Finally finished a three-day panel swap that should have taken two

I took on a panel swap at an old house over on Maple Street last month and hit nothing but issues with rusted conduits and undersized wire. Managed to get it done yesterday without any callbacks or pulling my hair out. Has anyone else had a job that just fought you the whole way?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_lucas9d ago

Blew three hours just trying to get the old panel off the wall because someone decided to use drywall screws to mount it. Rusted everything, stuffed full of mouse nests, and the main feed wires were barely long enough to reach the new lugs. Spent another hour playing contortionist in a crawl space to reroute a few circuits because the homeowner "forgot" they added an extra subpanel last year. At least you got it done without a call back - I had to go back twice for a loose neutral on a job that was supposed to be a simple swap. It's like the universe likes to test us with the one job a month that goes completely sideways.

cameron_chen8d ago

Took a trick I learned from an old timer on my last rough one, traced every circuit and labeled everything before I even touched the panel. Made a list of what wire was where and checked the amp draw on each one with a clamp meter before disconnecting anything. Saved my butt when I found two 14 gauge wires on a 30 amp breaker for the basement lights.