanks again

 

That sounds real reasonable,, I doubt if you can beat it. If you are happy with the guy it also makes a big difference and you build a working relationship its worth a lot.