Hey guys, Bit of an issue here... I've got 100A service right now, but planning on adding workshop, hot tub, sump system, electric water heater, etc and may run over what I can pull from the 100A service. I already have A/C, well pump, electric stove, whole house fan, dishwasher, multiple fridges, dehumidifier, electric dryer, etc. House is around 2000 square feet, multiple ceiling fans, TV's, computers, outdoor lighting. Even if I keep the 100A, I'm gonna need more spaces. So one way or another, I'm gonna have to have some work done. I'm not too worried about cost difference between just getting a new panel, and an actual upgrade to 200A, but the quote I was given for the 200A included some work I'd rather not have done, but was told would be involved. Here's my question/issue: The electrical service goes 70ft from a pole (east of my house) to a weatherhead in the middle of my roof, through the attic, out the soffit in the back (West side) of the house, and down to the meter (also West side of house). Approx. 10 feet of the line goes through the attic. I'm being told if I upgrade to 200A, we will have to remove all that. They want to run the service line to the outside of my chimney (south side of house), put the meter below that, run the service down into my basement (south side), and run 2"pvc conduit across my basement all the way to where the panel is now on the west wall (below the current meter). Due to the joists in the basement, this would require quite a bit of 2" conduit to be exposed and ugly across my whole basement. The other option would be moving the panel itself, but that would require rewiring everything to that (south) wall, and I have issues over there with where the furnace/water heater/etc are located. I contacted the power company, and they say the service line (from pole to house) is already rated for 200A, and that it doesn't need to be touched. Is there not a way I can just have them upgrade the meter and line from the roof down? Where it is now? The way it is now? Is there a law or code against having a short run through my attic from the roof weatherhead to the back soffit? The house was built in the 50's and the current setup is original. I live in Illinois. I'm not crying about cost, but if it can be done for less money, and actually the way I want it to stay, I'll be double happy. Thanks Brian

We are wiring a 200amp sub-panel for our shed with approx 90ft run. We currently have 4/0-4/0-2/0 AL ran in 2" conduit. We have a company building the house and the company sent an electrician out to look at the electrical side. He is putting in a 400amp meter with 2 200amp shut offs (1 for house, 1 for shed) on a rack and told us we need to run a grounding cable alongside the 4/0-4/0-2/0 because the grounding and the neutral need to be separated at the sub-panel (our goof...) He said the ideal situation would be to run all of it through the conduit again but that was probably not feasible. We asked if it would be OK to run the ground in another conduit then tie them together to attach to the shutoff to which he agreed was acceptable. Unfortunately we didn't think to ask HOW to tie them together. My dad and I were at home depot and were looking and saw the junction boxes and thought we could tie the conduits together in a junction then exit out the back of the box through the wall. From there the wires would all be in one conduit and the electrician can do his thing. Attached is a picture to help explain our thinking. The stuff hanging from the wall is insulation; we can cut that without any problems. [ATTACH]78028[/ATTACH] But... I don't know how the junction boxes are done and I want to do this as to code as possible. How big does the junction box need to be? we saw one that was 6x6x4 that would seem to me we could get eveything in comfortably but I know there are size restrictions. I'm assuming a hole-saw is what we are supposed to use to cut through the box; is this correct? How do we connect through the box once we have it drilled? Do we use the conduit -> male thread adapter then put a locking nut on? Does what were doing make sense? Is there anything else we need to know?